Asia Pacific Conference 2013
Post-Conference Report 19 Keppel Road, #03-01 Jit Poh Building, Singapore 089058 +65 65728621 ďƒ§ www.aiesec.org.sg
Foreword Hey AIESEC! From the moment AIESEC Singapore won the bid to host Asia Pacific eXchange & Leadership Development Seminar (APXLDS) 2013, it has been clear that we wanted to DARE TO DREAM of doing something different. Creating the blueprint for dream experiences was definitely not easy – there were certainly failures and unexpected challenges, but for the most part, the dream came through and presented itself in some amazing surprises! 23 to 29 March 2013 were no ordinary 7 days; they were 7 days of discovery, challenge and break-through for everyone involved and engaged through the various events and platforms of the conference. These 7 days also witnessed the birth of the first ever Asia Pacific Youth to Business Forum and the first ever Engagement with AIESEC event organized by AIESEC Singapore, Youth Leaders Summit. We are proud to have conceptualized and executed Asia Pacific Conference 2013! Thank you to all Dream Achievers for making this dream worth creating.
On behalf of the Dream Architects Asia Pacific Conference 2013 Congress Committee team, Amanda
About Asia Pacific Conference 2013 Asia Pacific Conference is the largest annual regional conference of AIESEC in Asia Pacific. Asia Pacific Conference 2013 took place in Singapore, consisting of a series of major events from 23 to 29 March 2013 aimed at further developing the leadership qualities of and promoting collaboration between youth leaders both in Singapore as well as Asia Pacific. With over 250 Asia Pacific and 100 Singapore talented and passionate youth leaders in attendance, a culturally diverse environment was created for the sharing of different ideas and perspectives. Asia Pacific eXchange & Leadership Development Seminar (APXLDS) • Summary: 7-day conference for AIESEC youth leaders to interact and discuss regional issues and strategies for AIESEC in Asia Pacific • Dates: 23 to 29 March 2013 (Saturday to Friday) • Venue: Costa Sands Resort (Downtown East) • Profile: 250 youth leaders from AIESEC in Asia Pacific
Global Village (GV) • Summary: Cultural festival featuring country booths and performances • Date: 23 March 2013 (Saturday) • Venue: Marina Event Square Bayfront Link • Profile: 2000 youth and public from Singapore and Asia Pacific
Youth Leaders Summit (YLS) • Summary: Full-day conference discussing key Singapore issues and action steps to create positive impact • Date: 24 March 2013 (Sunday) • Venue: Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) • Profile: 100 Singapore and Asia Pacific tertiary youth
Asia Pacific Youth to Business (AP Y2B) Forum • Summary: Full-day dialogue and interactive sessions between youth and businesses • Date: 25 March 2013 (Monday) • Venue: Temasek Polytechnic (TP) • Profile: 350 youth from Singapore and Asia Pacific
Asia Pacific Awards & Singapore Night • Summary: Award ceremony for entities of AIESEC in Asia Pacific and Singaporethemed dinner celebration • Date: 28 March 2013 (Thursday) • Venue: Aranda Country Club Poolside • Profile: 250 youth leaders from AIESEC in Asia Pacific
Asia Pacific Conference 2013 at a Glance Delegates • 244 APXLDS delegates • 26 entities Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Cambodia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mainland of China, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Rwanda, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, The Philippines, United States and Vietnam
Partners • General Accommodation, Main Venue and Food Vendor: Costa Sands Resort (Downtown East) Merchandise Sponsors: AIESEC Singapore Alumni Association; JobStreet; Sentosa Monetary Sponsors: PwC; GTI Media
• Global Village (GOH: Member of Parliament Mr. Pritam Singh) Official Venue Partner: Urban Redevelopment Authority Drinks Sponsor: Redbull Youth Partner: Temasek Foundation Merchandise Sponsors: Korean Tourism Organization; Embassy of Ukraine in Singapore
• Youth Leaders Summit (GOH: Member of Parliament Mr. Desmond Lee;
Chair: Mr. Ethen Ong) Official Youth Partner: People’s Association Youth Movement Official Venue Partner: Singapore Institute of Management Other Speakers: UBS; SMU Wee Kim Wee Centre
• Asia Pacific Youth to Business Forum (Chair: Mr. Markus Keiper) Champion Partner: Genting Hong Kong Official Venue Partner: Temasek Polytechnic Monetary Sponsors: Schlumberger; SMU Wee Kim Wee Centre; RecruitPlus; Microsoft Other Speakers: Chatsworth Media@rt Academy; Quantico Communications; PRecious Communications; Sentosa; The Hub; UBS, Achieve Global; CSR Singapore; Standard Chartered Bank Visual Recording Artist: Mr. Thum Cheng Cheong
