The meticulous event management by No Surprises Events was pivotal to the success of the evening. From ensuring that everything screamed the black, fuchsia pink and white colours of Sleek Studio products, to the catering to event design and flow, No Surprises Events certainly took care of all the fine details.

Even the red carpet as we know it got the Sleek Studio makeover, with No Surprises Events ensuring that it was black….could this be the beginning of a new trend? Check out our gallery for more pictures from the event.

It was important to us to mark this day as it represents Africa and addresses the challenges she has faced, such as armed conflict, climate change, and poverty. We may not be perfect just yet but in the words of Sam Cooke “A change is gonna come”

The world often views Africa as the Dark Continent but clearly we are full of colour!!

Let us know how YOU spent your Africa Day

1. Create a great agenda

Once hosts understand that people enjoy attending events, it is important to create a program that is worth attending. The agenda should be focused on a single theme and not overwhelm attendees. For example, the following sample half day seminar schedule considers the meeting attendees’ needs:

• 8:00 a.m. Arrivals and Breakfast
• 8:45 a.m. Welcome Message
• 9:00 a.m. Keynote Speaker
• 10:00 a.m. Break
• 10:15 a.m. Panel Discussion
• 11:30 a.m. Closing Remarks

2. Be sensitive to the calendar and clock

Despite the best agenda, event attendees have preferences as to when they want to attend such programs and when they cannot. Consider the following when scheduling dates and times for your event:

• Attendees prefer morning schedules for seminars.
• Attendees prefer appreciation events immediately after work.
• Tuesdays and Thursdays are popular meeting days.
• Avoid holding meetings on Fridays if possible.
• Avoid scheduling meetings on holidays and the eve of holidays.
• Be sensitive to attendee travel requirements for the event.
• Equally important: establish a reputation for starting on time and finishing on time.

1. Failing to respond to the RSVP

Etiquette Scenario: You are a manager in the company and receive an invitation from the director of another department in the company, inviting you to attend an important product launch. The RSVP requests that you call a specific individual to confirm your attendance.
You put the invitation to the side of your desk, and it quickly gets covered by a stack of work. Two weeks later the inviting host calls you up and extends a personal invitation, also asking that you interact socially with key customers at the launch. At that time, you give an enthusiastic, “yes”.

Etiquette tip: Respond within five days of receiving any invitation.

2. Failing to follow the dress code

Etiquette Scenario: The printed invitation you left 10 weeks ago on your desk served as a scrap piece of paper for some random conversation since then. The product launch is a breakfast seminar at a local hotel.
Because you work at a software company where the dress code is always business casual, you’re wearing khakis and a long sleeve shirt. You’re greeted at the registration table by a colleague in the company, and then step into the meeting room and find everyone else is wearing business attire.

Etiquette tip: Read the invitation prior to the event and recognize the dress code information. When in doubt, always overdress for circumstances.

3. Failing to arrive on time

Etiquette Scenario: The invite agenda of the product launch you’re attending indicates arrivals at 8:30 a.m. and opening remarks at 9:00 a.m.; there’s a breakfast buffet for guests during this time. You look at your watch and its 8:50 a.m., feeling confident that you arrived on time.
In a hurry, you failed to notice the two internal emails that were sent, summarizing the agenda and asking that you arrive between 8:00 and 8:15 a.m. so that corporate managers are present when important clients arrive (and some always arrive early).

Etiquette tip: Corporate managers and staff are always expected to be the first to arrive at an event.

4. Failing to extend the correct handshake

Etiquette Scenario: With 10 minutes on your side before the presentation begins, you scan the room to quickly acknowledge colleagues and check if you recognize any specific customers.
You walk past two or three clients wearing name badges and say hello to another corporate manager, shaking her hand. Then, you grab a plate of food and bottle of water. With both hands full, you’re finally ready to say hello to a client.

Etiquette tip: Nobody is interested in shaking your wet, clammy hand. Shake hands after you’ve properly eaten and washed. At this point, greet verbally and your client will understand.

