Corporate Relocation and Change Management
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The Corporate Relocation and Change Management conference took place on 31 January at venue sponsor Clifton 's Central location. The event, organised by Facility Media, intimately gathered a variety of experts including leaders of change, FMs, RE managers, relocation specialists and HR managers.

The first session opened with a lively panel discussion which explored a number of topics such as the importance of site selection, relocation as a lifestyle choice for the employees, opting for “the right” relocation company and the role of communication between the various consultants in setting up new offices and systems. Panelists included Charles Caldwell, HR Director Asia Pacific, Juniper Networks, Stephen Fry, Director, PTS Consulting HK Ltd and Brian Brenner, Director, Hong Kong Global Corporate Services DTZ Debenham Tie Leung. The moderator for the discussion was Claire Saeki , Managing Editor, RFP Magazine.

The second session of the half-day event welcomed Kerry Larkan, an acclaimed Speaker, Author, Consultant and Coach, whose consulting skills, past experience, and extensive research on staff loyalty as well as his well-known concept of “good boss, bad boss” were reflected in his discussion about ways in which a company could ensure a smooth relocation process without affecting the staff's morale and productivity.

Following light refreshments, courtesy of Krispy Kreme, Calvin Samsudin, Departmental Manager, Corporate Service, Crown Relocation outlined key processes necessary for timing and managing office relocation.

The final session saw Stephen Fry whose company is a global leader in IT Relocation projects discuss best practices for both office and data centre IT relocations. Stephen said “the key for successful relocation is experience,” further highlighting a three phase approach from strategy to procurement as “partnership between IT and sourcing,” leading to successful implementation and completion of the project.

Following the event, delegates enjoyed a stand-in-lunch, courtesy of Cru and Jaspas restaurants. The event was sponsored by PTS Consulting and supported by the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors, The Business Environment Council and The Hong Kong Building Environment Assessment Method Society.

Retail Space Asia Conference 2006
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Over 200 delegates from across Asia Pacific converged at the Retail Space Asia Conference 2006 in Hong Kong on 13 December. The event, organised by Facility Media, took place at venue sponsor Cliftons' Central location.

The opening session began with a presentation from Yannick Kennel, Managing Director, FootFall Asia, who discussed pedestrian traffic flow within retail developments. Kennel, whose company measures retail footfall, stressed the importance of understanding the potential of your asset (shop) and says that in order to manage retail spaces you need to measure traffic flows.

The second session of the half-day event saw Christian Wright, Director of Retail Planning, Knight Frank, discuss new challenges for retail landlords and tenants across Asia. He highlighted differences between emerging markets, such as India, where there is still an “if you build they will come” mentality, versus more mature markets like Hong Kong.

Following refreshments, courtesy of Krispy Kreme, Ray Kwan, Project Sales Manager, Megaman Hong Kong, discussed lighting within shopping malls and demonstrated how good lighting can be used to enhance retail spaces.

The final sessions saw Patrick Bruce, Director, Oval Partnerships, and Phil Kim, Senior VP and Managing Director, Jerde Partnerships, discussing the design of retail spaces. Bruce said the most important aspect for designers is to understand the “spirit” or core values of the corporation. The event concluded with closing remarks from guest speaker Charlie Lin, 2007 First Vice President, Certified Commercial Investment Member Institute, China CCIM Chapter.

he sessions were followed by a stand-in lunch, courtesy of Jaspas and Cru restaurants. Lighting company Megaman were the main sponsors of another successful Facility Media event and supporting organisations included The Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors, Business Environment Council and HK- BEAM Society

Managing Corporate Datacentre Facilities 2006
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Datacentre experts from across teh Asia Pacific gathered for the Managing COrporate Datacetre Facilities Conference on 13 September at Hong Kong's Sheraton Hotel.

The half-day event, organised by Facility Media, opened with an end-user case study from Jane Martin, Client Development Director, Intergrated Facilities Management, Jones Lang LaSalle, who pointed out that Asia had lower associated costs for datacentre operation when compared to Europe and would continue to do so for quite some time. She also touched on the issue of "greening" datacentres, stating that environmental considerations were not a top priority at the moment and that factors such as security still took precedence over this.

The second speaker of the morning was John Murgida, Head of Corporate Real Estate Operations, Lehman Brothers, who explored the more technical aspects of datacentre design. Murgida stressed teh importance of "uninterruptible cooling" and the need to look at high density cooling criteria within datacentres. Following on from this, Eric Canale, Director of Real Estate and Facilities, Asia Pacific EMC², discussed the strategic business advantages of IT integration of datacentres and stated that, these days, datacentres no longer have to be in the same location as your business.

The second session of the morning began with Loren Smith, Vice President, Asia Pacific, Structure Tone, who discussed outsourcing versus building your won datacentre. Smith added that in Asia there is often a tendency to go for the lowest price wihen selecting contractors for buidling datacentres, however, he would advise against doing this.

The final part of the morning involve a lively panel discussion that answered a number of questions from the floor. Panelists included Alex Li, Associate Director, Engineering Services, Newtech Technology, Darren McSorley, Datacentre Specialist, Asia Pacific, The Siemon Company and Alan Fung, National Leader on Security, Privacy and Business Continuity Services, Senior Manager, Risk Advisory Services, KPMG, as well as National Director, ISSA. The moderator for this discussion was John Duffin, Executive Director, DSCO.

Structure Tone Asia and NewTech Technology Sponsored the event and supporting organisations included Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors, Hong Kong Institute of Engineers, Institute of Datacentre Professionals, Information Systems Security Association and HOng Kong Security Association.