Latest posts by Martin Moodie (see all)
- How I overcame Severe Tire Damage to become the oldest influencer in town - April 20, 2024
- Free as a (Kiwi) bird and flying high in Haikou - April 13, 2024
- Discovering Food Accademia’s world of fine flavours at a Hong Kong cha chaan teng - April 6, 2024
It’s taken me a few days to come down from the high and the emotion of last Friday’s 10th Anniversary Charity Ball for The Moodie Report in Hong Kong.
What a night. Our industry at its warmest, its most giving, its best. What better way to celebrate our first decade?
[With Dermot Davitt, left, and DFS CEO Philippe Schaus and his daughter]
[A number of guests, such as Stuart Bull, wore red bow ties in memory of Welshman and industry friend Alan Edwards who passed away recently]
[Hong Kong’s celebrities graced the event]
So many good memories. Some funny. Some heart-warming. Some poignant. Some to move the hardest of souls to tears.
In no particular order:
– The warmth and commitment of the DFS team on the ground who threw themselves into supporting us before, during and after the event. The company puts a premium on its people and you feel their buy-in as closely as you feel a fragrance on your skin. Take a bow Winnie Ching, Vivia Fung [fourth and fifth from left below] and your great team and the DFS senior management for encouraging such dedication at one of the busiest times in the company’s history.
– The incredible show of support from the industry on the evening. 370 places booked for an event that had originally only offered 300. People flew in from all around the world to be there. That’s what I call giving – not just money but time.
– The constant sound of laughter, the constant sight of smiles. Our industry can be bitterly competitive. Equally it can party collectively like no other and reach out in friendship across companies, cultures and continents.
– The brilliant hamming it up by Abu Dhabi Airports Company Senior Vice President Commercial Dan Cappell as he played ‘Are you smarter than a child?’ on stage with three of the brightest young kids you’re likely to meet. His insistence in the face of friendly fire that Winnipeg was one of the world’s busiest three airports will have delighted anyone from Manitoba but the youngsters (rightly) were having none of it. Never work with children and animals they say. For the former, at least, that old adage was put to rest.
– The ethereal beauty of Welsh harpist Claire Jones’ solo performance (Song to the Moon from Dvořák’s opera Rusalka, my favourite piece of classical music) and the exuberance of her combined act with the Chinese Children’s Orchestra.
– The conviction in DFS Group Chief Operating Officer Michael Schriver’s words as he spoke of the industry’s ongoing commitment to Hand in Hand for Haiti and how travel retail had driven the creation of a world-class school in Saint Marc despite having no commercial interests in the country to speak of.
– The big brown eyes of the schoolchildren at the Lycée Jean Baptiste Point du Sable in Saint Marc, Haiti and the warmth of their collective thank you to the industry, captured on film for the evening
– The complete, respectful and humbling silence as I spoke about the cancer-related work of The Moodie Report Foundation, in particular its plan to give to a particularly poignant project in Los Angeles, related to Lynn Arce (more of Lynn in a forthcoming Blog). Lynn, who was leading DFS’s support for the Charity Ball, was struck down with ovarian cancer shortly after the event was announced and has been through some desperately tough days over recent months. But she’s coming through it like the amazing human spirit she is and while she may not have been at the Ball in person, her spirit shone through it like a laser.
– How, in classic travel retail style, there was an after party to follow the after party. ‘Mody’s bar’ in Mody Road was an irresistibly appropriate choice and just may have doubled its October earnings in one long, long night.