5. Failing to introduce new people to those around you

Etiquette Scenario: You find a table for your muffin and water, and sit down – three minutes before the meeting begins.
Lucky for you, everyone at the table knows you, but only three of eight people know each other. Thinking you don’t have enough time, you turn to speak with the three familiar people, and overlook the others.

Etiquette tip: Remember to introduce everyone in the group, and make every effort to introduce lower ranking individuals to the higher rank in the group (in that order). Also, remember to include titles and formal names. (“Mr. John Smith, let me introduce you to Dr. Ajayi, our vice president of product development. Dr. Ajayi, Mr. Smith is director of client relations at Discovery Corporation.”)

6. Failing to speak to appropriate topics

Etiquette Scenario: The first hour of the meeting has past, and it’s time for a break. You finally remember to introduce some of the people at your table.
Then, you remember that a child of one of the people at the table was battling a serious illness a couple months ago, and decide to ask about the status of his or her health.

Etiquette tip: Several topics should be avoided in group event situations and personal health topics is among them. Other topics that should be avoided include matters of personal finance, divisive topics and anything in the realm of gossip.

7. Failing to yield respectful courtesies to others at the event

Etiquette Scenario: Everyone at the table is getting along during the break, and the discussion goes into more depth on some of the talking points from the previous presentation. A client at the table is extremely interested in what your company has done to develop this new product.
You have attended a product development training about this, and decide to share some perspectives with the table. You don’t notice this right away, but Dr. Jones was just about to respond to the question. You hear that she started to utter something, but continue on.

Etiquette tip: Show deference to others in a variety of social and business settings. Dr. Jones is the senior executive at the table, and this is her question to address.

8. Failing to follow other business etiquette rules

Okay, the product launch event has long past. It’s the end of the year, and your colleagues decide to offer you a departmental roast. Your four favorite colleagues in management do their best to entertain the rest of your department about your business etiquette violations of the year. A few of the additional topics include:
• Excessive drinking at company events.
• Inappropriate table manners.
• Lack of chivalry.
• Lack of thank you messages/acknowledgements.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5408252-146/elan_personality_funmi_victor-okigbo__.csp

Believe it or not, her glamorous signature hairstyle isn‘t a fashion statement. ”Some people see me and they think I‘m wearing the hair because I want to make a fashion statement,” she replies, ”Really it is low-maintenance: I wake up in the morning, just run my hands through it and I‘m ready to go. Sometimes when I had to wear straight hair, I found out that I had to thong it every morning and it was really stressful for me. This hair is very easy to manage.”

On any good day, it is very likely that you catch her without any form of make-up. That also has to do with her disaffection with spending time in front of the mirror. ”Most times, I don‘t make up because I don‘t have to start running to the mirror to check myself out,” says Victor-Okigbo.
As she moves around her office, almost with the graceful speed of a gazelle, to confer with one personnel or the other, you instantly notice the obvious: Victor-Okigbo is a restless woman. But would you blame her?

Her work, she declares, requires every little attention she is capable of giving. ”When people place their events in your hands, you have to make sure everything goes right, you have to cover the details,” she says. ”When you call and tell people what to do, you have to check again and again to make sure they are doing it right.”
Having successfully piloted many A-list corporate events, she has made an ineffaceable impression in the industry, though she came on board not too long ago. But she is also not about to regale you with stories of how she is presently living her dream like many people are wont to.”I wish I could say I‘ve been planning events since I was three years old, but no, I kind of stumbled into it. I saw that when I attended events I always was able to pick out something that I thought I could do a little better. I ended up creating the sort of events that I wanted to attend. I felt that I could add value. The rest as they say is history,” she says.

With a clientele base that contains names like Stanbic IBTC, CitiBank, Standard Chartered Bank, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, talk of a woman who goes only for the very top league members. Though she really has no problem with that label, she also argues that it could be the other way round.”Maybe they go for us because they know what we have to offer,” she says. What is more, she also hints that though she is pretty young in the industry, those juicy clients don‘t come straight from the blues. ”Most times it is based on referrals and then a lot of them see what we have done and they call us. Sometimes we had to make a pitch and then they call,” she explains.But the most significant for her, she says, remains the fact that her clients always come back.