Many hotels are focusing on events and conferences to bring in the big bucks. Our sister title, Hotelier Middle East, recently asked events professionals for the most difficult brief they’d ever been given. Here’s a glimpse of some of the challenges that they encountered — including tales of elephant cameos and accidental outdoor bookings in mid-summer…
Jaya Java, director, Artaaj:
“That’s a hard one to respond to; but one challenge that comes to mind was when a client was hosting Enrique Iglesias and Elissa on the same stage last year, and we had to work the stage specs to suit both artistes and their requirements.
“To top it all off, right at the last minute the venue had to be changed, which of course affected everything from acoustics to stage dimensions!
“With a tremendous amount of work and coordination between the artiste managers, we created a dual stage which would accommodate both, with a four-storey fabric ‘wall’ in between, and the effect was breathtaking.”
Philip Westphal, managing director, Salt & Pepper:
“We once had a client that requested a live elephant!
“The client wanted to arrange for an actual elephant to walk down The Walk by Jumeirah Beach Residence.
“We never go back to a client and say something they’ve asked for is not possible, so we looked into it — and it could have been done; we found we could get a live elephant from Oman, and we even considered the logistics of transporting it to Dubai.
“But we did go back and advised our clients that it might not generate the most positive press in terms of animal rights. We then presented them with options for a fake elephant, instead.
“In the end the whole idea was canned, but I think ‘find us an elephant’ was one of the harder requests we’ve had!”
Khaled Al-Idrissi, director of sales and marketing, Al Faisaliah Hotel — A Rosewood Hotel:
“We hosted the 30th anniversary celebration of the King Faisal International Prize Award in March 2008, and the brief was simply “to host the best event ever” — quite a demand!
“The event was attended by over 1000 guests including a large number of royal princes, VIPs and dignitaries.
“It took eight months of detailed planning and we called on the help of numerous professional companies — but happily was a huge success.”
Lucy d’Abo, managing director, D’Events:
“We don’t often receive difficult event briefs as such, but we have faced major challenges in other forms.
“A good example would be when we workinged with a leading luxury watchmaker, organising a gala event for their global marketing conference.
They had chosen the venue for this event from Switzerland and they had picked Bab Al Shams Desert Resort, as they felt it looked like it would offer the delegates an authentic Arabian experience.
“This was true — but the major drawback was that the event was booked for the very beginning of September and the only available function space for 150 people was outside!
“With 90% humidity and temperatures at around 36ºC even in the evening, we could see this would pose a problem for the predominantly European group, unused to the climate.
“In the end, instead of working against the heat and humidity we embraced it: and created a cool, all-white theme, with lots of refreshing touches.
“The cool feel was carried through in various areas of the evening, beginning with mist fans around the space, cold towels on arrival and continuing throughout the evening, frozen cocktails for the drinks reception, an expansive buffet with plenty of cool aspects including sorbets and ice creams, ice sculptures and mini hand -held fans for each guest.
“The highlight was our arrangement that the guests be allowed to sit in the chilled swimming pool before and after dinner — an experience all the guests enjoyed.
“The result was a lasting, cool memory, with no one getting over-heated!”
What weird and wonderful things have you experienced at events in India?
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