Business Events National Challenge 2023 was held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre recently. The challenge was organized by the Malaysian Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (MACEOS) with the support from Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) to select the best three teams to represent Malaysia to the Asian Federation of Exhibition and Convention Associations (AFECA) Asia MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) Youth Challenge 2023 that will be held at Bangkok, Thailand in November 2023.
The challenge aimed to provide students with an opportunity to develop their creativity and present fresh/new and unique ideas for the Business Events industry, to make use of what they have learnt in the school by conceptualizing business-testing and organizing business/international sporting events. This competition provided the students with the fundamentals of a bid process and technical requirements to enable them to be equipped to research, plan, prepare and present a winning bid. It was a platform for the future Malaysian talents to outwit other participants by showcasing their genius novel event and convince the judges why their country/area is 'The Best MICE Destination in Asia!'
For the 2023 edition, there were 11 teams from 7 local universities and institutions from Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia competed in the challenge. One team from Taylor's School of Hospitality, Tourism & Events, consisted of four Bachelor of International Events Management (BIEM) (Honours) students participated in this challenge. Students were exposed to the process of event research, contacting event suppliers, preparing business plan with a realistic budget, event bidding process and presentation in front of the leading industry experts in Malaysia as well as meeting and receiving comments/feedbacks by the industry experts.
Congratulations to the winning team from Taylor's University - Ronan Alexander Fernandes, Gloria Khorigin, Lee Kit Ying and Mariyam Shaufa, together with their Lecturer Ms. Dhiya Hikmahana Abdul Razak as the Coach. Their hard work, dedication, and passion have truly paid off, and we couldn't be prouder of their achievements for being selected as the Winner and received the Best PowerPoint Presentation Award for the proposed event 'Seaside Synergy'. The team will represent Malaysia to the AFECA Asia MICE Youth Challenge 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand on the 22nd November 2023.
Kudos once again to the students, and thank you for the guidance provided by the Lecturer & Coach Ms. Dhiya Hikmahana!