Artaaj Events

Artaaj organizes BP Helios Awards for AMRC Region



Following the success of organizing the BP Helios Awards in 2004, it was once again Dubai’s turn to host the conference and award ceremony, and Artaaj was once again commissioned to facilitate the team building, conference, presentations and gala awards for the 2007 regional Helios Awards.

Hospitality desks were set-up to welcome guests at the Al Qasr and Mina A’Salam hotels at the Arabian themed Madinat Jumeirah Resort. Guests were registered and a welcome pack containing badges, lanyards, contact lists, agenda and Dubai map was handed over. We were on hand throughout the planning process to provide consultation with the hotel.

The first event – a team building activity, was organized on the first day, after the teams had arrived in Dubai. Starting off with an energizing group drumming activity, guests were then introduced to the organizing committee and the exciting activities of the following day.

The Knowledge Sharing Conference saw participants giving their presentations, running through 22 presentations from morning till afternoon.

After lunch, participants were invited to set-up their stalls at the Knowledge Souq. Colorful tents were arranged in the Joharah Ballroom and participants were provided with Arabian souq décor, foam boards and easel stands to liven their presentations.

At the Gala Awards, moonlights and shiny black carpet heralded the arrival of our ‘celebrities’. Paparazzi were arranged to give an ‘Oscar’ feel to the event. Hostesses in customized Arabian wear greeted the guests.

Self-standing banners with the colours of BP Helios provided branding at the entrance. The ballroom had come alive with the custom-branded Helios stage. Centre-pieces of flowers mixed with glowing green filaments dotted the ballroom which was washed with custom colored lights. A especially created Arabian menu was the fare of the evening.

Prior rehearsals ensured that the Awards ceremony which was the highlight of the gala dinner was perfected. The MC announced the various participants who took to the stage to claim their awards – a crystal trophy embossed with the name of the project and the words – “AMRC Regional Helios Event”.

Entertainment segments by an aerialist awed the audience. After dinner, an interactive Dabke (cultural Arabic art form) had the audience stomping their feet. The performance was then followed by a flash back to the 70s as DJ MO spun the decks to entertain the attendees!

Artaaj gives young HSBC Customers a Head Start!



Head start Savings Day is a special celebration at HSBC branches for children up to age 17 years who have accounts at HSBC. Artaaj was commissioned to organize the special celebration on 8th of September, 2007 from 9am to 3pm. A first for our team, we organized 8 simultaneous events across the UAE with everyone pitching in to help manage the various branches!

Preparations for the project started off by creating an event identity that would run across invitations, branding in the branches, photo-frames as well as folders that would hold all the collateral.

Various options were submitted to the client and they picked our favorite – where successive hand prints are pitter pattered across the page from a baby’s to a teenager’s.

Our designer then worked with the worldwide brand guidelines to ensure that our artwork was in sync, and all the collateral went into production.

In the meanwhile, our operations team organized site visits, where they visited each branch to introduce the event organizing team, assess the space availability and understand the individual branch requirements.

Layouts of each branch were created and emailed to the respective branch managers for approval. Three days of briefings were organized for the selected team working on the event to help understand the modalities of the event. The last briefing included location maps of respective branches for team members.

Finally, D-Day was drawing closer, and set-up was organized up to 2 days ahead of the event in two of the branches and a day ahead in others. Décor was also organized in selected Customer Service Units.

On the day of the event, all branches were ready to welcome customers by 8:30am. Customers were directed to the bank teller to deposit their savings. Clowns/jugglers entertained the children. Hostesses invited the children to the coloring corner. Randomly chosen pictures colored by children were placed on the coloring wall.

A photo studio was set up where photos of children were taken, print outs made and placed into specially created photo-frames. Gift bags were then handed out to children as memento of the event.
Our team all has fond memories of the event, it was great to have the entire company involved in the execution!

Post event feedback from the branches was also great, as the Sharjah branch told us, “It was the most successful Headstart Savings day. Everything was well organized and all our customers were very happy. I would like to thank Artaaj for making this event a joyful experience for our small customers”