Asia Pacific Awards & Singapore Night Venue Vendor: Aranda Country Club Catering Vendor: Orange Clove
Internal Operations & Administration Responsibilities include the following: • Oversee the administrative requirements of the conference • Track the involvement and developments in the various functions • Provide the overall learning and camaraderie of the CC team
• Ensure CC internal communication and information management
Internal Operations Was Good
• Consistent high quality recruitment process and packages • Constant evaluation of manpower and other resource needs To Improve • Co-ordination and assistance from LCs in recruitment and resource provision (eg. venues for CC team key events and meetings) • Promotion channels for recruitment • Expectation setting of CC, MC and LCs’ involvement
Other Observations/Suggestions • Develop a system that supports ongoing recruitment and turnover, especially in the last 3 months prior to actual conference
Internal Administration Was Good • Frequent internal CC team surveys enabled better response to actual needs in this area • Usage of wide variety of tools (eg. Google site, tracking software, meeting minutes, Dropbox etc) to support department and cross-functional work To Improve • Streamlining of tools and process for easier information management and retrieval
Internal Communication Was Good • Usage of social media and other tools, with clear distinction of communication purpose for each tool • Messages sent out to CC team were specially crafted, often with accompanying visuals and/or videos and clear follow-up action steps To Improve • Ability of CC team to keep up with overwhelming and fast-changing information about the conference Other Observations/Suggestions • As the experience (in terms of AIESEC and/or conference management) level and CC joining date of the CC team varies a lot, we have had difficulties ensuring that the entire CC team was constantly kept up-to-date with other departments and the overall progress.
On-Site Manpower Consolidation Was Good • On-site manpower surveys and consolidation were largely comprehensive and accurate To Improve • Individual manpower schedules and attendance checks • Provision of further assistance towards the actual conference operations plan after manpower consolidation
Department Teamwork Was Good • Department work expectation setting was clear and constantly reviewed • Autonomy in their respective areas of responsibility was given • Supported the direct operations of other departments as well, where appropriate To Improve • CCVP could have outsourced more tasks to CCTLs
Finance Responsibilities include the following: • Ongoing finance and budget management • Financial input on key decision-making • Planning and implementation of revenue-generating initiatives
• Financial education and management of CC team and other conference-related personnel and/or activities
Budgeting Was Good • Constant budget reviews within the core CC team provided up-to-date understanding of the financial situation and playing field • 80% of expense items followed the budget with acceptable variance To Improve • Budgeting of revenue to be more comprehensive and in-depth, considering different kinds of factors such as the external market, enabling revenue items and amounts to be budgeted more accurately with each review • Communication and clear explicit decision-making protocols between the CC and MC for the planning period and especially during the actual conference Other Observations/Suggestions • There were instances whereby the budget was interpreted and executed differently from its original intention – more education and clarification avenues of the budget and its rationale could be explored
Risk Assessment Was Good • First conference-specific risk assessment framework created by a taskforce provided general reference To Improve
• More comprehensive risk assessment framework and its education
Grants Was Good • Consulted experienced alumni throughout the grant proposal creation and application process • Conducted extensive research for new grants to apply for, resulting in over 20 grant applications made, with around half of them being in contact with AIESEC for the first time To Improve • Even more targeted crafting of grant proposals
Alumni Sponsorship Was Good • Received support from alumni in the initiative’s execution and raised alumni engagement with the conference • Generated around SGD1.5k in direct cash sponsorship and alumni referrals for other types of partnerships To Improve • Implement this initiative earlier (we started it only in January 2013) and provide various points of alumni involvement in the conference throughout its duration • Co-ordination between MC and CC for access to alumni to provide sponsorship as well as leveraging on the conference as a strategic tool for national alumni engagement plans
