Event Fortinet Partner Conference 2010
Venue Grand Hyatt Macau
Organiser DOC DMC Macau
Delegates 270
Date March 8-10
 



The brief
Fortinet, a worldwide network security vendor, held its annual partner conference in Macau to share its business growth strategy, product roadmap and expertise in the security market with its distributors. The company also wanted to reward its most committed partners and celebrate its 2009 results.
 
Challenges
“The welcoming of delegates to Macau was logistically difficult as Fortinet’s organising committee assured us delegates would not require assistance upon arrival,” says Bruno Simoes, CEO of event organiser, DOC DMC Macau. “So we did not have a list of arrival times, but we wanted to be available in case they had any difficulties. We arranged staff to welcome the delegates at both ferry terminals and the airport until 2am, which worked fine.”
 
Additionally, half the group was from Asia Pacific and the other half was coming from Europe. “Successfully catering for such a diverse international group is a challenge that was well handled by Grand Hyatt Macau,” he says.
 
Execution
The conference began with a full-day programme at the hotel.
 
Following the morning session on the second day, a scavenger hunt was held in the old town. The group was broken into smaller teams of 10 people and followed clues around Macau that focused on the local history and its Portuguese settlers. The activity concluded with a lion dance and group photo in front of the Ruins of St. Paul.
 
The evening’s gala dinner was held in Grand Hyatt’s ballroom and included an awards ceremony for Fortinet’s highest contributing partners.

“The dinner was simple with a jazz band accompanying pre- and post-dinner drinks,” says Simoes. “The group was pleasantly surprised by the live kitchen within the Salao do Teatro ballroom, from which dessert was prepared and served.”
 
Comment
“We wanted a convenient and attractive location able to handle delegates from most European and Asian countries, and to leave them with a strong and positive image of our conference,” says Remi Clermont, EMEA marketing, Fortinet. “Macau and Grand Hyatt definitely achieved this objective. Delegates were satisfied with their experience.”

Simoes says: “Fortinet chose Macau for its attractiveness to Asian clients and centrality for European clients [with Hong Kong International Airport as a hub]. The pricing was competitive and Fortinet liked the convenience of holding everything at one main venue within a relatively small destination, given the short duration of the event.”