Event Geely China 2010 Annual Sales Conference
Venue Shangri-La Ningbo
Group size 1,150
Date January 25-27





The brief
Shanghai Geely International is a Chinese car manufacturer based in Hangzhou. The company produces 40,000 vehicles for export each year. The group has 500 shops and nearly 600 service stations.

Geely wanted to hold its annual sales conference for all of its China sales agents in a quiet environment away from city distractions.

Challenges
Prior to the sales conference, 10 tonnes of meeting materials and gifts had to be shipped to Shangri-La Ningbo from Geely’s Hangzhou office and, upon arriving, hotel staff had to move and store it all.

Geely’s group of 1,150 arrived in one large group so there was a lot of pressure on housekeeping to deliver ready rooms at the same time.

The hectic scheduling of the conference meant that the main ballroom had to change from a theatre set-up for 1,150 people into a banquet set-up for the same number with only one hour for turnaround. At other meal times, Shangri-La Ningbo used all of its various multifunction rooms to feed the large group simultaneously.

During the main part of the conference, the hotel also had to fit nine cars into its 2,000 sqm grand ballroom so that delegates could view the products.

Execution
The event was organised by four staff from Geely’s and took two months to plan. It was held in Shangri-La’s Grand Ballroom, junior ballroom and breakout rooms. The conference tagline was ‘To aspire after excellence and produce the best auto brand’.

The event consisted of a main meeting, three lunches and two banquets for which 250 chefs were mobilised. The final dinner for sales agents involved song and dance performances by Geely’s staff.

There was also a test-driving session for the company’s new cars on the final day.

Comment
“This was a large-scale event for us with 1,150 attendees at the meeting,” says a Geely spokesperson. “The hotel’s service was excellent and efficient, enabling us to deliver a successful meeting.”