Artaaj Events

It was wedding season at Artaaj last month as we prepared to send off two more bachelors into the realms of matrimony, Nonoy & Raymond being the bachelors du jour. We opted for a scaled down version of a racy bachelor do at the office with a good luck luncheon starring a surprise visitor.



We all gathered together in the Artaaj conference room for a specially catered Thai spread. While everyone was busy sampling the food, our entertainment team at the back-end was sneaking in a belly dancer who burst into the conference room as a surprise. With lots of claps, wolf whistles and not a few red faces, the performance rounded up a great afternoon!

Feathers, hats, floaty dresses, high heels, ties and more abound at the social event of the year as the Artaaj team and their guests put their best foot forward at the Dubai World Cup on the 29th of March.

On arrival at the event, the queue to enter the race area was enough to make the toughest of us wilt… but with great determination, we braved the lines! However, from the moment we stepped into the event, the ground was buzzing with excitement and the energy of all the attendees was contagious.
Every color, style, shape and size were on show at this stylish and prestigious event. The women accessorized from their shoes through to the last feather on their head and the men looked suave in their suits and ties.
With all the team in, we settled in at our own tables in the “Boogie Zone” - the drinks were flowing and we all sat back, on the lookout for the winning horses. Neelam even acted as the unofficial bookie, and some of the lucky ones walked away with very heavy wallets indeed!

After the last race, the DJ cranked up the music and the team partied on late into the night, ending a fantastic day out on a high note!

Established in the region for the past five years, working on almost 800 projects for more than 250 clients; Artaaj Events is entering an exciting phase of regional expansion, with the opening of the first branch office in Abu Dhabi.

In the past year, we have successfully organized events for several prestigious clients in Abu Dhabi such as Etihad Airways, ADGAS, Prestige Jet, Petroleum Institute, and others.

With our new offices based on the concourse level at the very stylish ADNEC, we are looking forward to building closer ties with all our clients, continuing to provide them with turnkey solutions for their event management requirements. Apart from offering our extensive portfolio of services, our Abu Dhabi branch will also focus on providing comprehensive wedding planning and exhibition management services.

Being hard working, fun loving staff members at Artaaj means that when we leave the phones and escape the office, we are ready for some serious play time. Work Hard, Play Hard right? And after all the hard work, what better place to live out the “Play Hard” mantra than a paintball field!
With everyone pitted against each other anonymously, and dressed in the mandatory overalls, it was everyone’s chance to let their inner Rambo out (and settle any office revenges!). Captain Fiona started off with the first choice for her Blue team, followed by Captain Hadi picking for the Khaki team. Teams chosen, then strategy, shooting styles and enemy targets became the only, and very serious, topics of the afternoon.

For anyone that hasn’t played paintball before there is a fair bit of strategy that can come into the game..or, in some cases, not too much strategy. But hey it’s about the fun after all right? Some people however, whether there was strategy or not, preferred to believe that rules are made to be broken (or at least mutely ignored).
But hey, I guess there are no rules in warfare right? But invincible, indestructible soldiers…maybe just in the movies.

Though not organized as a team building day, we also learnt that the way we played on the field could be taken back to the office and used in our own professional strategy.
With a few bruises and some sweaty, dusty faces we moved next door to Dubai Creek Park where we were treated to a fully catered professional BBQ and an evening of cricket, badminton, tag, soccer and rug time. Now that’s some real relaxing time.


Thanks to everyone who helped make this month’s staff event the success that it was. Stay tuned for the Dubai World Cup!

At Artaaj, we love to find any occasions to break out the decorations or cake! Last Thursday however saw us take our celebrations for a major milestone for a much loved colleague out of the office and into the night.
Arafat Usman, also known as AU, is to tie the knot with his bride-to-be in March in Pakistan and as such, required from his faithful Artaaj team, a bachelor party never to be forgotten. The boys kindly extended the invitation to the gals of the company – that’s just the sweet things they are – and let’s face it, we had the best ideas to torture the man (thanks Tas!).

Our CEO Biju, as always, offered his home as a venue and the arrangements were quickly made. Artaaj staff were greeted by a professional photographer that captured the evening, a great buffet spread out for all, two incredibly happy and obliging barmen and a rockin’ DJ breaking out the tunes for us all. Being a welcoming family company, spouses, partners, friends and children were all included – well at least until a certain hour for the kiddies.

Needless to say, as the rooms started fill, Punishment Time for the groom-to-be arrived. While not to give too much away, props involved in the affliction involved a large knife, gaffer tape, much rope, oil, shaving cream, toothpaste, eggs, flour and the streets of Dubai! It must be mentioned that many of the ideas our cruel minds conjured up in the days preceding were scaled down. We did, after all, want him to make the flight and not miss the BIG DAY (very lucky Arafat!).

