Ferrari sets owner event benchmark

The Ferrari Club Thailand faces a recurring challenge every time it wants to get together: how to arrange a gathering of 50 of the world's most expensive, head-turning motor cars and their owners invariably top businessmen, actors, entrepreneurs and bankers without attracting too much attention. For its 10th anniversary meeting, the club opted for the brand new Sheraton Pattaya Resort. Within a two-hour drive from Bangkok, the 156-room hotel, which bills itself as more like a private country club than a typical holiday hotel, promised to arrange a discreet two-day function for the club. The fact the hotel's owner, Ashwani 'Sunny' Bajaj, is a Ferrari owner and a member of the club, helped seal matters. "The Sheraton Pattaya is a great location by the bay and able to accommodate a private and exclusive party," said Supprachoke Theeracharoenkun, the hotel's rooms division manager. "Members of the Ferrari Club Thailand regularly organise daytrips to Pattaya during the weekend. However, they had never stayed overnight, as they'd rather keep their event very private and exclusive, which had always made it difficult for them to find a hotel in Pattaya," he said. Unique gathering The Ferrari Club spent several months preparing for the event although Sheraton was only able to confirm that they could accept the group about five weeks before the actual anniversary date, Bajaj said. The weekend started with a meeting of cars, drivers and passengers at a restaurant on the eastern outskirts of Bangkok. After a quick sprint down the Chonburi Motorway, the convoy of 50 Ferraris in their red, yellow and black finery rumbled into the Sheraton Resort car park at about 3:30pm on June 18. At four o'clock there was a photo session to catch the unprecedented gathering. After a break to allow the participants to freshen up, cocktails were served at 6pm in the lobby area and then half an hour later the highlight of the weekend was staged the official launch of the Ferrari F612 and introduction of the club's own Chianti wine. Dinner was a barbecue. Sunday was a leisure day, allowing mem-bers to mingle, talk about cars, business and other mutual interests. Supprachoke said that in the run-up to the meeting the hotel discussed all the event details and the launch concept with Ferrari Club and Ferma Motor Thailand, the authorised distributor of Ferraris in Thailand. It was decided to make the new Ferrari model the centrepiece of the event and have it parked it in the middle of the lobby. Since the lobby area has many stairways and is almost two metres higher than the porte coche, a ramp was built to enable the team to drive the car into its position at the centre of the festivities. Another challenge was parking all 50 Ferraris in front of the hotel for the photo shoot. From the time the cars arrived in convoy until the pre-dinner cocktail event was due to start, the hotel had only one hour to get the job done. "After hours of brainstorming, we came up with the plan. We created a parking-floor plan with driving directions and communicated this with the Ferrari Club Thailand team, security guards and valet staff. The plan was perfect since we were able to park all the Ferraris within 35 minutes," Supprachoke said. Security was an issue that needed extra attention and additional guards were hired for the weekend. "We are talking about 50 Ferraris in one spot, around US$12.5 million worth of cars, which obviously we had to prepare for," Bajaj said. "At one point, there were so many people who just stopped whilst driving past the Sheraton Pattaya to take a look at the cars around the driveway. The guards were great as they allowed people to enjoy viewing the cars up close, but at the same time, making sure that they took good care of the cars as well," Supprachoke hailed the event as a success. He said the only thing he may have done differently was the unveiling of the F612. "Rather than showing the masterpiece car in the main lobby during the cocktails, we should have let the organiser drive the Ferrari F612 into the pre-dinner cocktail as a big surprise. That would have wowed the guests as they would see and feel the elegance of the Ferrari when it moved," he said. The Ferrari Club Thailand meeting was the first such CEI event for the Sheraton Pattaya Resort, which can host meetings for up to 270 people at its five conference rooms. The resort offers an array of technology to support meetings including video teleconferencing, LCD projectors, and wireless internet access. The hotel's CEI team can also organise themed parties and events or arrange for outside catering as well.