Singapore EXPO & MAX Atria, operated by SingEx Venues, set new MICE standards through the launch of latest MICE space innovations with ApeX, a plug-and-play high-tech plenary hall and FleX modular breakout room solution along with Xpert, in-house personal planner service to provide holistic, seamless experience for organisers, exhibitors and visitors at its EXPO 2.0 launch event on Thursday, 16 January.
Aloysius Arlando, Chief Executive Officer, SingEx Holdings, said: “As customers become increasingly sophisticated with their requirements, event companies need to have both showcases as well as provide the opportunity to extend knowledge and conduct with industries and community that are not necessarily within their space. FleX -smart, sustainable acoustically treated modular blocks provide those big and small spaces within shores to collaborate, which is today at different levels and different extents. It offers boutique spaces in different zones to connect with whether it’s venture capitalists or look at start-up sharing experiences of their journeys so far, or it could be thought leaders coming in to cater to 20 clients to 2000 clients at the same time.”
FleX is trendy and designed to accommodate the growing trend of hybrid business events. It has the ability to suit all sizes of meeting spaces, with the largest modular reaching as high as 6 metres tall to fit up to 200 persons and can be placed anywhere within the grounds of Singapore EXPO & MAX Atria. It also offers branding opportunities for customers. Mr Arlando added that these FleX’s of 20, 50, 80 or 250 capacity could be extremely high touch or can be within the show call and yet feel cozy and not too intimidating or overwhelming.
ApeX, 10,000sqm plug-and-play plenary hall, has a grand stage of 60ft X 32ftX 4ft (H) with an impressive 54m X 5m screen and an unobstructed viewing experience for upto 3166 seated guests. It integrates customisable audio-visual and digital elements including content management capability for organisers to exercise their creativity and vision. The interactive mega screen can be split into 3 or 5 different screens with a click of a button.
Mr Arlando added: “The Xpert offering, embedded with SingEx customer-centric approach, is designed to suit all event customers, especially organisers who are new to hosting events in Singapore. We understand the stress that comes with operating in a new market, so we are committed to providing knowledgeable on-ground support from our experienced and integrated team. We take clients’ organisational worries away and let them focus on the issue of their content. This comes from our experiences and what we have seen.” The venue employs 260 dedicated staff.
Cuisine and food experience is also taken to a new level through 300 sqm Kinetic Kitchen(K2) at Singapore EXPO & MAX Atria. Automated with latest gadgets and machines that also focus on conserving energy to churn out fresh, hygienic meals, the central production kitchen is designed as a showcase kitchen, like in a fine-dining restaurant. It is head by well experienced Chief Culinary Officer Richmond Lim who leads a team of creative chefs to efficiently offer quality food and beverage service to large clientele at the venue. The VIP enclosure at K2 has its own open kitchen and dedicated staff to serve exquisite meals to choice guests. The EXPO has its own outdoor herb garden and K2 also grows microgreens in house to freshly spice-up all the meals at the venue. One77, in-house hip bistro cafe serves contemporary Singaporean cuisine at its 70 seat facility.
Mr Arlando said: “We also do our own shows and because of our event creation capability, we can deliver Xpert service beyond pure transactional needs, be it for tech companies looking to provide experiences or to any other organiser that comes with a common desire to do good that resonates with the society. Translation in business events and the accuracy of translation for the diverse Asia Pacific market is extremely important. We offer full length recordings complete with subtitles of up to six languages of Bahasa Melayu, Thai, Hindi, Chinese, Bahasa Indonesia and Vietnamese.”
The venue has adopted technology to do away with exchange of business cards. It’s fun to get your own QR code at the gate and go on scanning that of others for contacts. Information at the event can also be retrieved by scanning QR codes at specific places inside the venue, which is a high-speed Wi-Fi zone.
SingEx offers 3 level of quotes for intending clients, to choose to suit thier requirement. Currently SingEx’s organisers come from Germany, Britian and local. 60 to 70 percent visitors come from within South East Asia and the rest from India and China.
Launched in 1999 with 123,000sqm area and 10 exhibition halls, Singapore Expo has reigned as a hub for Asian MICE. MAX Atria convention centre was added in 2012 with 32 meeting rooms in three clusters that can be configured for 100 to 1500 persons. Together it has played host to trade exhibitions, consumer shows, corporate meetings, world-class conventions, award ceremonies, festivals, concerts and banquets. It’s location close to the airport (five minute drive or one MRT stop away) that serves as an aviation hub and Singapore’s good hotel and logistic infrastructure make it convenient for MICE events. SingEx Venues has successfully bid to operate Singapore EXPO & MAX Atria until 2028 and aims to retain the venue’s lead position as a hub for MICE in Asia. It has branch offices in New Delhi, Guangzhou, London and Jakarta.
Written by Anand & Madhura Katti
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