Event Hop Lun ‘Summer Fun 2009’
Venue Venetian Macau
Client Hop Lun
Organisers Farrington American Express and Venetian Macau
Group size 180
Date August 7-8


The brief
Hop Lun is a Hong Kong-based international lingerie and swimwear design and manufacturing company. Each year it organises a ‘Summer Fun’ event to thank staff for their hard work throughout the year.

Management wanted the staff to have fun and also make use of the opportunity to bring together staff from different divisions of the company. Hop Lun had held events in Macau before, but felt the recent development of the city justified a return visit.

The company worked with Farrington American Express Travel Services to book rooms, transportation and event venues, and Venetian Macau for the teambuilding exercises, entertainment and meals.

Challenges
“We used to include teambuilding exercises in our Summer Fun, so it is always a challenge to come up with fun tasks involving all staff and which they have never done before,” says David Pong, Hop Lun chief operating officer.

“The other problem was that as we had held Summer Fun in Macau before, we needed to give a brand-new experience to the staff.”

Execution
Weeks before the event, the Hop Lun Summer Fun organising committee went on a site visit and met the Venetian Macau management team to check the venue and logistics arrangement.

They also discussed teambuilding exercises to ensure these were activities that Hop Lun staff would enjoy.

The Venetian agreed to set-up a designated check-in counter that gave staff the chance to check-in separately, which turned out to be a great help in smoothing out logistics.

The Venetian’s event management team also suggested several teambuilding activities such as circus tricks and Ballista building, which fitted Hop Lun’s aims of a teambuilding exercise that was fun, challenging, and promoting collaboration among staff.

Dinner on day one ended with a lucky draw and the evening’s entertainment was Zaia, the Cirque du Soleil show resident at the Venetian.

Comment
“We have worked with Farrington American Express before and the company is familiar with our culture and requirements,” says Pong. “Venetian offered a very competitive package in their rooms, meals and the show and, because it was all under one roof, we didn’t have to worry about changing locations or the weather.

“Things progressed more smoothly than expected, which gave the staff some extra hours in their sightseeing and gourmet hunting in Macau. Our staff was amazed by changes such as the Piazza and the gondola ride. We all had a wonderful and enjoyable weekend together.”