At Italian insurer's Silver Jubilee…It's Paris for Us

Fairground entertainment...	...at Pavilions de Bercy...	...with a special show...	...and conga dancing

May 2010: A major Italian insurance company serving the banking sector wanted to arrange a special Paris weekend to celebrate their Silver Jubilee (25 years) and the changeover of General Managers. They asked French DMC Alcep Travel & Events to organize something special for their special keynote day. We managed to integrate everything so well that even our travel agency client in Rome showered praise on us.

Background

This is a very unusual and unique Italian insurance company which has developed special appeal and expertise by customizing their services to a group of Italian banks and providing the best insurance products for the banks' own customers. Since supplier-customer relationships are very close, the insurance company was looking for special conditions to celebrate their 25 year Silver Jubilee.

Everyone together

"People will be coming from all over Italy. We want you to make them feel as one" was how our client, the Italian travel agency, explained the core issue of their client (the insurance company) to us. The purpose of this event was to commemorate 25 years of the insurance group's establishment. Equally the weekend would serve to thank and celebrate the retirement of the outgoing General Manager as well as introduce the incoming General Manager. For this trip the company invited its most important clients as well as all the management levels of the banks, drawn from all over Italy. In total there were 320 guests.

Indeed, we had to consider carefully how the three-day event could be arranged when various groups were arriving on 10 different flights and also flying home at different times. In taking charge of the entire event, we had to plan carefully a) The arrival day, b) the Big Day and c) The departure day.

Shaping the key event

All guests arrived on Friday 30th April and left on Sunday 2nd May – leaving the main day of Saturday 1st May for the Convention and Gala Evening. On the arrival day, in the afternoon, we made very relaxed arrangements: a cruise on the Seine River and a tour of Montmartre, followed by dinner also in Montmartre. Equally on the departure day, with guests leaving at different times for the airport, we simply advised them on interesting places to visit for the time they had free. 

Everyone stayed at the Marriott Rive Gauche Hotel in classy downtown Paris and this is where the insurance company held their 2010 Annual Convention, called ''It’s Paris for us!" Alcep had the responsibility for all administrative and culinary arrangements. But as interesting as the day was, everybody was waiting for the evening to begin.

An exceptional Gala Evening

We reserved the Museum of Fairground Art at the Pavillons de Bercy exclusively for our group. We chose this magical location in Paris because of its authenticity and its uniqueness in restoring turn-of-the-century fairground art to its original brilliance and mechanical functionality.

To make our gala event unforgettable we arranged for guests to be greeted in earthy 'fairground spirit' by fairground performers, fire-eaters, singers and barrel organs. The effect was electric as everyone entered happily into the carefree fairground atmosphere. The grand finale was a dance where all the guests participated, turning it into a giant and happy party.

Summing up

This was an events management challenge. Coordinating 320 people arriving in Paris from 10 different Italian flights was no easy task. Our role as French DMC specialists was to organize the Main Day, while also taking care of pleasant and convenient arrangements for the pre- and post-event days. We got the balance just right and to our great satisfaction everybody went home smiling. We also received some very nice compliments for producing the event from our Rome Travel Agency client.