The challenges posed by two high-level congresses in Bangkok

Bridging the cultural gap.“Organise a two-part congress in a five star hotel in Bangkok – preferably by the river – for the top managements of our company and our partner companies. We would like three dinners outside the hotel and a programme of social events interspersed with optional activities.” This was our client’s briefing. We assigned two De Buck Project Managers to meet these challenges. For the full account see below.

The challenges

When we say a two-part congress we mean two, two-day congresses. The first two days were given to an external congress organised for the management of the partner companies, to say thanks for their cooperation and provide a networking opportunity. This was followed by a two-day internal congress to reward managers for reaching their targets and provide an incentive for the year to come, all based on a given theme. We were expected to register the participants beforehand. They were all arriving by plane, so we were required to arrange airport transfers at the location.

What were the challenges on this occasion?

• Belgium versus Thailand: bridging the cultural gap
• The logistics of transporting our international guests
• Creating a theme for the 2-day internal congress

Making it happen

One of the biggest challenges we faced was the cultural difference between the Belgian and Thai suppliers. Service is deeply engrained in the Thai culture. In Thailand the word ‘no’ is seldom heard. This is clearly music to an organiser’s ears, but it has its pitfalls. You see, the suppliers kept telling us “yes, that’s possible” and “yes, we’ll get it sorted”, even when it all seemed fairly unlikely. However, we already knew, from our experience of incentive trips, that this might be a factor. The message was: keep pressing for the details. And this we did with plenty of respect and courtesy, because we didn’t want anyone to be offended. That said, we had to make sure that everything was as the customer expected.

✔Bridging the cultural gap.

The logistics presented an extra challenge. The international guests were flying to Bangkok from different countries and needed transfers to and from the hotel. It all seemed fairly straightforward at first, but the high level profiles of the guests meant that the flights were prone to last minute changes. In other words, we had to post personnel at the airport on a ’round the clock’ hotline, to make sure we picked up all the guests (especially the VIPs), and got them straight into their private cars and on to the hotel for their private check-in.

✔ Logistics to satisfy the international guests

For the internal congress we came with a “James Bond” theme. What a brilliant challenge! We planned it all down to the tiniest details: from a video message from James Bond (the CEO) on arrival at the hotel, and 007 “do not disturb” signs on the doors, to a full James Bond gala dinner.

For the gala dinner we suggested a twist on the concept of the singing waiters. On arrival at the rooftop, guests were given a red carpet photo opportunity with a real life James Bond and two Bond girls. While the actors networked busily at the reception, the Bond girls got themselves into a heated discussion. This soon turned into a cat fight. Everyone turned their heads in amazement… But, after a quick wrangle over each other’s diamonds, we heard a few opening notes, followed by the angelic tones of “Diamonds Are Forever”, the James Bond theme song. With double 0 seven’s assistance they went on to sing “Goldfinger” before rounding the performance off with “Die another day”. It was the ultimate bull’s eye and a perfect start to a James Bond evening.

✔ Creating a James Bond theme for the two-day internal congress.

The nicest part of all? The word of thanks from the CEO after the congress:

“I hope you all had a safe flight home, after an energy consuming but energizing third edition of our Management congress. Listening to the first feedback, we can proudly consider the third edition a very great success. And this is thanks to the creativity, technical qualities, professionalism and full commitment of you all. In name of the Management Committee and of all the participants, I wish to thank you all!”