Dear Fellow MICErs,

Happy New Year! I'm William Wadsworth, a retired Brit newspaperman who has settled in the Philippines, where for the past year we have run MICE News Philippines on our kitchen table. We enjoy MICE.com very much and have learned much from it.

So, here's something fom MICE News Philippines in return!

We're on Google News now, and email micenewsph@gmail.com

Best MICE bites of 2015

This website contacted over 300 people across the Philippines and overseas, last year. Here are their most memorable comments, writes William Wadsworth

Comment of the Year 2015:

“We should definitely capitalize on the international exposure that our hosting of the APEC 2015 meetings would bring. Aside from promoting trade and investment, the event will showcase the Philippines as an ideal MICE venue.”Dinah Gonzalez, director, marketing and events management department, Philippine International Convention Center, Manila

The best of the rest:

“It’s hard to imagine that two years ago, each of [us] were doing [our] own thing. It’s a great undertaking to keep up with the times.”Karem Miranda of the MICE Department, Tourism Promotions Board, in February, when the Philippine Council for the Advancement of Association Executives signed cooperation agreements with HelmsBriscoe and the Marriott Hotel Manila.

“Make sure that the [Philippine MICE] industry is well-co-ordinated in its offerings, and that the offerings are fun/effective/efficient and without any problematic hiccups, i.e. traffic/ storms [so time of year]/poor food/delayed aircraft, and so on.”UBM Asia executive vice-president Michael Duck, on how the Philippine MICE industry can be internationally competitive.

“This is not an accidental occurrence, but the continuation of an activity that will put Manila to its rightful place as one of the centers of culinary excellence in the world.”Department of Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr. (left), on the return of the Madrid Fusion Manila gastronomic congress and festival to the Philippine capital on April 7-9, 2016.

“The Filipino market is important to us, and we remain committed in bringing the Philippines to the world and the world to the Philippines.”Singapore Airlines’ Manila general manager Carol Ong, (right)

“Marketing must be clear, benefits-oriented and frequent, as meeting professionals have so many competing options. The more meeting professionals you can bring to the Philippines to see the venue and its people first hand, the more successful you will be in booking meetings.”Susan Sarfati, the Washington DC-based CEO of High Performance Strategies, on how to present the Philippine MICE industry to key markets overseas

“Filipinos could improve on aspects of thought leadership. We should be able to build great marketing machinery as well. To attract MICE patrons, we need to build great social infrastructures to accommodate the industry. The Philippine MICE industry could do better in marketing events as well as developing a great network of MICE talents.”Prince Gregorio (right), industry blogger and eventprof at Thomson Reuters

“This is an exciting time to be holding MICE events in the Philippines, as more guest-friendly and state-of-the-art facilities are arising. Metro Manila continues to embrace the MICE aspect of the hospitality business as more companies are establishing offices here with rapid growth in the telecommunications, IT and business process outsourcing fields.”Novotel Manila Araneta Center general manager Bernd Schneider (right), on the Philippine capital’s changing MICE skyline

“There’s an increased influx of tourists in the Philippines’ key island destinations, and an even more aggressive competitor set for our resort properties.”The Discovery Leisure Company’s chief operating officer, Jun Parreño

“People will do whatever it takes just to see [Vigan]. Like Boracay when they started, they had the Caticlan [connection], then another land transfer travel time of two hours, I think, going to Boracay. So it’s the same case with Laoag Airport to Vigan.”Gordion Hotel general manager Ana Marie Alcantara, on her hometown’s appeal to visitors

“I am happy when guests learn what I teach them. It is a good feeling to see the delight on their faces as they weave their own palm-fiber souvenirs.”“Nanay” Carmin, crafts expert (left), Shangri-La’s Boracay Resort & Spa’s Eco Center

“To encourage more people to visit and invest in the Philippines, we need to make improvements in land and air transportation, from upgrading the metro rail system to building new roads, highways, and airports. That has to be a priority. We need to make it easier for potential investors to come in and see what we have to offer.”KMC MAG Group managing director Michael McCullough, Manila

“Many organizers find their recipe for an efficient event format and they repeat it over and over again.  And you can see this trend across the globe. There is nothing wrong with it, but there is a danger of falling behind the competition.”Anna Dvorakova, sli.do event technology, Philippines

“The landscape for the association sector in the Asia-Pacific is broadening and blooming as many countries view that putting together and further professionalizing associations will help boost the MICE industry and consequently their drive for more tourism opportunities.” Octavio “Bobby” Peralta, president and chief executive of the Philippine Council for the Advancement of Association Executives

“Some pageant fans and MICE students might look beyond Mr Harvey’s slip of the tongue and ask questions backstage, ‘How come First Runner-up Miss Colombia was allowed to be given flowers and then crowned? And how come Ms Ariadna Gutierrez was then allowed to stand onstage to wave her flag and blow kisses for so long?’”Miss Brooke’s Point Philippines Earth 2015 Ana Maria Wadsworth (left), 16, on the announcements of Miss Universe 2015

“Take pride in your work. Remember that whatever we do in the association has a bigger impact because it affects a whole industry or a whole sector.”Association Executive of the Year Evelyn Salire (right), secretary general of the Philippine Retailers’ Association

“[Aggressive advertising campaigns and special deals] may work initially to get people through the door, [but] they don’t create the type of meaningful connections that engage customers. ‘Customer engagement’ is a customer’s emotional or psychological attachment to a brand, and is the definitive predictor of business growth.”AccorHotels interprets its latest customer-service poll.

“Participants are expecting conferences and meetings to be more engaging and participatory.  Presentations that simply ‘speak to’ delegates with no opportunity for them to share and discuss with each other is basically very limiting and can arguably be considered conventional — modern-day participants demand workable outcome and solutions to the challenges they are facing.”International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) president Nina Freysen-Pretorius (above)

“Our new brand is all about giving our customers more of what they want, and less of what they don’t … Almost all of our guests are between 20 to 30 years old, and this online generation is changing the dynamics of the hotel industry.”Red Planet chief executive Tim Hansing, on the chain’s tech upgrades for guests in the Philippines

“Understand what you stand for … know your stakeholders … engage constantly.”GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications founding director Amor Maclang (left) at last month’s Association Executives Summit III