W GUANGZHOU is offering a promotion for meetings until the end of this year.

Mix & Mingle Package, available for half- and full-day meetings, includes use of a studio space, high-speed Internet access, signature mocktails, recess and flower arrangements to complete the lavish ambience.

Mix It Up Package is available for groups that book up to 20 Wonderful rooms for a night’s stay. It includes breakfast, triple Starwood Preferred Planner reward points and unlimited Internet access.

Visit www.WGuangzhou.com for more details.

THE 4th Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES 2013) in Kuala Lumpur next month will feature a keynote address by US president Barack Obama.

The two-day summit, which was launched in 2009 by the president to spur job creation through entrepreneurship by connecting young innovators with resources and ideas, will be held at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre from October 11.

Chairperson of the event’s steering committee, Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, who is also the secretary general of treasury at the Ministry of Finance, said there would be at least 93 speakers representing over 90 organisations from more than 26 countries speaking at this year’s summit. Notable speakers include W Chan Kim, co-author of Blue Ocean Strategy and Joel A Barker, futurist and author.

Some 3,500 attendees are expected.

AOS Conventions & Events is the appointed PCO for GES 2013.

HOSTING rights to two healthcare conventions and a youth empowerment conference have been secured by the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB).

The 9^th Asia Pacific Clinical Nutrition Society Conference 2015, jointly organised by the Nutrition Society of Malaysia and Asia Pacific Clinical Nutrition Society, is estimated to attract some 1,000 delegates from Asia between January 26 and 29. This event is projected to contribute approximately RM10 million (US$3 million) in economic impact and RM6 million in visitor expenditure.

Also taking place in 2015 is the Asia Pacific Conference of the Junior Chamber International 2015, organised by the Junior Chamber International, a non-profit organisation with more than 200,000 youths from 100 countries in its membership. The event will take place from May 22-25, 2015 and is expected to generate approximately RM55.8 million in economic impact and RM33.8 million in visitor expenditure.

Malaysia’s third recent MICE win is the five-day Spine Week 2016, which will be hosted from May 16-20. A collaboration of seven societies including the North American Spine Society and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research, the convention is targeted to yield more than RM57 million in economic impact and RM35 million in visitor expenditure.

MALAYSIA’S inaugural rAWr Awards, held yesterday evening at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, bestowed honours upon several top achievers in the country’s business events industry.

Jointly organised by the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) and the Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (MACEOS), the event covers 27 categories within the four main components of the MICE industry including Best International Conference, Best Trade Exhibition, Best Incentive Programme, Best Event and Best Environmental Initiative.

Winners included Console Communications, which bagged both the International Conference Award for Excellence and Professional Conference Organiser Award for Excellence; Radius Exhibits & Interiors, which received the Event Management Company Award for Excellence, Environmental Initiative Award for Excellence and Business Events Products & Services Award for Excellence; and Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, which won the Purpose Built Convention & Exhibition Centre Award for Excellence.

According to MyCEB’s general manager sales and marketing, Ho Yoke Ping, the awards drew 85 entries from industry players.

The main award for the night – the Minister’s Award – was given to Muhammad Leo Michael Toyad Abdullah, chairman of the Sarawak Convention Bureau, for his outstanding performance and contribution to the business events industry. He said the award would spur his team further in contributing to the development of Malaysia’s business events industry.

Yap Shook Fung, director of Console Communications, said the company’s two wins were “a very important recognition for our work and contribution towards the business events industry in Malaysia”.

Also elated, Radius Exhibits & Interiors’ executive director, Sean Choo, said the awards would motivate the firm to “become even better”.

Commenting on the event, Zulkefli Sharif, MyCEB CEO, said: “These wins…create a benchmark for business event players to consistently provide the best services and products to event organisers and attendees. MyCEB believes that apart from promoting the country internationally, it is also important to recognise and honour local industry players. These are the people who are creating an impact to attract our global markets.”

“We trust that winners will…leverage this industry recognition for their own sales and marketing efforts,” said Jonathan Kan, president of MACEOS.

A RECORD 5,000 participants attended the 2013 Greater China Nu Skin Academy, an annual event organised by global direct selling company, Nu Skin, earlier this week in Macau.

This is the third Greater China Nu Skin Academy to be hosted in Macau, and the destination has again secured a win for the 2014 edition.

Explaining the company’s preference for Macau, Nu Skin Greater China, regional vice president, leaderships and president, Hong Kong & Macau, Patrick Yeung, said: “Accessibility is key, as the event is attended by business partners from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and China (the latter contributes 80 per cent of the event’s attendees).

“Furthermore, Macau is an excellent conference destination. The event’s venue, Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Central, provided great support on logistics and accommodation arrangements.”

Yeung revealed that the company had invested over US$10 million to prepare for the gathering a year in advance.

To ensure a “smooth organisation” of the event, a taskforce comprising members of Nu Skin’s internal events team, staff from various departments as well as an external production house and other vendors was formed.

The programme featured seminars, workshops, teambuilding activities and a gala dinner.

Delegates also came together to set a new Guinness World Record for having the most number of people seated on a single chair. Nu Skin’s 1,666 delegates made the successful attempt to break the former record set by 1,311 people in Onojo City, Fukuoka, Japan, in October 2012.

Dubai and Hong Kong will stand to gain from Nu Skin’s lineup of massive events next year through an 8,000-pax incentive in April and the 40,000-pax Nu Skin Greater China Regional Convention in June, respectively.