The first day of September saw the S Events team assembled at London's Heathrow airport in the early hours, checking-in for the first leg of the 5,730 mile trip from UK to the Korean Peninsula.
After some 14 hours of we arrived at our destination: Jeju Island, South Korea.
Jeju is an active volcanic island off the coast of south Korea. Several thousands of years of persistent volcanic activity helped shaped the island to what it is today. It is the largest island off the Korean Peninsula and the main island of the Jeju province of South Korea. It is also home to the World Heritage Site: Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes.
The Event
We arrived at Shinhwa World and checked in at the Marriott resort where we were staying, just a stone's throw from the Jeju Shinhwa World Theme Park, which is part of the resort and our event there.
There's an undeniable sense of wonder and excitement staying on location at a theme park, much like if you went to Disneyworld and woke to the view of Sleeping Beauty's castle. Only a few hours rest before having to regroup and get to work to begin preparing for the arrival of 500 delegates in a few days at the resort for the three-day event.
The three-day event consists of a Welcome Dinner on the first day, scheduled to take place at the theme park. On the second day, we have a full day Conference at the resorts convention centre, ending the day with a three-course Gala Dinner. And finally, on the last day we have a half-day training and seminars for the delegates.
Up until this point, we had been exceptionally lucky with the weather during our live international events. Unfortunately, on this occasion our luck run out. The next morning we woke to a government typhoon warning for the region due to arrive that very evening, forcing a rethink of our open-air welcome dinner arrangements at the theme park.
Following a quick team breakfast meeting, we decided to execute 'Plan B' to hold the Welcome Dinner in one of the convention centre's banquet halls, rather than having delegates dining Al Fresco whilst lashed with rain and strong winds. It would be total carnage and certainly not much of a welcome.
So we dashed over to the resort's theme park and convention centre to check out the event space. It was all hands on deck as the team rushed around preparing for the arrival of the delegates.
DAY 1
Final checks were carried out in anticipation of the arrival as a fleet of coaches pulled up outside the convention centre's lobby, we found ourselves surrounded by delegates, caterers, dancers and local media, all needing registration and direction to hotel rooms.
As the lobby quickly filled up, the timely arrival of the meet and greet hostesses helped welcome the stream of delegates alighting off coaches and into the convention centre. Like a finely tuned machine, our events team sprang into action tending to the influx of arrivals with the meet and greet hostesses on hand to assist with processing delegates. A quintet of traditional Korean percussionists were also deployed to keep arriving guests entertained, as well as a welcome drinks reception.
When the final incoming delegates were checked-in, and with the convention lobby filled with attendees, it was time to open the doors to the ballroom for the welcome buffet dinner, as 500 hungry delegates made a bee-line for the food, when dinner was announced.
As luck would have it the earlier broadcast government typhoon warning was downgraded having changed course, so after checking it that it was safe and practical, guests were migrated out to the theme park after dinner to hobnob in the outdoor space for the rest of the evening to enjoy live music and have a bit of a dance, and of course fireworks. The evening wrapped relatively early, this being only day one of a three-day event. Exhausted guests retired to their luxury hotel suites allowing us to blitz the area and reset for the start of day two the very next morning.
DAY 2
Waking up to calm blue skies and brilliant sunshine the next morning, if you hadn't been told, you'd never have guessed about the typhoon warning in place only 24 hours earlier.
Day Two kicked off with a full day's conferencing for the delegates, giving us ample time to begin the set-up for the big luxury three-course black-tie gala dinner that evening.
Dinner for 500?
No problem.
As the full day's conference wrapped with the stage and lighting set up, dinner arrangements were in place. That's 500 place settings; a Sisyphean task if you're the one folding 500 starched linen napkins.
With everyone moving at lightning speed, every last detail was in place as guests began arriving at the banquet hall in black-tie to take their seats for the start of the three-course dinner at 18:30.
Following after-dinner speeches and photo opportunities, the evening was rounded up with live music and dance performances.
DAY 3
The final day of the event saw a half day conference, with a training day for the delegates. Which gave them the rest of the day to enjoy the resort and well as some pre-booked tour packages, where they got to explore the unique island.
As the sun set on Jeju island and another successful event, bringing the three-day event to a close.
Returning back to the UK and following a thorough debriefing of the event, we were absolutely stoked to have been left this first-class testimonial from our client.
"Working with S-Events to plan E-Platform365 corporate events has been an amazing experience. I seriously couldn't imagine any other event company doing a better job. Their team is extremely organised and detail-oriented without ever being high strung or stressed out. They are fun and easy to work with. All details were attended to professionally and not only were they incredibly responsive, they were all around extraordinary. I am still amazed at how much work was put into each event that we have accomplished and how effortlessly smooth they made the whole process. Time and again S-Events took my vision that to some probably didn't make sense on paper and made it a reality. Each event was incredible from the Welcome Dinner, Meeting Conference, and the Gala Dinner, each reception was top tier. All of our guests were wowed by the beautiful decor and astounding entertainments. The success of our Company events rested on S-Event's team and I cannot thank them enough, and I'm looking forward to continue working with S-Events team on all our futures events."
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