|
Subic Bay Free port: Following the record attendance in the recently
concluded 20th Philippine Advertising Congress held at the Subic Bay
Exhibition and Convention Center (SBECC) from November 21 to 24,
officials of the advertising industry said they are considering the
free port as the permanent venue for the biennial conference.
Andre Khan, chairman of the Advertising Board of
the Philippines which organizes the event, said Subic is now “way
ahead of any venue,” including Manila, Cebu or Baguio City.
“There is a lot of talk going around the
industry that Subic may become the permanent home of the Advertising
Congress,” Khan told reporters as the convention closed on
Saturday.
“Most definitely, Subic’s hosting of the Ad
Congress will be very highly recommended to the next hosting
association,” he added.
Ad Congress officials confirmed that on the
third day of the convention, a total of 3,423 delegates had signed
up for the Subic event.
“That’s quite a jump” from the previous
record set in Cebu last year, which was 2,600, said Boy Pangilinan,
the Ad Congress chief of staff.
He added, however, that the secretariat had sold
another 1,000 tickets just for the awards night on the last day of
the event, thereby putting the total to 4,423.
Khan said the record-breaking number of
delegates could be attributed to three factors: the SBECC venue, the
tourism attractions in the Subic Free Port, and the excellent lineup
of guest speakers.
“The men and women behind SBMA have put
together what we think is a world-class convention center,” Khan
said. “And the reputation of the Subic Free Port as a very safe
destination for visitors to come over, as well as its many
attractions, is a major factor to our record-breaking attendance.”
Pangilinan pointed out that the Subic Bay
Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), which completed the venue in record
time, had a parallel organization that mapped out plans and oversaw
details for the congress—the first time it happened in the history
of the Ad Congress, he said.
“We have an executive committee in Manila and
SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza has a parallel group. There was
somebody from his staff attending to hotels, etc. so we had a smooth
sailing largely because of this cooperation,” Pangilinan added.
The Ad Congress official also said the Subic
event broke records not only in terms of attendance, but also in
terms of the convention venue and trade exhibit, which he both
described as “the largest ever.”
“It could very well be, and it just might be.
I would personally recommend Subic to be the next venue. We are very
happy here,” Pangilinan said.
--Anthony Bayarong
|