Daily Finance Duties Other Observations/Suggestions • Educate more people in the CC team on how to manage financial transactions, especially for the actual conference • *Open a separate bank account for the conference as it was cumbersome for the CCP, CCVP F and MCVP F to track conference-related transactions via the AIESEC Singapore bank account for follow-up
External Relations Responsibilities include the following: • Source for monetary sponsorships • Acquire merchandise sponsorship for goodie bag, catering, venue etc • Partner servicing and partnership delivery
Product Development Was Good • Various products with different target audiences for selling, both in the Singapore market and Asia Pacific market • Flexible pricing policy and product offering when actual conference was drawing near (although this could have been started earlier) • Prospecting materials designed and branded professionally with input from some externals and alumni To Improve • Even more frequent reviews of pricing policy and product offering with more input from MC, externals and alumni to reflect more accurate market realities and adjust accordingly • More input from AIESEC entities in the Asia Pacific region for our regional products and pricing
Sales Was Good • Timeline drawn up and constantly reviewed • MC-CC sales target split provided better clarity and accountability (although this could have been done earlier) • Effort and support provided by some AIESEC entities in the Asia Pacific, such as Hong Kong and Cambodia, in particular Afghanistan – although no regional monetary sponsorship materialized, it was a first step in the right direction and raised the profile of the conference in
the region To Improve • Accountability of both MC and CC sales teams among themselves and to their respective teams
Sales (continued) To Improve (continued) • Start the intensive sales period earlier • Co-ordination between MC, LCs and CC for greater sales outreach and leverage, as well as to prevent cannibalization of partners for various national and LC events • Clearer focus areas for MC and CC sales effort, eg. MC to focus on regional sales collaboration, GEPs and national partners and CC to focus on other existing accounts and prospecting new accounts Other Observations/Suggestions • Have mentorship for CC members newer to sales and co-ordinate more experienced sales members to do intensive sales • Provide conference sales training towards the amount and intensity of GIP sales training
Sales Delivery Was Good • Received good feedback from most partners who wish to continue collaborating with AIESEC Singapore in the future • Account management and sales delivery training for CC sales team To Improve • Clearer communication of delivery details for each partner among the CC team • More individualized product offering and delivery for partners Other Observations/Suggestions • Train CC members on how to deal with unexpected situations and requests from partners
Post-Sales Service Was Good • Prompt follow-up with partners after actual conference
To Improve • Work more closely with LCs for those accounts they will take over
Operations & Logistics Responsibilities include the following: • Create functional operational plan and contingency plan • Source for accommodation, venues, catering, transport, printing materials etc required • Execute operations on the conference
Venue Was Good • All venues provided the appropriate setting for their respective events • 3/5 of venues were sponsored venues To Improve • Finalization of venue should have been done sooner, which could be supported by earlier leveraging on existing MC, LC and alumni contacts • Cost-effective ways of leveraging on the venue Other Observations/Suggestions • More specific venue requirements based on draft agenda should have been provided with a reasonable notice duration • Discuss with the vendor prior to the conference on its flexibility of venue requirement changes due to changes in agenda in actual conference
Transportation Was Good • Lower cost of transportation due to close proximity of APXLDS accommodation and main conference venue • Little co-ordination needed for most days of the actual conference for delegate movement To Improve • Co-ordination of delegate movement and transportation from venues outside of main conference venue (lack of manpower resulted in little co-ordination)
