Event ACM International Collegiate Programming Competition
Client IBM
Organiser Pacific World China
Delegates 900
Date February 1-5



The brief
IBM chose Harbin as the host city because of Harbin Engineering University’s support for its programme. However, the city hosts few large international events and Pacific World was brought in to ensure things ran smoothly. The client was also keen to include a project that would benefit the community.

Challenges
Harbin does not have many international hotels, and none were capable of hosting the whole group. “We split the group between Sofitel, Shangri-La and a local hotel chain, New Paris,” says Merrisa Xia, senior travel account manager, Pacific World Shanghai and Beijing.

Transport also proved difficult. The requested coaches were unavailable due to the popularity of the city’s ice sculpture attractions with tour groups. “We ended up using a mix of coach sizes in coordination with the university,” says Xia.

Execution
The university organised a regular shuttle service to transfer delegates from the airport to their hotels. They also provided a ski jacket and pants, while IBM provided hats, gloves and neck warmers. Sessions were held each morning at the university, followed by off-site activities. Delegates travelled to Sun Island to see its famous ice sculptures and the following day made their own sculptures during a snow-based teambuilding activity.

On the final afternoon delegates assembled two truckloads of toys for a local orphanage, where several of the children accepted the donation. A gala dinner was held at Hong Shi Hui, a local restaurant experienced in hosting large-scale events.

“The restaurant had two permanent stages, which meant we could hold performances on one and formal presentations on the other,” says Xia. “The Starlight acrobatic troupe was flown in from Shanghai and the delegates participated in Karaoke Idol, the final round of the nightly dinner competition.”

Comment
“A lot of our requests were new to the staff,” says Xia. “However, once we explained the steps involved and compromised on some fronts we were able to achieve a good result.”