CLIENT:  Minority Supplier Diversity UK (MSDUK)

TYPE OF EVENT:  2nd MSDUK National Awards evening

VENUE:  Marriott Grosvenor Square Hotel, London, UK

CLIENT:  Fight Hunger Foundation 

TYPE OF EVENT:  NGO Launch, India

VENUE:  Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Mumbai, India

Brief Overview:

Fight Hunger Foundation mandate is no more hungry children in India.

The launch of Fight Hunger Foundation, a subsidiary of France’s largest NGO Action contre la Faim (ACF) was only weeks away from hosting a gala dinner. The gala dinner was a culmination of promoting the cause and recognition for the 11 founding members, who had kindly contributed 5 lac each for a cause they believed in.

The private gala dinner of 65 guests for invited guests only included guest of honour, France's First Lady Valerie Trierweiler, Chief Secretary of State Summit Mallick and his wife, French Ambassador to India Monsieur François Richier, French Consul General Mr Peytregnet and a number of other high profile business people at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.

Fight Hunger Foundation required a professional that understood the importance of the VIP high profile guest list at the Gala Dinner, and needed an expert to put operational elements into place quickly and firmly as the media were heavily involved.

The event successfully raised over 63 lac in donations and contributions through various channels including pledge donations  and tombola raffle draw with some rather fabulous prizes and gift bag packs from Devi Garh by Lebua, L 'Oreal, Le Mill, Grover Zampa, Diageo, Moet & Chandon, Orange. This money will help to tackle the huge problem of acute malnutrition in India which in 2014 equated to 20% of Indian children under the age of 5  (8 million a year) and 50% of child deaths below the age of 5 attributed to under nutrition (1 million deaths a year) in India alone .

Overall the event, was a huge success for a launch event to raise much needed funds .

Tasks undertaken:

The Fight Hunger Foundation Gala Dinner was initiated only about 4 weeks before the event took place by Tania-Tapel.

The reason for the late appointment was due to my busy schedule I had already declined once, but when they approached me for a second time a few months later, I found time and was honoured to be part of such a cause and help make a difference to the event.

I took the role on steadfastly knowing time was of the essence as many things were still unmanaged and needed attention. Valerie Metzger had secured a huge amount of support for sponsors who contributed to the cause all free of costs. I undertook the responsibility to manage the branding of each of these and ensuring the deliveries of their goods and products was managed efficiently. 

I worked in detail with the team at Taj Mahal Palace Hotel to ensure they understood the expectations of service, with a sit down dinner as a preferred option that needed to be executed perfectly. The hotel had been kind enough to support the cause without charges and went over and above to assist as much as they could.

I efficiently assisted in putting together the table plan and worked with briefing the fantastic hostesses for the evening how to graciously escort the guests with confidence.

I helped source the last minute details like G4S kindly offered a protection officer for France's First Lady. 

I communicated effectively with every sponsor, venue, guests and foundation teams both in India and Paris to ensure I was in the loop for any of their requirements handling matters practically and thoroughly, whether in or out of my remit of work.

The French team headed by Valerie Daher, Managing Director of ACF Development was heavily involved especially as the profile of the event raised considerable clout with the French First Lady’s involvement. The lady in charge in India was Valerie Metzger, scouting and bringing together all the founding members, and finally becoming one of the founding members with her husband Denis. She was an impeccable humanitarian advocate and inspiring human being to be working with. Thomas Gonnet, Director of ACF had been deputed from Paris to oversee Fight Hunger Foundation as an NGO succeed in India, and was fairly new to Mumbai - again a great pleasure to work alongside.

I handled time management, execution and operations throughout the Gala Dinner and the pre and post follow-ups.

A last minute conundrum with media frenzy required my assistance to get involved with the press conference and private ladies lunch event at the Oberoi Mumbai, to ensure matters were handled professionally.

With three Valerie’s to handle all in a day’s work, the fun was just about to begin!

Insightful to be raising awareness of malnutrition, an important agenda and internally rewarding.

Brief Overview:

Tania-Tapel was requested to oversee the British Business Group Convention 2013, which was the third National Convention by the Association which every year was undertaken by different chapters across the country.  This year was going to be even bigger, as Alan Rosling, the former chairman of BBG Mumbai was heavily involved in this event. There was a need to appoint an experienced event planner that could oversee the whole operation and was experienced enough to handle an international delegation. 

The convention theme was ‘Putting the Special back into the Indo-British Partnership’. A distinguished speaker programme and hospitality lined up during the three-day convention. Luminaires from the world of business and government in india and the UK were to speak at five interesting plenary sessions, and six industry masterclass sessions. Ultimately, 85 VIP speakers were confirmed to be part of the convention, with many to be flown into Mumbai and be transported by executive cars to the Taj Mahal Hotel.

Delegates would have the opportunity to meet with experts and exchange ideas on how to deepen the bilateral flow of trade and investment. A social programme was also created to further explore Mumbai at the end of the convention - with such an international delegation in the city, it was an opportunity to showcase our vibrant city of Mumbai.

Tasks undertaken:

The convention was in it’s early phases of planning this high-level event when Tania-Tapel was delegated to Conference Manager. The venue had been contracted already, and potential keynote speakers from across the globe had been approached by Alan Rosling.

My role entailed working intently with all the agencies, vendors, venues, speakers and BBG committee - to communicate and give clear direction and delegate responsibilities.

Jointly worked cohesively with the team at UBM handling all the sound, lighting, AV and logistics parameters for the event both pre event and during the event.

Pre planned and supervised the Ping Network interviews of all the guest speakers during the two-days.

Managing sponsorship relationships  for receiving branding specifications, communicating expectations and promoting the brands flawlessly with a healthy attitude.

Closely worked with the editor of the convention brochure, and each speaker office to receive and proof-back profiles for entry into both the brochure and website. Worked closely with the web-design team to upload profiles of each speaker on approval efficiently throughout the process.

Assisted in curating an appropriate menu for a global delegation for the two days of events, creating different themes for each menu throughout the convention. Worked very closely with the team at Taj Mahal Hotel to ensure smooth execution up to  the run up of the event, with clarity on particulars on service, choices of linen and tableware, timelines, and execution expectations. VIP arrivals and departures accommodation schedules put together and handed over to hotel to manage effectively. Participation in the food tastings which needed tweaking to cater for the taste buds of the international delegation and putting on a 350-delegate table planned sit down dinner reception as the finale to the convention. 

Oversaw the whole convention being set up and completed to a high-level of expectation, with numerous compliments for its seamless administration.