Artaaj Events

Artaaj Events organized its 1st seminar on HR in Banking. The first specialized seminar of its kind in the UAE was held on 24th January 2007 at Dhow Palace Hotel, Dubai. The seminar brought together HR professionals in the banking sector to discuss latest trends in HR practices.
The day-long seminar was chaired by Mr. Saad Abbas, Coordinator General-Dubai Human Development Award, Department of Economic Development. The topics discussed were:

• War for Talent in Banking – Recruitment and Retention Strategies
• Strategic HR / Business Alignment using a Balanced Scorecard framework
• Developing a Competency Framework in Banking
• HR Outsourcing Avenues in Banking
• Banking on HR for Performance
• People Factor in the Organization & Role of Managers

The following stalwarts in HR presented their views:
• Mr. Saad Abbas, Coordinator General, Dubai Human Development Award
• Mr. Ben Fawcett, Director, The Hiring Solutions Company
• Mr. Costas Papadopoulos, Acting Head – HR, Dubai Bank
• Mr. Abdulla Amer, Head – HR & Admin, Commercial Bank International
• Mr. Bala Kumar, General Manager, DULSCO HR Solutions
• Mr. Prakash Chugani, Manager, DULSCO HR Outsourcing
• Ms. Sameena Askari, Channel Manager, Ramco Systems Ltd. Middle East
• Mr. Jose Pallaty, Sr. Manager – HR & Planning, Commercial Bank of Dubai

HR in Banking was presented by:

What professionals say:
The event was well organized. Ben Fawcett was excellent as a speaker and his topic was very interesting.
- Juhaina Al Fardan, HSBC Middle East

I would like to thank you for conducting the first seminar in Dubai on “HR in Banking”. It was an opportunity for all involved to meet people in their line of work and exchange ideas in Banking
- Duaa Hassan, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank

And more…..

I’m ready… Vigor Power Racing Challenge 2007 Bahrain and Qatar

Artaaj was commissioned to launch Vigor Power energy drink with a launch activation and event. As part of the activation program, sampling was conducted by Vigor ambassadors at various hot spots in Bahrain like the Bowling centres, cinema houses at Awal, Seef and Jazira and clubs like Garfield. Consumers saw mupi posters at traffic signals across Bahrain announcing the main event on 12th and 13th January at Seef Mall.

An activation program was also conducted at various catchment areas in Qatar. Venues like Garvey’s European Club, Landmark Cinema, The Mall cinema, Rendevous Club and the sports clubs at Gold Gym and Intercon welcomed the Vigor ambassadors. The hostesses sampled the drink and publicized the main event to be held at Citi Centre Qatar on 19th and 20th January.

Our team flew to Seef Mall in Bahrain to organize the Vigor Power Racing Challenge. Consumers at Seef Mall raced against opponents to win prizes like I-pod Nano, gaming consoles, DVD player and Nike sports bags. The game played was Need for Speed Carbon. Artaaj tied up with Electronic Arts, UK to secure the licensing agreements to utilize NFS software in the challenge. Goody bags containing Vigor products, Vigor branded pens and Vigor Tatoos were given away to winning participants.

A total of 500 people registered for the 2 day event and more than 1200 people got the opportunity to sample Vigor Power and Vigor Power ICE.

In Qatar as well our team was delighted to find crowds of people braving queues to sign up for the Vigor Power Racing Challenge 2007. A total of 450 people registered for the 2 day event and more than 2250 sampled Vigor Power and Vigor Power ICE.

Happy New Year to all our dear clients, friends and anyone else who’s browsed their way on to our blog!!

Settling into 2007, and we’ve just noticed that our last blog entry was on the 18th of December….for good reason, too! The last fortnight of 2006 saw Artaaj Events handling a record number of projects simultaneously. With events catering to audiences of upto 2000 people, we worked with premium companies such as DAFZA, Rochas/Watermelon, Uptown Mirdiff, Chalhoub, Etihad Airways, Rakeen/Bates Pan Gulf, Gulf News, Sung Won/Bates Pangulf, DIFF/Al Sahra, One TV/Al Sahra, Omniyat Properties, Trident Properties, Tameer, Motorola/TBWA, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Kraft, Black & Decker, Showtime, British Airways…..leaves one gasping for breath!

Each project has been varied from the other. In one, we celebrated 10 years of the Dubai Airport Free Zone, organizing a fabulous “gala” event with a glittering stage and fabulous performances. It was a fun filled event honoring the achievements of DAFZA staff, with games and prizes galore! We also hosted a traditional UAE troupe known as Al Yooleh, young children dancing and twirling sticks to some traditional Arabic music. Our favorite acrobat, Jens made an appearance with his aerial feats. A big shout out to Denise Reiger of the Grand Hyatt who supported and helped us through out the event!

In another, Artaaj Events were the appointed event organizers for Union Properties as they held a special two day event to inaugurate Uptown Mirdiff, a mixed-use commercial and residential development. A street carnival-themed celebration, the event featured street performers, quiz competitions, karaoke, games and workshops for adults and children. The retailers contributed some fantastic prizes, and the stage was lit up through out the event with giveaways, almost every minute!! Apart from some great audience participation (a certain belly dance feature at the dance competition comes to mind!) we flew in special pyrotechnic performers from Australia, who performed a dazzling finale at the end of each day.
A third one was the launch of Rakeen, Ras Al Khaimah’s newest property developer, where we custom built an event on a new island! That’s right, Rakeen’s first development, Marjan Island was the site for the corporate launch of the company where senior government officials and special guests gathered to commemorate the opening, headed by HH Shaikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Ras Al Khaimah Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler.

Another was a gala dinner, the closing celebration of the prestigious Dubai International Film Festival, where Artaaj was present to support our client, the Al Sahra Desert Resort by providing entertainment and logistics support, where we managed a record number of people – 200!! The team on site was also in for a night of celebrity spotting and managed to catch a glimpse of their fair share of celebs, Richard Gere being one of them! Other events handled for Al Sahra was the launch of Dubai One TV’s new identity and programming as well as their New Year’s Eve bash! >We also launched full swing into a print and radio campaign for the resort with lots of excitement being generated on the airwaves!

A completely different sort of event was a Christmas party for the Chalhoub Group, where we organized a fun fair at the Aviation club, with lots of activities for adults and children alike, culminating with the lighting of a Christmas tree, followed by a trendy party into the wee hours!

And of course, our promotions team was kept well busy organizing hostesses and samplers for our clients, at the various exhibitions and events around town, ensuring all the campaigns were running smoothly as per plan.

As the new year begins, we’re now looking forward to 2007 being bigger & better, our team is growing and rearing to go…and it already looks like our event calendar is filling up!! Here's wishing you all a prosperous year ahead!