World-class convention and exhibition centers
World-class convention and exhibition centers
Sudibyo M. Wiradji, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Singapore offers event organizers an extensive choice of state-of-the-art meeting and conference venues, with facilities available not only at star-rated hotels but also at other convention and exhibition centers.
At least 100 hotels operating in Singapore, mostly star-rated, provide different-sized meeting and convention rooms to meet customers' different needs.
The Carlton Hotel Singapore, The Grand Hyatt Singapore, The Oriental Singapore, The Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel and the Swissotel Stamford Singapore, for example, provide meeting rooms for between 20 and 500 participants.
At the Carlton, business delegates can hold a meeting or discussion in comfort at the Empress Ballroom, which recently underwent a face-lift.
The hotel has established three new Victoria Rooms as part of its refurbishment project. The elegant rooms are equipped with sophisticated sound-systems and cordless microphones, making them an ideal place to convene.
The hotel's elegant meeting venues are popular among international business executives thanks to its high-speed Internet and high-quality service.
Swissotel Stamford Singapore has the Raffles City Convention Center, offering 6,503 square meters of meeting space in 27 meeting rooms of different sizes suitable for either meetings, conferences or functions.
Larger convention and exhibition spaces can be found at the Suntec Singapore International Exhibition and Convention Center, the Singapore Expo and the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The centers feature the high-quality supporting equipment and services needed for meetings, conferences, conventions, exhibitions and other events. They are equipped with sophisticated technology like audio-visual equipment, videoconferencing, motorized projection screens, and slide and film projectors. Most also have infrared simultaneous interpretation systems to cater to several languages.
Speakers at a seminar or conference can take advantage of the latest audio-visual equipment to enhance the quality and content of their presentations and keynote addresses. Webcasting and videoconferencing are enhanced with the venues' broadband IT infrastructure.
Most of the centers also have theatrical and lighting effects, telescopic seats and mobile stages.
High-speed Internet service is also available at the centers, allowing participants, exhibitors and visitors instantly to access their email accounts, surf the Internet, log onto a corporate Intranet and demonstrate their products and services via the Internet.
In addition to this sophisticated equipment, most of the centers also feature restaurants, banquet rooms and event catering. With large in-house kitchens, the centers can cater a variety of events like cocktail receptions for product launches, opening buffet luncheons for conferences or closing gala dinners for exhibitions.
It is not surprising that the venues are not only popular for meetings, conferences and exhibitions, but also for small and large events, such as commercial shooting or filming, competitions, tournaments, fashion shows, concerts, plays, cultural performances, corporate events, examinations, entertainment industry award presentations, festivals, public forums and product launches.
Suntec Singapore is located close to the Central Business District and is only 20 minutes by car from the Changi International Airport.
Suntec Singapore, the first purpose-built convention and exhibition center in the country, is at the heart of a self- contained, totally integrated events infrastructure.
The venue has direct access to 5,200 hotel rooms, 1,000 retail stores, 300 restaurants and Esplanade - Theater on The Bay, Singapore's new center for the performing arts.
Opened in 1995, Suntec Singapore has 31 meeting rooms, four convention halls, five exhibition halls, a multipurpose ballroom and pre-function areas, and a 596-seat theater.
From a small meeting room able to seat 50 delegates theater- style to a large convention hall able to seat 12,000 delegates theater-style, the Suntec Singapore has it all. The center's exhibition halls range from 3,890 square meters to 12,000 square meters.
"There is an exhibition hall that covers 12,000 square meters of space and can be subdivided into three small areas if required," said Suntec Singapore's senior executive of marketing communications, Karen Chan.
The center has a spiral ramp that allows 40-foot containers direct two-way access to the convention and exhibition halls for easy build-up and tear down.
Dedicated loading bays, material handling areas and cargo lifts are available to ensure that exhibitors will have an efficient move-in and move-out.
While Suntec Singapore is more popularly known as a venue for large-scale international conventions, Singapore Expo is known as the right venue for mega-trade exhibitions.
Opening its doors in 1999, Singapore Expo comprises 60,000 square meters of exhibition space in a series of column-free halls that can be partitioned into smaller spaces. The center's exhibition space is expected to total 100,000 square meters when an additional four halls now under construction are ready for use by November 2005.
The center houses meeting facilities, restaurants and retail space, and is the largest of its kind in the region. It has six exhibition halls, 10 conference halls and nine meeting rooms.
Singapore Expo is only five minutes from the Changi Airport and close to an MRT station.
The center's six ground-level exhibition halls are interconnected with retractable walls separating each hall. Each column-free, air-conditioned hall can be further divided to host smaller shows. A ceiling height of 10 meters to 16 meters allows for easier setup.
"Our floor loading ensures that heavy machinery can be exhibited safely," said Singex Venues Pte Ltd's marketing communications executive, Joanne Chua Tingting.
Singapore Expo offers a dedicated service area along the rear of the halls and 24 freight doors to give you direct access. These allow for quick and easy turn-around for move-in operations during shows, saving time and costs for show organizers.
Each exhibition hall is self-sufficient with an individual meeting room. Power, water, telecommunications and compressed air connections are available in service trenches six meters apart in each exhibition hall.
Singapore Expo is equipped with newly launched tiered seating and a mobile staging system that offers greater flexibility to customers. "Event organizers are able to configure the seating and staging during events exactly the way they want and not be constrained by fixed infrastructure," Tingting said.
As part of its efforts to lure event organizers, Singapore Expo is offering event packages catered to their needs. "Some of the services we provide include F&B support, sound and lighting and full-scale event planning," she said.
Singapore Expo has hosted a growing number of exhibitions, conventions and events attracting some 10 million visitors over the past six years.
Owned by the government of Singapore, the center is managed by Singex Venues Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, one of the largest investment holding companies in Singapore.