How do you win so many bids when Sarawak is a relatively small destination?
There is no shortage of association events, but there is a shortage of local association chapters who are ready and willing to bid for them. However, SCB has a good track record in winning bids that other Malaysian cities have not succeeded in winning. Our offering has been strengthened with the opening of the International Centre for Industrial Development (ICID) in Kuching in May 2010. It acts as a local host when there is no Malaysian chapter. The centre also works with the universities to form a local chapter if there is not one already and it is a requirement of the bid.
The Laboratory Safety Institute (LSI) is the fourth association to open a regional office in Sarawak since ICID opened. LSI president and CEO James Kaufman is also the chair of the safety committee of the International Council for Associations of Science Education, which will host 1,000 delegates in Kuching for its World Conference on Science and Technology Education in 2013.
SCB has a new office in Kuala Lumpur, where about half our clients are based. So we are able to work more closely with them, as well as with the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB).
How is the partnership with MyCEB working?
SCB launched its subvention offering in 2008, but there was some concern that with such strong financial support for subvention recently approved for MyCEB, our budget may be cut. But the state government understands that a contract with MyCEB does not necessarily tie the event to Sarawak, even if we are involved in the bid, and our annual funding for subvention of US$1.65 million was extended for five years at the end of 2010.
What does this mean for planners?
Association conferences are planned years in advance, so we sign a contract with the organisers that include holding the allotted funding in a trust until it is needed. This ensures that any future changes in policy, or even government, will not effect existing agreements. Of the 68 contracts the bureau has signed to date, 28 have been completed.