Food Was Good • Sufficient amount of food provided: breakfast, lunch, tea break and dinner • Food subsequently ordered from conference venue provided convenience for CC team To Improve • Dining area as delegates had to sit on the floor Other Observations/Suggestions • Food ordered outside was subjective in quality and food subsequently ordered from conference venue was outside of budget – other caterers were not allowed due to conference venue policy
Logistics Was Good • 90% of conference logistics were delivered on time To Improve • Pre-conference assessment of logistical needs between CC and Facis would be useful to assess the demand for logistics before actual conference Other Observations/Suggestions
• CC team was affected by contract and changing logistics deadline uncertainty
Storage Needs Was Good • First floor open space allowed for display and arrangement of luggages by entity To Improve • Storage space needs to be more enclosed for security purposes
Operations Plan Was Good • Created for conference special events which provided basis for actual operations To Improve • Too many last minute changes to agenda, venue and logistical requirements for Operations Plan to be decently implemented • More concrete forecasting needed Other Observations/Suggestions • Agenda should be finalized prior to the start of actual conference and agenda changes in actual conference should not be drastic • At least the agenda framework should be established prior to the start of actual conference for Operations Plan to be created, eg. fix the mealtimes for each day • Finalized agenda timings should be adhered to for Operations Plan to hold valid
Department Teamwork To Improve • Even more co-ordination needed between departments such as Marketing, Delegate Servicing and Special Events for operational and logistical requirements Other Observations/Suggestions • Core CC team should always be present at the conference venue and the CCTLs and
volunteers should be making purchases/running errands for the conference instead – this happened a lot due to lack of manpower
Delegate Servicing Responsibilities include the following: • Plan to facilitate delegate accommodation, reception systems, immigration support etc • Responsible for pre-stay and post-tour as part of the delegate experience • Ensure that delegates are well-received and taken care of during the actual conference
Application & Visa Was Good • Application process was smooth despite a small hiccup at the beginning, with an alternative form provided for applicants with limited or no access to Google documents • Prompt response (within 24 hours) to all application and visa enquiries via official conference email and social media channels, with proper system management and service protocol To Improve • More delegate promotion to prevent last minute 3rd round of registration • Double confirm with AI and relevant MC on delegate replacement/cancellation
Delegate Mailer Was Good • More than adequate information provided: delegates’ feedback generally good • Attractive design and content enabled it to double up as marketing material • Faci Mailer was specially tailored from the Delegate Mailer To Improve • Working timeline on the Delegate Mailer should have been shifted earlier • Clarification with Marketing on the creation and propagation of the Delegate Mailer
Reception Was Good • Planning and scheduling of pick-ups To Improve • More manpower needed, especially as the actual conference draws near • Reception team engagement and incentives, especially to attract and retain more ad-hoc reception volunteers (we experienced half of them dropping out at the last minute) Other Observations/Suggestions • CC team was ambitious in being able to provide pick-up for every delegate regardless of arrival time, but lack of manpower meant that the reception team became overly exhausted; also need to manage delegates’ expectations in terms of pick-up
Pre-Stay Was Good • Hostel was quite good and enough to meet delegate expectations • Reasonable pricing and partnership formed with hostel To Improve • Payment process and manpower requirements could have been better assessed and made clearer
Check-In To Improve • Better education of chief delegates on the check-in process and what to collect from their delegates prior to actual check-in
Daily Delegate Servicing Duties Was Good • Designated CC booth so that delegates can look for CC at all times • Night accommodation check to ensure the safety and noise level • Crisis management was good, able to respond to delegate requests/issues well To Improve • Manpower briefing could have been done earlier and reinforced Other Observations/Suggestions • CC team was not able to access the daily delegate feedback drawn up by Faci team – it would have been useful for us to obtain that input
