Event Roche China Annual Meeting
Organisers Banson Exhibition and Event Services (BEES) China and Event Services Japan
Venue Hyatt Regency Tokyo and Hilton Tokyo
Group size 550
Date January 27 to 30



The brief
Roche China wanted to host a teambuilding event, meeting and gala dinner for its China sales staff. The theme of the event was ‘Aiming for the Pinnacle’.

Event Services Japan was chosen as the local event production company in Tokyo while BEES was Roche’s main agent from China.

Challenges
The main challenge was that the event had to be conducted across two venues. Roche’s group was staying at the Hilton, but the ballroom was unavailable for the morning meetings so Event Services used the nearby Hyatt Regency Tokyo instead.

“We moved in the night before and set everything up in time for the 9am meeting,” says Lucky Morimoto, CEO of Event Services. “We moved everything back to the Hilton right after the meeting finished at 12.30pm. It took four hours to pack everything and then set up at Hilton in time for the gala dinner.”

Event Services Japan had created a huge backdrop featuring Mt Fuji as part of the decoration. This highlighted the event’s theme, but was difficult to move.

Between the meeting and the gala dinner the Roche group attended a teambuilding activity on the Hilton’s tennis courts where the staff formed the shape of a human Chinese character.

“The human character took one hour to organise and 30 minutes for the photography,” says Morimoto. ”We marked the court in advance with white tape so people knew where to stand. The character they formed is the Chinese character for ‘Will’. This was because the Chinese translation of the event theme ‘Aiming for the Pinnacle’ is ‘Strong will to achieve a goal’.”

Execution
The Roche group arrived the night before the meeting. After the day’s events it was time for the gala dinner in the Hilton ballroom. The evening began with Japanese Taiko drums, the huge Mt Fuji backdrop and two large screens to broadcast the event across the room.

The main entertainment was a ‘talent show’ among Roche’s staff from different regions in China. “The various teams designed their own performance with some Japanese costumes and dances,” says Morimoto. “Others sang songs or had different themes and some even performed an act from the musical Chicago. Prizes were awarded afterwards to the popular winners.”

The next day Roche separated into different groups for incentive tours to different parts of Japan. The options were Mt Fuji Hot Springs; Kyoto, Nara and Osaka; Tokyo Disneyland; and Hokkaido.

Comment
“When we suggested this destination as an option the client agreed immediately,” says Jerry Yee, head of Banson Exhibition and Event Services China. “Japan has a strong cultural influence all over the world. It is a must-visit destination for younger Chinese people.

“Event Services was reliable and did a great job. They were also flexible with our requests, which was a great help.”