Client: Wagstaff / Pyrotek, Inc.

Event: MQW – Metal Quality Workshop

Destination: Dubai, UAE

Challenge: MQW is a regional event that organizers produced in a different middle eastern destination with every edition: Istanbul, Madrid, Prague. Producing an event in a new locale is nothing new to event producers. Holding an event in a different country is a completely different story. One must begin at “square one” to “tame a new beast” each time. Language, immigration, cultural norms, currency, local regulations, food choices – these are only a few of the many components one must consider. Staying within budget was the most difficult to navigate. Housing and venue pricing were the most expensive of any destination the producers considered.  

Solution: The event needed to “think out of the box” and out of the traditional meeting hotel. The team brainstormed and focused on a stunning and breathtaking, equestrian themed location: The Meydan Hotel.  It is an amazing architectural work of art. As a conference location – it isn’t a location any normal event producer would entertain. It has no formal meeting space. That’s were the team found opportunity. What did they do? They “built” meeting rooms.  

Simply utilizing a “pipe and drape” solution, the conference organizers created 7 meeting spaces: a general session room and six breakouts. Each was positioned at far ends of the building to  mitigate noise overflow from one space to another.

The result was a unique attendee experience found nowhere else. The unconventional choice opened up amazing experiential opportunities: the equestrian theme was integrated into the event program and created a team building experience that was fun, and memorable; placing meeting rooms just a few steps from VIP viewing boxes, located immediately at the edge of the racing track raised the event to a whole new level. The icing on the cake was that the organizers booked the event in one of those “holes” where the hotel struggled to fill. As an incentive the hotel offered a nicely discounted room block that kept the event well within budget.