PR team winds down from WGC 2012
Now that the dust from the recent 25th Edition of the World Gas Conference (WGC 2012) has begun to settle, the BCM oil and gas PR team can finally sit back and admire its success. And what a success it was!
Held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 4-8 June, 5,299 delegates from 90 countries were treated to the best the industry had to offer, with technical discussions and keynotes delivered by 575 speakers, spanning the entire value chain of the gas industry. The 11,400 sqm exhibition hall housed 220 exhibitors and 13,803 people visited the exhibition during this period. WGC 2012 also had a record number of more than 350 local and international media, which covered the event.
BCM’s oil and gas team led by Sheila Poomy of our Kuala Lumpur office coordinated 350 media on-site which was a big task!! We were kept extremely busy managing the on-site registrations as well as the media room – ensuring that the media were well informed and had all that they needed during the conference. However, it was a rewarding experience as the oil and gas media are a brilliant bunch of people. Spending four solid days with them allowed acquaintances to be renewed, new friendships to be formed and resulted in some great feedback too!
The hospitality of the Malaysians is definitely unique and refreshing – as always the people are so relaxed and welcoming. The conference and exhibition venue facilities were second to none with the Opening Ceremony hosted in two venues due to the large number of delegates. The Opening Ceremony featured Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak; IGU President, Datuk (Dr) Abdul Rahim; and Tan Sri Shamsul Azhar Abbas, President & CEO, PETRONAS who warmly welcomed attendees and officially opened the conference, setting a professional high standard from the onset. One of the venues even hosted a hologram of the Prime Minister during his speech!
It was the closing ceremony however that left the most indelible memory for what was a fantastic event. As part of the official hand over ceremony for the next IGU Presidency and the World Gas Conference 2015, we were lucky to experience a traditional Malaysian celebration of music and movement as well as the IGU President leading the WGC 2012 team in a dance through the audience and up onto the stage before breaking into a powerful song.
As the baton was passed onto the French, they too demonstrated their talents featuring a French vocal band bringing the spirit of Paris to Malaysia. By the end of the ceremony – the audience were up out of their seats singing and dancing, waving flags to the downpour of confetti. It was quite a sight to see such distinguished guests singing the words to “I’ve got a feeling that tonight’s going to be a good night,” by the Black Eyed Peas. Judging by the surprise on many faces, the audience had never seen anything like it.
This combination of exceptional hospitality, thorough preparation, quality conference sessions, and high profile speakers and participants, certainly made the 25th World Gas Conference one of the best conferences we’ve been a part of and feedback from delegates and exhibitors agrees.
The editorial coverage received on the event was phenomenal and therefore speaks for itself – clippings are still flooding in! It seems that good old hard work and dedication from all involved paid off and new benchmarks were set in terms of delegate registration, media attendance and editorial coverage. A pretty good result for all we must say!