Delegate Engagement Was Good
• Party crisis management – tried our best to provide party options To Improve • Earlier direct communication between CC and Chair/Faci team could have led to better cooperation – CC team had already made delegate engagement plans prior to the conference
Post-Tour Was Good • Planned agenda and budget quite good – agenda drawn up based on input by potential delegates via online survey • Partnership enabled attraction tickets to be purchased at a special rate, lowering the cost of post-tour To Improve • CC team should have double confirmed with the delegates who applied for post-tour prior to actual conference • Execution of the actual post-tour – more dry-runs could have been conducted and CC guides more thoroughly briefed about the agenda
Marketing Responsibilities include the following: • Design logo and all marketing colletrals • Website, social media and newsletter etc creation and management • Public Relations
Marketing Colletrals Was Good • Design and content well-written and well-received – a couple of rounds of feedback sought for each material before finalization To Improve • Adhere to the content production timeline more strictly so that design does not have to be rushed
Facebook Page Was Good • Initial stages and time period approaching actual conference were active • Enquiries via the Facebook page all answered within 24 hours and official requests directed to official conference email where relevant • Main source of updated conference information with CC self-made videos to drive traffic and promotion To Improve • Keep the page active throughout the entire period leading up to the conference Other Observations/Suggestions • Rationale for having just one page for all events under APC was to drive all traffic to one source, but this could have been confusing for some people who might be looking for one specific event of APC • Link AIESEC Singapore and various LC Facebook pages to APC page
Website Was Good • Official reference source of the conference and the only registration platform to minimize confusion To Improve • Utilization of website for active marketing to potential delegates and corporate partners • Could have been more aesthetically pleasing Other Observations/Suggestions • Link AIESEC Singapore website to APC website as there were some potential corporate partners searching the AIESEC Singapore website for conference information
Media Relations Was Good • Sought input for media pitches and referrals for media personnel by alumni • Good co-ordination between MC and CC in this aspect • Obtained 1 radio interview with Tamil radio station on APC, 1 article in TODAY newspaper on GV and 1 upcoming article in TODAY newspaper featuring CCP To Improve • More media angles and releases could have been worked on, although it was a good start
Special Events Responsibilities include the following: • Oversee all special events in the conference • Responsible for conceptualization and agenda management of all special events • Risk and financial management of all special events
Global Village Was Good • Atmosphere was right with a lot of energy – emcees, GOH, performances • Agenda flow was smooth, ended earlier than expected which provided more time for delegate movement To Improve • Arrangement of booths and spacing
Asia Pacific Youth to Business Forum Was Good • Good line-up of speakers and awesome Chair • Event flow went well • Main point of engagement for new partners To Improve • More operational support in terms of manpower and Operations Plan – more people should have been made familiar with the venue prior to actual event • Registration system and process – how to best separate the different registration categories Other Observations/Suggestions • Have an MC responsible specifically to support the agenda management of this event
Asia Pacific Awards & Singapore Night Was Good • Everything went according to plan; the right atmosphere was created
Contact Information Edwin Seah Kah Shing Sales Training & Events Director (Conference Manager) Member Committee 2012/2013 AIESEC Singapore edwin.seah@aiesec.net Amanda Ong Jie-Mei Conference Director (Congress Committee President) Asia Pacific Conference 2013 AIESEC Singapore amanda.jiemei.ong@aiesec.net
Useful References APC 2013 Website: http://apc2013sg.com/site/ APC 2013 Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/APXLDS2013 APC 2013 Issuu: http://issuu.com/apc2013 APXLDS 2013 Output Wiki: http://www.myaiesec.net/content/viewwiki.do?contentid=10255345 APC 2013 Post-Conference Wiki: http://www.myaiesec.net/content/viewwiki.do?contentid=10260141
Asia Pacific Conference 2013