 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
   |
|
||||||
 |
It’s been an outstanding year for Weber Shandwick. Here’s a quick reminder of some of the accolades:
That's a hard act to follow! So the big question is, "where
do we go from here?" In late October I joined a group of senior
colleagues from across the global network at a meeting near New
York to address that very challenge.
Weber Shandwick in Asia Pacific’s achievements in 2005 were
recently recognised at the Asia Pacific PR Awards, held at the Grand
Hyatt, Hong Kong, on November 2, 2005.
Click here to read about some of
the winners.
Economist Conferences selected Weber Shandwick in Hong Kong to
support its high profile events, the Ninth Asia Pacific Telecommunications
Roundtable and the Seventh Asia Pacific Pharmaceuticals Roundtable.
Each event hosted around 100 top executives from the pharmaceuticals
and telecommunications industries and Weber Shandwick was profiled
as the Official PR Agency for the events.
In October, the Weber Shandwick management team in China, made up of 20 directors from Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, met in Hangzhou to discuss the company’s future plans. Andrew Pirie, President Asia Pacific, also joined the directors by Hangzhou’s West Lake and was accompanied by the COO and CFO, Alan Thompson and Stephen Ashworth respectively. The theme of the meeting, ‘One Weber Shandwick, One Dream’, mirrored the Olympic theme for Beijing 2008, which is close to everyone’s heart in China. Weber Shandwick will continue its mission of providing high quality service to clients throughout China, whilst also leveraging the spirit of the Olympics as the foundation for the 2006 strategy. In keeping with the sporting theme, all staff were given specially designed tracksuit tops to wear for the event! During the two day meeting, items on the agenda included business issues, 2005 results, the China PR environment, client servicing standards, and 2006 development strategy, as well as management issues, such as financial analysis, HR plans, office management and staff benefits. The two days were not all business with some sightseeing and leisure activities also included in the program. A dinner by the West Lake was a great way to relax and strengthen friendships.
Weber Shandwick in Hong Kong has completed the selection of a charity
for its annual pro bono program. Hong Kong Cancer Fund was selected
from a shortlist of 20 organizations.
Rakhee Vyah, an account manager from the consumer team in Weber Shandwick in London, was in China on a fact-finding mission for the London office amidst mounting interest in China and its business opportunities. Rakhee joined the Shanghai office’s Sunday training and experience sharing session. Topics covered at the session included: client servicing, event management and media tour skills, with a special presentation on Zespri’s media tour to New Zealand. Rakhee spoke to the Shanghai team about PR in London and successful campaigns she has worked on for clients who are also serviced by the China team, such as MasterCard and ExxonMobil. "One campaign that Rakhee spoke about which was especially popular with the fashion conscious Shanghai team was a campaign designed for Intel," commented Melissa Kedward, an associate from Shanghai who attended the session. In order to draw in hip, female customers, Intel and Weber Shandwick conceptualised a designer handbag suitable for laptops. The limited edition handbags featured in the English Cosmopolitan and sold out within 24 hours." Following a four-day stay in Shanghai, Rakhee was welcomed by the Beijing office for the remainder of her trip. Other visitors to Shanghai this quarter have included two colleagues taking part in the Asia Pacific exchange program. Frodine Lee was the first visitor from Singapore’s consumer and entertainment team. Frodine spent two weeks in the Shanghai offices of Weber Shandwick and Powell Tate | Weber Shandwick. Toshya Takata was the second visitor to China from Tokyo’s global communications department. Takata-san spent the first week in the Beijing office followed by a week in Shanghai. As a welcome gesture, the Shanghai office organized an Asia Pacific Exchange party. The "serious" part of the party involved presentations from the colleagues on exchange covering their respective markets and the media landscapes in their countries. The party ended on a fun note with a "Weber Shandwick Pub Quiz" on how well staff knew the company and colleagues. |
|
 |
