Middle East Events Awards 2012

The Middle East Event Awards is an annual event, which was held on 2nd May 2012 in Sheikh Rashid Hall of Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre with a gala dinner.

This year is the fifth edition of the event, involving rewarding outstanding achievements within the Middle East events industry. The deadline for submissions concluded in February 2012.

The categories of awards for 2012 events awards are Best Exhibition (trade or consumer), Best event, Best Special Event, Best Incentive Event, Best Corporate Product, Best Music Event, Best Arts & Cultural Event, Best Sporting Event, Best Innovative Entertainment, Best Exhibition Stand Design, Best Event Design, Best Event Using a Temporary Venue or structure or space, Best Contribution to Sustainability – event, venue or company, Best Meetings or Event Facilities within a hotel, Best purpose-built events venue, Supplier of the Year, Innovative Supplier of the Year, Employer of the Year, Young Achiever, Outstanding Contribution to Middle East Events Industry.



The judging panel is made up of internationally & regionally recognised and respected judges from a variety of industry sectors and disciplines.

The panel has been carefully selected to ensure the selection process is fair and objective. The judges are bound by a strict confidentiality agreement and are required to declare any conflict of interest in entries over which they deliberate and to stand aside from deliberations concerning those entries.

In all there were 10 judges, with Mr Nowshir Engineer being one of them.





Nowshir Engineer is the Founder and Executive Director of EMDI Institute of Media & Communication – an international training Institute which was set up in 2002 with centres in Dubai, Kampala (Uganda) and India (Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkatta and Indore). The Institute offers UK accredited Diploma courses in Event Management, Advertising, Design, PR & Journalism amongst other courses – training annually over 1000 students. In 2008 he amalgamated his company with Greycells Education Ltd – a listed company on the Bombay Stock Exchange and is now the Managing Director of the group which also includes the International Institute of Sports Management (IISM) and the Business India Institute of Finance (BIIF).




An MBA from Mumbai University by qualification, he is actively involved in the Industry and has conducted various seminars and workshops for a host of colleges (University of Wollongong, Mahe Manipal, SP JAIN, British University in Dubai) and for ARY Digital TV and various Radio channels across the region. He is a also a speaker and contributor at various industrial forums such as the Confederation of Indian Industries, Festivale / Event 360 conference, and had a dedicated section with MIME magazine, aptly called Engineers Experts. Nowshir is also working closely to setup up the Middle East Chapter of the International Special Events Society (ISES).




He was awarded the 2008 Award for “Outstanding Young Parsi Entrepreneur” in Houston, USA and was in 2009 the Director of Events for the World Zoroastrian Congress held in Dubai. His Institute was nominated as the one of the top 5 fastest growing Institutes in Knowledge Village at the TECOM Pearl Awards. EMDI was also instrumental in the launching of an online event information portal – www.eventfaqs.com and in he has recently launched a division called EMDI Solutions in 2010 which provides event consultancy and brand solutions. EMDI Solutions organized the Dubai City Quest 2011 – an treasure hunt across the city of Dubai on behalf of the RTA & Skechers.

What is essential to know before Event Planning?

Create a Buzz

For people to attend your event you need to get them excited enough about it to entice them out of their offices and into your venue. You can do this by providing event content that they feel they simply should not miss. You can also do it by making your event so exciting or prestigious that they’ll attend simply to be part of the spectacle. The best events, of course, combine both elements.

Timing

All areas of an event require extensive planning but one of your most basic considerations should be the timing of your event. Research dates that are important to the industry you are working within. Are there any other events or exhibitions coming up that might conflict with yours? Might your attendees be suffering from event overload?

Pick dates and times that are convenient to your attendees. Staging an event at 5.00pm one Friday during the school holidays is unlikely to result in a full house.

Invitations & Registration

Don’t skimp on your invitations. Invitations are an important part of creating a buzz about your event. They should make people feel that they will miss something important to their business lives if they don’t attend.

And if people do accept your invitation, you need an effective way of keeping track of them. Make sure you have an adequate registration process in place. Increasingly, for larger events, this can be web-based.

Delegate

Given the complexity of today’s events it is impossible to do everything yourself. Make sure you have the right sort of people available with the right sort of skills, and then delegate the implementation of the various aspects of the event to them.

Rehearse

You want your event to look professional. You want it to go like clockwork. The only way to do this is to rehearse the major components of the show, particularly key speakers, performers, and your audiovisual presentations.

Creativity

In the business world, the content of your event may well be ground that has been covered before to some extent. But if, in your process of event management, you think outside the square, if you apply your creativity and present that content in a way no one has seen before, your attendees will be talking about your event for weeks afterwards.

Risk Management

No matter how good your skills at event management, disasters sometimes strike. Make sure you have procedures in place to deal with them. It may be nothing more threatening than a speaker who doesn’t show up, or it may a fire in the auditorium…

Measure Your Results

The success of your event will depend on how close you have come to achieving the goals you identified when you defined your objectives. To determine your level of success you’ll need to implement some sort of measurement process. Consider things like questionnaires and email surveys after the event.

