The aim is to bring together the cable, satellite, broadband and mobile TV communities in
Asia Pacific to discuss market development, global trends and to get feedback from its members.
The association’s annual meeting is also held during the conference.
Challenges
The major logistical challenge was getting industry players from around the world together in one place for one week. CASBAA programme director Kevin Jennings says: “Good groundwork
in the months leading up to the event was essential so that panellists could speak properly
on their topics of expertise.”
Another challenge was the tight timeframe, which included hosted breakfasts and lunches,
education sessions and evening networking events, including parties hosted by Discovery
Channel, HBO and Fashion TV.
“During the convention there were eight parties, each holding more than 400 people each,” says Jennings. “Fashion TV had its boat out on Victoria Harbour, HBO hired out a new restaurant above the Star Ferry Pier and Discovery Channel held its event on a rooftop location in one of Hong Kong’s prime locations.
“The pre-event marketing and ongoing marketing and PR was a major challenge. We needed to communicate with the attendees over a long period and then keep them on track once they arrived in Hong Kong.”
Execution
The CASBAA Convention 2007 ran over three days, following a traditional programme of
keynote addresses and panel discussions. The lunches were sponsored events and the
evenings were hosted by different cable TV channels.
“Every year, it is our intention to take our delegates to as many social venues as possible in order to truly showcase what a great city this is,” says Jasper Donat, co-founder of Branded Asia, the marketing partner for CASBAA Convention 2007.
“This year we included the Hong Kong Club, Azure, the Watermark and InterContinental,
and even hosted a party on the Fashion TV boat in the middle of the harbour.”
Verdict
“From an organisational perspective it went exceptionally well,” says Jennings. “It was also
one of our best conventions ever in terms of programme content, panels and keynotes addresses.
“CASBAA is not directly in the events management business so this event stretches our internal
resources to meet those demands.
I think it speaks well for us and those who partner with us.”
