Xi Lan Talks About Delighting Clients In Beijing

Xi Lan is the general manager for CSR and the interactive marketing department of Assyria. She talks to China Hospitality News about organizing MICE and public relations events in Beijing.

What advantages does your company have with regards to MICE?
First, Assyria's executive team insists on a professional and innovative service concept for every detail of the company's service, winning clients' recognition. Second, Assyria has set up a sound quality supervision and management system based on the experience of serving many of the Fortune 500 companies. From the draft resolution to the completion of an event, Assyria ensures that each procedure is follows this strict quality supervision system. Third, Assyria pays great attention to the values of clients, and this will delight clients by innovative and effective implementation. Fourth, Assyria has extensive resources from governments, NGOs, media, advertisers, and third party service institutions to broaden meet client's requirement. In addition, the company also has a database that meets our clients' requirements to invite the right people to participate in meetings. Fifth, Assyria has its own project evaluation system to guarantee the accurate implementation of projects through criteria such as clear goals, measurability of results, achievability of goals, enforceability of plans, and timeliness of process management.

What are the prospects for business travel to Beijing in the second half of 2010?
Though the 2010 Shanghai Expo has attracted some business travel activities in Shanghai, business travel in Beijing will continue to boom in the second half of 2010 as it is the headquarters of many multinational companies and large state-owned enterprises, and it is the political and cultural center of China.

What are your requirements If an event or meeting is to be held in a hotel?
Different activities with different participants equire different venues. There are several criteria when choosing a suitable venue. First, the grade of the hotel; second, the hardware and software facilities of the hotel; third, is it an environmentally-friendly hotel ; and fourth, convenient transport. Langham Place Beijing Capital Airport's “Fashion Life” concept is quite attractive, because I like new things and innovative concepts, and I expect to cooperate with the newly-opened hotel.

Please list all the hotels you have used in Beijing.
The company runs many programs each month, therefore it has cooperated with many hotels in CBD, Chang'an Avenue, Financial Street, Zhongguancun, and even in the suburbs of Beijing.

Which hotel's meeting products and services have impressed you the most? Why?
Hotels with mature and sound service systems and well-trained staff have impressed me a lot, as these hotels can help guests solve their clients problems.

What resource advantages does Beijing have as a MICE destination?
As a historical city, Beijing has a rich culture background; I would integrate Beijing's culture into some programs. Easy information access, rich media resources, central government and ministries, all these are advantageous resources in Beijing.

What resources in Beijing can be used in corporate MICE activities to delight clients in Beijing?
Beijing's historic culture, the Olympic Games venues, and its tourist attractions can all be used in MICE activities.

Please share with our readers the details of a creative event that your team has organized.
Our team once undertook the release of the operating guidelines for China of a multinational corporation. It was a global corporate event, and branches in other countries branches had successfully integrated their national culture into the event. Our team proposed several Chinese elements and it was finally decided to use the Great Wall as the key element of the event. We planned the event in three phases. The first phase was to urge participants to think about how a great company is established and developed. The design team had made a series of posters about how to build the Great Wall. Then, on a Monday morning, the employees of the company saw the posters in the public areas of the company, and the questions listed on the posters lead to discussions in the company. In the second phase, the company employees were asked to climb the real Great Wall and think about the questions raised in the first phase. Then the guidelines were officially released in the Commune by the Great Wall. Our team made another series of posters for the third phase to increase the employees' understanding of the guidelines.

The three-phase program was a big success. It was praised highly the client, and was awarded the Best PR Case of the year by the China International Public Relations Association.