Birthday Party planning

Birthday party planning is different for people with different age groups. When you are planning party for elders you can find change in basic things like music, activities, food, decoration, etc. For the age group of above 50 the inviting songs would be those which relates to 60’s and 70’s. For the age group of above 20 songs would be absolutely rocking. Again the selection of music also depends on the theme of party. If the theme is retro, then everything from costume, decoration to music will get changed. Good decoration creates proper ambiance so never compromise on the overall look of birthday party.

It’s your child birthday when you want to make him or her feel special. How will you do that? By throwing some party for them but are you aware of organizing birthday parties. Birthday parties come with complete package of fun as this is what kids always look for. Now first you have to decide whether you want party to be at your residence or want to select some another venue. Answer to this depends on your budget. Parties at home can also be made rocking and that on other places like resorts, restaurants, etc can also be made rocking.

Here are some of the things which you need to consider while carrying on with birthday party planning:

Budget for party:

Depending on your budget of party, activities like gaming, food, etc can be carried out. According to budget prepare the list of things to be done in the party and get the estimated cost. After getting estimate amount you can add things or deduct unnecessary expenses. Good food adds to the charm of party so whether you are arranging party for your child or for grandparents, see to it that delicious food is served.

Food to be served:

Menu of food depends on person for whom you are throwing party. Along with different eatables make arrangements for beverages as people of all age like to have cold drinks. In case you are arranging party for kid then make sure there are enough number of tissue papers, napkins, disposable glasses, plates, etc present in the party. Also do not forget to add favorite dish of your kid.

Entertainment related activities:

If the party is thrown for kids then there must be entertainment related activities like magic shows, fancy dress competition, etc. In case of elders you can arrange for some dance, singing competition, games, etc. If the theme of birthday party is love or something intimate then you need to have entertaining activities which involves different couples.

Number of guests to be invited:

Prepare the lists of guest you want to invite to your birthday party so that no one is left out. If you want to conclude party with limited number of people then your list should include the names close to your heart. Again here the budget factor plays important role, you can invite people according to your budget. Go through the list twice in order to rectify errors if any.

Party venue:

Party venue should be lively and the ambiance should make people to stay in party for long time. Decoration plays very important role here as bad decoration can even make good venue look ugly. Many time keeping things simple in birthday party can also work out in your favor. Your party venue should be convenient in terms of travelling for invitees.

Exhibition Promotion and Planning

How to stand out different from others while planning exhibition? This can be done only when your event is properly planned. Accurately planned events have least chances of going wrong. There are various things involved in exhibition promotion and planning like selecting venue, marketing, getting sponsorship, preparing committee, arranging finance, carrying out registration process, etc. All these things can be effectively done only when there is proper team work. Important part of exhibition planning is designing of stall and making arrangements for displays.

How to plan and promote your exhibition? You can get answer to this question by considering the below mentioned points:

Determine your objective: Determine the objective which is achievable. Don’t set targets which are impossible to reach. You have to be very practical in stating your aim as further exhibition promotion and planning depends on your aim. State the reason behind your exhibition so that you can easily set the targets. Directly point the dart towards target audience in order to achieve your objectives. Depending on your objective prepare marketing and sales plan. With exhibitions you can enhance your sales, develop customer relations, understand market scenario, building brand image, etc.

Competitors: Who are your competitors in exhibition? Depending on this you can strengthen your weakness and present yourself perfectly. There are many exhibitions held every year, so ask organizers to provide you with list of exhibitors so that you can get the idea of participants. Also ask for the people who have registered for this year’s exhibition and get in touch with attendees of event to know their likes as well as dislikes. This will help you in making accurate promotional plan.

Prepare checklist: Prepare checklist for exhibition promotion and planning in order to avoid last minute work. Proper planned schedule will allow you to continue with error free work. Once you are ready with the lists of work to be done then start allocating work to concerned people. Provide every staff member with particular deadline so that you can accomplish your work on timely basis. Your checklist should include content like stating objective, time limit, preparation of budget, requirement of area, graphic designing, promotional activity, trained staff, required data, etc.

Focus on product and design: What product you are exhibiting? Are you ready with design? Your product should not over shadow the design and neither your design should over shadow the product. Keep proper balance while displaying product in order to make design captivating. You hardly get time to grab attention of viewers as they have hundred things to look around. So in short period of time you have to manage to attract them towards your product. Don’t make too much display of product that viewer gets confused in understanding what exactly you want to sell. To whom your product is meant for must be accurately determined and this can be done by making proper arrangements of product and design.

Budget: You are in exhibition to gain profit for your business so keep in mind this factor while spending money on exhibition. Do not overdo with your expenses that you find it difficult to recover expenses and make profit. Following are the things you need to consider while preparing budget:

• Rent of space you occupying for exhibition

• Money involved behind construction of design

• Travelling expenses

• Cost of transportation

• Money involved behind various promotional activities

Middle East Event Show 2012

EMDI UAE is 'knowledge partner' for ongoing Middle East Event Show 2012. — at Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre.