In our 30-year history, our international bankers’ association has organised hundreds of annual conferences, meetings and training events in as many cities and countries.
With so much previous meeting experience, we have drawn up checklists and guidelines to help us in our planning. Since bankers use a lot of analyses in their work, the same can be true of event planning.
Our two big-ticket events rotate around the Asia Pacific. This year, Hanoi has been chosen to host the Annual Meetings and Bangkok for the CEO Forum.
The choice of destinations is usually member driven and voluntary. The choice of hotel venue depends on whether the hotel is conveniently located near the headquarters of the host bank and local VIPs to be invited to the event.
We work one year in advance. Even with the checklists, we will go to the country to check the hotels and venue. It’s not just a question of choosing rooms in a hotel but whether it has breakout rooms, the layout, facilities, service staff, pricing and so on.
As the last day of each convention is allotted for leisure, it is essential that the venue has something special to offer to the visiting delegates who have to “switch gears” from being business persons during the conference to tourists on the last day.
We also find that incentive/study-tour programmes are becoming popular with the membership.
For an event to be successful, it must be a balanced and pleasant experience for delegates. Activities such as tours, sports and shopping are an integral part of each of our conferences not only for the delegates but for their accompanying persons as well.
Event managers have to keep in mind that networking is not always spontaneous (especially in Asia) and has to be built into the event agenda.
• The Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific, (ADFIAP) brings together development banks and other financial institutions engaged in the financing of development in the region.
