CONFIDENCE in Singapore’s business events capabilities have been given a further boost with the destination taking centre stage in Las Vegas during the PCMA Convening Leaders conference.
Singapore Tourism Board was named as the 2022 PCMA Chair’s Award Winner for “showing outstanding leadership in the industry during the pandemic”.
The award is given each year to an organisation or individual considered by the Professional Convention Management Association to have made a unique achievement or contribution to the meetings industry in the previous year.
The top-ranking award comes as two Singaporeans were named among the convention management association’s “20 in Their Twenties” – an annual event to honour young people who have shown leadership and ideas to take the industry forward.
Pauline Cheong (above left), assistant sales manager at Marina Bay Sands, and Gladys Goh (right), conventions manager with Singapore Tourism Board, shared the honours in front of an audience of 2,500 at Caesars Forum, where earlier pop icon Paula Abdul had performed for delegates.
Meanwhile in Singapore, companies can host up to a thousand people at work-related events provided authorities are notified under recently relaxed restrictions.
Event attendees must be fully vaccinated or can prove they are medically ineligible for vaccines.
Conferences, trade shows and exhibitions involving more interaction between participants require separate approval from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Edward Koh, executive director at Singapore Tourism Board, said the honours reflected how the city state combated the Covid pandemic while encouraging its business events and international conference industry to move forward”.
In thanking the PCMA for the Chair’s Award, Koh said in a social media posting that it was a “great honour for our industry and partners who continued to believe and press on with grit and determination.
In an earlier message to the PCMA’s 8,400-strong global membership after being chosen as one of the 20 in Their Twenties, Cheong said new skills she learned during the pandemic, including the association’s Digital Event Strategist diploma, were invaluable.
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“As event professionals, we must continue to innovate and constantly push the boundaries — pushing ourselves to not only excel in what we do, but to have the courage to try something new,” Cheong told the PCMA Convene portal.
“Collaborations are also very important, be it with our colleagues, clients, or industry peers. It is through such partnerships that we’re able to leverage each other’s collective strengths and shared experiences to drive better outcomes.”
STB’s Goh said: “Now more than ever, there needs to be a stronger focus on transformation and for the industry to embody a warrior mentality. This means being agile and adaptable, investing in change, having the courage to innovate, implementing new capabilities and new business models, and committing to do whatever it takes to succeed.”
PCMA Convening Leaders 2022 closed on January 12.
