INTERVIEW: MIGUEL CARNEIRO TIS: MICE IN RECOVERY WORLD YOUTH DAY: A HUGE SHOWCASE FOR PORTUGAL 10,00 € NOV 2023 » MAY 2024 BIANNUAL NUMBER 20 YEAR IX Cláudia Coutinho de Sousa Rui Ochôa AN EVENT TO BE REMEMBERED Lisbon has probably hosted this year the biggest event ever made in Portugal: The World Youth Day. The spirit of collective involvement and solidarity was seen in the organisation and across all days. The world is changing, so are people, and since MICE is an industry that brings people together, it is no stranger to change. The Tourism Innovation Summit (TIS) brought together 7,384 travel industry professionals in Seville to reflect on innovation and technology in the transformation of tourism and we got to be there. Passionate about connecting people and solving problems, Miguel Carneiro, aka “software magician”, created ShakeIt to develop mobile apps and soon realised that events would be an interesting market. He reflects on this interview about what is coming in terms of technology for events. OWNER Estação Livre, Comunicação Porto | Portugal Phone: +351 221 113 202 | info@eventpointinternational.com www.eventpointinternational.com DIRECTOR Rui Ochôa [rui@eventpointinternational.com] EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Cláudia Coutinho de Sousa [claudia@eventpointinternational.com] NEWSROOM Cláudia Coutinho de Sousa Maria João Leite [mj@eventpointinternational.com] INTERNATIONAL MICE CORRESPONDENTS Ramy Salameh and Rose de Almeida TRANSLATION Diana Reis Marques [diana@eventpointinternational.com] DIRECTOR OF SALES Filipe Silva [info@eventpointinternational.com] COOPERATING WITH THIS EDITION Jaume Vidal, Vanessa Martin and Vítor Hugo DESIGN Norma Design [info@normadesign.com] COVER PHOTO Sebastião Roxo JMJ 2023 PHOTOS Minifoto PRINTING N.Print - Artes Gráficas R. do Progresso, 256, Lote 25 4760-841 Vilarinho das Cambas | Portugal LEGAL DEPOSIT NUMBER 358113/13 CIRCULATING 1.000 copies FREQUENCY Biannual It is strictly forbidden to partially or completely reproduce texts or illustrations by Event Point. Information in the ads are the sole responsability of the advertisers. Consequently, we can not be held responsible for any incorrect information shown. EDITORIAL 06 Case Study: Google Cloud Day 10 News: Algarve, a leading destination wedding 11 Sustainability: Forum d’Ideias 12 Event: IT&CM Asia 16 Opinion: Jaume Vidal 18 FOCUS ON: WORLD YOUTH DAY 22 EVENT: TOURISM INNOVATION SUMMIT 24 INTERVIEW: MIGUEL CARNEIRO 28 Opinion: Vanessa Martin 30 Report: Liberation Route Europe 34 Companies index DATASHEET CONTENTS TABLE GOOGLE CLOUD DAY IS MULTILEM’S NEW “BUSINESS CARD” The successful event, organised “in record time”, could put the agency on the list of ‘top of mind’ companies offering concept creation, production and event management services. A thousand people took part in Google Cloud Day, a Google event held at the Estoril Congress Centre in June this year, which brought together executives, engineers, partners and clients to follow the transformation that the cloud can bring to companies. A Multilem client for seven years, the technology and internet giant once again turned to the company’s 360 design, construction and event management services to organise an event that Gonçalo Figueiredo, Multilem’s creative director, considers to have been “unique in Portugal”. With three months to prepare the event, Multilem took on the responsibilities of creating the Google Cloud Day concept, graphic conceptualisation, venue decoration, production of audiovisual materials, event management, among other tasks. Two days to set up the event From the outset, Google’s request seemed to be a project like so many others created by Multilem over its 37 years of experience in the market, but it ended up becoming a case study for the company, due to the “record time” in which they had to set up the event, with only two days instead of the usual “four, five”. “We had a day and a half for assembly and half a day for testing, which made us a little apprehensive,” explains Teresa Barreto, Multilem’s commercial director. The agency was forced to “change the chip” in terms of operations, “guaranteeing a larger team than usual and operation managers by zone to fulfil the schedule to the minute”, she adds. WWW.EVENTPOINTINTERNATIONAL.COM 6 CASE-STUDY BRANDED CONTENT For the project’s creative director, the time allocated to assembly was also “the big challenge” of Google Cloud Day, an event which he considers to have been more complex because it had “several sessions simultaneously and was broadcast live”. “Putting on an event this size in two days was almost a record for us and, in that respect, it can be considered a case study for Multilem, for the future, not least to realise our potential and identify how to guarantee speed without compromising quality,” says Gonçalo Figueiredo. Other changes were added to the reduced assembly and testing time. “We started to realise that the number of people was doubling and tripling and suddenly, on the day of the event, we had three times as many people as we were supposed to. We had to adapt everything,” Teresa recalls. For Teresa Barreto, there’s another lesson to be learnt from the event: to simplify, proposing lighter structures than those they’re used to suggesting. “In other words, to be creative about it too. Maintaining quality, sustainability, and comfort, but still being able to build on time and deliver ahead of schedule,” she emphasises. The increased “demand” of the Google brand The visibility that the Google brand has all over the world means that it is more “demanding” than other clients, as Teresa Barreto believes that it is “a brand that everything it does is going to be shared, it has an impact and there is always an expectation on the part of the visitor or participant at the event, or even on the part of the social networks or those who follow the brand”. Gonçalo Figueiredo also admits to “feeling this pressure” but emphasises that it’s events like Google Cloud Day that then serve as a showcase for Multilem’s work. “Before I worry about the success of my creative project, I’m much more concerned about the end result of this event and the visibility it will have and the projection it will have. Ultimately, that good experience with people outside the event, visitors and the event going 100 per cent well and people liking it, will be our calling card in the future. That’s what fulfils us and that’s what we can then earn,” says the creative. Based on the success of Google Cloud Day, Teresa Barreto has no doubt that the future of Multilem in Portugal will be marked by this experience. “Multilem, despite having a very consolidated portfolio in this type of action, may not be the ‘top of mind’ of marketing managers in the Portuguese market. But doing this, doing it well and having feedback on this scale for such a visible brand, can undoubtedly clarify our positioning,” she concludes. WWW.EVENTPOINTINTERNATIONAL.COM 8 CASE-STUDY Next >