I was there! I was part of the Beijing Olympics!

I was on an Olympics panel during 2009 PCMA annual and a woman in the audience asked me how I felt sitting in the VIP section of the Bird’s Nest watching Beijing bidding farewell to the 2008 Olympics.

Her question brought me back to the night of August 24,2008, a night that will stay in my memory for the rest of my life. I remember as I was watching the Olympic flame from the “memory tower” being extinguished followed by a magnificent fireworks display (see photo), I heard thundering hailing “glorious” from the more than 90,000 people inside the stadium. All of a sudden I could hear nothing and I reached to my cell phone and quickly dialed my dad in Shanghai.

“I did it dad! My event was flawless,” I said calmly.

“Yes you did. Your mom and grandma will be very proud of you in Heaven,” he said.

My eyes were welling and I simply let tears drip down my face…

Ping He, Before Closing Ceremony with Caterpillar's CEO couple

Fall 2006, Caterpillar came to me and wanted to hold a high-end customer experience to recognize their top dealers. I proposed the idea of holding the client event in conjunction with the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The proposed idea was held in favor by Caterpillar’s executive leadership. I was then asked to help secure accommodations, design an agenda and manage the event, both in advance and onsite.

My challenges

Olympics are considered as the single largest events in the world. Beijing Olympics was the largest Olympics ever and also commonly acknowledged as the most difficult Olympics event for sponsors and planners alike. Amongst the countless challenges; the most notable ones I had to deal with were:

• Accommodation – BOCOG (The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad) was in control of all 4-star and above housing in downtown Beijing
• Tickets
• Traffic and landing passes for private jets
• Inbound Visa
• Access to venues that were only allowed to dignitaries for special events
• Communications

My Solutions

As a native of China, I know the significance of “Guanxi” – connections in doing business in China. For CAT Olympics event I helped select FESCO DMC as our local partner. FESCO DMC is a division of FESCO, one of the Fortune

200 companies in China. FESCO DMC’s unique strength was their close ties

with the Beijing government. FESCO was responsible for providing human resources and security for the Olympics. I served as liaison between the client and the FESCO DMC, traveling twice to China for site selection and planning meetings before the event.

Commune by the Great Wall - a Kempinski Hotel

I negotiated the use of 10 villas for the group at the Commune by the Great Wall managed by Kempinski Hotels (http://www.communebythegreatwall.com/en/), a private collection of contemporary architecture designed by 12 Asian architects. This hotel was exhibited at the 2002 la Biennale di Venezia and bestowed a special prize. In 2005, Commune by the Great Wall was hailed by Business Week as a “New Architectural Wonder of China”.  Most of the rooms in this hotel pride themselves of having a Great Wall view (see photo). I personally was very fond of the Bamboo Wall villa (see photo) which is considered the most photographed villa of all.

Bamboo Wall Villa

Securing tickets for the games especially for the closing ceremony tickets; the most sought after tickets which was the most challenging task of all. Fortunately Mr. David Spain, our strategic partner from the Luxury Partnership (www.luxurypartnership.com) connected me with a US-based marine ticket broker and got tickets and thus avoided the cancellation of this entire event for Caterpillar.

Diaoyutai State Guesthouse

I also planned the meal functions for the Top Dealer Program, including a banquet at the exclusive Diaoyutai State Guesthouse (The name “Diaoyutai” means “angling platform”, and is so named because the site was a favorite fishing spot of Emperor Zhangzong of Jin China. The Guesthouse is now used to house visiting foreign dignitaries (see photo). In one of the receptions I planned we showcased four different Chinese cuisines complete with education on the significance of different foods in shaping different Chinese people’s behaviors from different China regions .

As for the communications, I suggested my client purchase 80 Nokia cell phones for our guests to use during their stay to ensure their safety and security and then following the Olympics to donate them to China’s earthquake relief as part of the corporate social responsibility.

Cell phones for China's earthquake relief

Results

Caterpillar was able to purchase a total of 486 Olympic event tickets including 70 closing ceremony passes in 5 Luxury Skyboxes. Using connections with top Chinese government officials and the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Committee, I was able to secure Special Olympics license plates for the client vehicles which allowed access to the Olympics lane on all major highways and parking outside of the famous Bird’s Nest. While many overseas groups had to cancel their Beijing 2008 Olympic Games plans due to China’s rigid inbound Visa policy during the Games, our partner, FESCO, worked to ensure admittance for all the client employees and guests. FESCO’s connections also allowed the client to obtain private jet landing permits, documents sought after by state heads, royal families and celebrities.

From inception to execution it took a team of people almost a year and a half’s hard work and sweat.

For Caterpillar, it was the most successful and prestigious high-profile event in their event history.

For me, a native of China, I can proudly say “I was there. I was part of the Beijing Olympics!”