Arafat, as always was a true sport – his big wide smile protruding from the mess we covered him in. A not-so-quick shower was needed to sort him out and get him back onto the dance floor for his John Travolta moves. Yep – let’s face it, you couldn’t keep that guy single for long!
Unfortunately for Tas, the cruelest mastermind and organizer behind the plot, revenge and karma came back….and another bunch of towels please….
While the good looking, charming, lovely, intelligent, yet still single women of Dubai mourn the loss of another good man, we are so happy for Arafat, and his bride-to-be couldn’t have found a better sort!
Thanks to all who organized the party and to Biju for providing the venue.

Arafat, everyone at Artaaj wishes you the most wonderful day. We all wish we could be there. Make us proud and bring back all the photos…and the bride 
And Ray….watch out…you’re next….

Valentine’s Day brings out the hopeless romantic in all of us….even if we do not want to admit it! We all secretly hope to arrive at work and be surprised with roses and balloons.
At Artaaj, that was actually a reality. We all arrived at work to find the office decorated with heart shaped balloons and roses. With the team dressed in their favorite red item of clothing everyone was ready to celebrate this day of romance.

Excitement filled the air and the fun committee really out did themselves when flashing heart shaped badges were given to everyone to wear. To make the day even more special, we were treated to homemade heart shaped waffles with strawberry jam (just to keep the red theme going) which we all couldn’t stop eating! As per annual tradition, our CEO, Biju, ever the ladies man, treated all the girls in the office to their very own long stemmed rose.

To top off the day, a red heart shaped marzipan chocolate coffee cake(try to say that fast three times in a row!) was the centre of attention at a cake cutting ceremony that landed up with more photos and a lot more eating!
Great colleagues, great friends, great times….we look forward to the next heart day!

The last month of 2007 brought along a host of festivities with the Artaaj team celebrating Eid, Christmas and New Year in style.

For 'Eid Al Adha', we had an inviting majlis set up in our reception area where all the girls in the team were treated to intricate henna designs, with silver stars & moons all around! We even had visitors dropping in who were delighted to have the opportunity to have henna done. The entire team also was treated to a fabulous lunch with kebabs galore!

For Christmas, we had a fabulous tree, twinkling lights and lots of snow! We even had Santa visiting us where he brought us all chocolates and alarm clocks! Could that be a sweet little hint for us to get to work on time? Traditional fruit cake and carol singing completed the festivities on the day.



New Year’s Eve saw most of the team gathering at our intrepid CEO, Biju’s home, where he graciously hosted a party for family and friends. With an obliging DJ and flowing beverages, it turned into the after party to beat all parties, with even the sturdiest of the lot staggering home at 7am!

We truly get to see weird and wonderful things in our business, passing visitors will often delight us with their products & crafts. In the recent months, we’ve seen amazing three dimensional technology, roaming LED screens, shadow and magic illusions.

None, however, captured the imagination of the team quite as well as Sterling Johnson who visited us a few days ago to talk about his performance at one of our events next year.
He opened up his bag and pulled out two very simple bowls, pouring water in one, and his secret formula in the other, as the entire office gathered in the board room. He dipped his hands in and voila, we were hooked! Something as simple as soap bubbles can be so ethereal and beautiful, and they really took us all back to our childhood. As soon as Sterling asked us whether we would like to actually try our hands at it, everyone started rolling up their sleeves, taking off their rings and watches, and dipped away.

“My bubble’s bigger than yours!”
“Don’t pop MY bubble!”


Team Iftaar

Last month, we observed the holy month of Ramadan in Dubai, where many of our colleagues were fasting during the daylight hours.

In keeping with tradition, towards the end of the month, the entire Artaaj team got together for an iftaar or “breaking of the fast” meal at the Diwan Al Khayal set up on the beach at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

Amidst fragrance of flavored shisha (hubbly bubbly), and the strums of the traditional oud (Arabian lute), the team spent a very pleasant evening together.

Of course, practically no Artaaj get together is complete without a birthday celebration, and we all had the opportunity to celebrate Kiran and Khalid’s birthdays together!

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How do you think we have lived the World Cup? Perfectly well!
After the different exciting or sad results, especially for Matthias our German Member, we went couple of us to watch the finale and guess who was the best supporter of Zizou? Noooo not Flo and Assyah but Farimah, our Iranian designer ;-)). She was shouting supporting him during the all game.

Farimah, don't feel so sad for Zizou, I promise to ask him to call you to explain what really happened ;-))))))

Edit: Biju called to ask if the italian girl has contacted usto apply for a job. I said, no, not yet, strange no? ;-))))))))