Glamour and celebration as the STB honours Business Events winners

The theme was glamour. The mood was celebratory. The occasion was the second Singapore Business Events Awards, organised by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).

In all, seven winners were recognised in the awards aimed at highlighting exemplary business events, organisations and individuals who have raised the industry's profile and demonstrated excellence in creativity, innovation, business and service excellence in the preceding year.

The winners were:

• Meeting of the Year

World Vision International Triennial Council
Organised by: World Vision International

Accepting the award, Ms Kath Sowter, Council Co-ordinator, World Vision International, said: "As a nonprofit organisation, we are very honoured to have been chosen from among such a strong field of candidates. We worked hard to balance our stewardship needs against innovative and creative expectations, and it is a thrill to be recognised for the huge amount of planning and work that made up such a successful event."

• Convention of the Year

Singapore Maritime Week 2007
Organised by: Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore

Accepting the award, BG(NS) Tay Lim Heng, PPA(E), PBS, Chief Executive, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, said that "The MPA is honoured and heartened that the Singapore Maritime Week initiative has been conferred the Convention of the Year Award. This flagship event has grown in size and significance since it was initiated in 2006, attracting more participants and event organisers from around the world each year. It plays an important role in growing Singapore as an international maritime centre, where industry players gather for a week of conferences and seminars, as well as business and social networking."

• Exhibition of the Year

CommunicAsia2007
Organised by: Singapore Exhibition Services (SES) Pte Ltd

Said Mr Stephen Tan, Chief Executive, Singapore Exhibition Services: "We are very proud that CommunicAsia, along with BroadcastAsia and CGOverdrive, has been conferred the award. The award is testament to the event's track record and value to the industries, as well as its contributions to the MICE sector in Singapore. We are confident that this win will further establish CommunicAsia as a key trade networking platform for Asia and beyond."

• Business Event Ambassador of the Year

Professor Feng Pao Hsii
Adjunct Professor of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Prof Feng was recognised for his work over the past 30 years of actively organising medical conferences in Singapore, including the 19 th World Congress of Rheumatology in 1997 which was attended by 4,000 delegates. He also organised the 3 rd Asia Autoimmunity Forum and I-COPE, the first conference in the world for patients with chronic illnesses.

Accepting the award, Prof Feng said it was wonderful to be recognised for "doing something I love" and left the audience with a quote from Michael Jackson who turned 50 last month, "The best is yet to come."

• Service Partner Excellence

Kingsmen Exhibits Pte Ltd

Kingsmen, set up in 1976, has been involved in prominent projects such as aerospace exhibitions in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, India and South Korea, including Asian Aerospace. It has also built installations for Singapore Discovery Centre, Maritime Experience in Sentosa and Petrosains Discovery Centre in Malaysia.

Accepting the award, Mr. Anthony Chong, Executive Director of Kingsmen Exhibits said: "Winning the Service Partner Excellence Award for the second consecutive year is without doubt a great honour. This award is an affirmation of our dedication to our clients who entrust us to deliver integrated services to global standards. Winning the award comes with the commitment to continuously improve our services and set the benchmark in quality service standards in the international MICE industry."

• Business Event Venue Excellence

Raffles City Convention Centre

Accepting the award was Mr Ian Wilson, General Manager, Fairmont Singapore and Regional Vice-President, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, who thanked his team whose task it was to "turn moments into memories" for its customers.

• Most Innovative Marketing Initiative

WIT - Web In Travel 2007
Organisation: Wired Ventures Pte Ltd
Creative agency: Spoon Creative

WIT 2007, a travel distribution, marketing and technology conference, was recognised for leveraging heavily on strategic partnerships and being innovative in its use of technology and digital media to communicate with its customers. A variety of online tools was used - from e-marketing through its website, polls, blogs, a WIT community on Facebook, and an online auction site where delegates could bid for tickets. Onsite, it ensured full audience participation by facilitating questions and voting by short message service, or SMS.

Ms Yeoh Siew Hoon, Producer, WIT - Web In Travel, who accepted the award on behalf of all entrepreneurs and start-ups, said, "It is an honour for a small, independent event to be recognised. Necessity is the mother of creativity."

Entries for the awards were judged by a panel of 21 international judges, who included Eric Bello, Vice President, Sales, The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino; Professor Amy Chan, Honorary Professor of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Patrizia Semprebene Buongiorno, President, International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO); Anthony Kang, President, Dentsu Singapore; Manohar Khiatani, Assistant Managing Director, Industry Development, Economic Development Board (EDB); Frank Koo, Managing Director, Oracle Corporation Singapore; Png Cheong Boon, Chief Executive, SPRING Singapore; Ted Tan, Deputy CEO, International Enterprise (IE) Singapore and Simon Pangrazio, President and CEO, Burson-Marsteller, Asia Pacific, among others.