I LOVE a good party, who doesn’t? So as we wind down the year by gearing up to celebrate, let’s talk about a couple of interesting ways to party.
I chanced upon a curious activity while visiting friends in New Zealand. They had tickets for a day of house visits. The event organiser arranged a tour circuit of gorgeous houses, where participants stopped for cocktails and canapés prepared by proud homeowners.

Apparently, the same keeping-up-with-the-Joneses curiosity which floats the industry in designer-home magazines ensures these events find lots of subscribers. In its crudest derivative, one could call it a bringing together of show-offs and nosey-parkers.

The fiendish levels of status-driven one-upmanship and voyeurism in Asia should make such house-touring events a roaring success I reckon. Being able to snoop around someone else’s bedroom is fun!

The next fun idea comes from this issue’s Inspire Me focus company – Kuoni Destination Management (see page 50). Its regional boss, Reto Kaufmann, told me of the incentive group he sent to Paris for a total makeover. This top-level group of 100-plus CEOs and their spouses were given the lowdown on personal grooming by top French stylists and makeup artists, before being sent out with an allowance and a shopping concierge to make their supermodel dreams come true.

As if all this were not enough fun, the catalyst to make the event a ripper was a big “reveal” before a gala dinner, where participants all had their moment of catwalk glory before their spouse.

Why is having fun so important? Well, it seems no matter how serious an event is, it’s the fun that helps people remember what they did. Whether at a corporate meeting, convention or a product launch, fun is never out of place.

As the competition gets fiercer and budgets get squeezed in the economic slowdown predicted in 2012, PCOs and event organisers are going to have to keep investing in creative capital. While good things don’t come cheap, fun is free for all.

Have a FUN new year and compliments of the season to all our readers.




pauline@micenet.asia






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