By now you should have heard about the Integrate conference organized by the chapter and coming up in June. We have advertized in RFP magazine, sent out e-mails and, in a few days will send out the physical 4 page flyer by post. We have also had coverage on the Wire issued by IFMA HQ each week and there will be an article in the next FMJ that will touch on the conference.

This year, in light of the financial situation we have tried to create a balance between cost and size. Hence we are only running the conference for one day instead of the two days, as we have done for the last two years.

However we have not tried to save on the content and we have 6 excellent international speakers lined up for you.

SESSION ABSTRACTS

Conference Opening Keynote
IFMA Vision 20/20                                                                John McGee

Facility management is evolving to be a distinct global profession with its practitioners taking ownership for the development and execution of Strategic Facility Plans and Sustainability programs that support corporate level Strategic Plans. John will present the IFMA vision of the needs of the facility management profession and the initiatives IFMA anticipates taking in the coming years to meet those needs.

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 Service Quality as a Predictor                                      Peter McLenann
for Contract Retention                                              Hermen Jan van Ree

Based on a survey of 70 facility manager, this paper develops a model of service quality measures based on the service value chain concept. Identifying that different service lines have a different perceived quality emphasis, this paper suggests that gaps in the quality perception between various stakeholders are a predictor of the probability of contract renewal.

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 FM and the Business of Higher Education              Alan Masterton

Higher education is a large global business and is increasingly viewed as a key component of national competitiveness. This has lead to the “demand-side” benefits of higher education becoming well understood at national levels. However the alignment of “supply-side” inputs such as facilities, often the largest cost after staff, is less well developed. Understanding and supporting academic and economic objectives will be the challenge and opportunity for the FM organization, driving overall success in part by the success of FM.

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 The Five Things You Need to Know               Christopher P. Hodges
About Your Buildings                                                                                                     

Represented as the starting point to sustainability – energy efficiency, water efficiency, sustainable purchasing, waste management and air quality & cleaning are the 5 things the facility manager needs to know about their existing buildings to get a head start on sustainability. 

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 Lessons from the Past                                                               Susan Lim
Unlocking Value in Uncertain Times                                                      

 More than ever, due to the current recession, people in organizations are being asked to do more with less. Previous recessions have taught us how real estate can be leveraged to save money and help manage the reduction of headcount and disposal of property; however the lessons were not fully applied during the Asian crisis. Workplaces in Asian tend to remain static and the new technologies liberating people from the office and enabling dynamic flexibility have not been generally adopted. The challenge is integrating the dynamic nature of organizations with the static nature of buildings and to rationalize beyond the building.

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 FM & Real Estate Outsourcing                                          Oliver Jones
in Today’s Challenging Climate

 How, will and should the current credit crunch be responded to by Real Estate & FM professionals? Is it an opportunity or a threat? How can we help to bridge the gap between yesterday’s aspirations and today’s reality? Oliver Jones will share his experience of how best practice developed over recent years is now being turned to high value advantage in leading companies.

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So far tickets for the conference are selling well and we are well on the way towards achieving the attendee numbers. Don’t forget that the early bird rates finish at the end of this month so get your registration in quickly to be assured of the very reasonable rates for the conference.

We would be unable to achieve the success we have with the Hong Kong Chapter of IFMA conferences without our sponsors and supporting organizations, and this year is no exception.

Sponsors this year are: -

Platinum Sponsor

• Hongkong Land Limited

Gold Sponsor

• AET Flexible Space (Hong Kong) Ltd
• Siemens Ltd

Silver Sponsor

• Pacific Century Premium Developments
• Optegy Energy Services
• Synergis Management Services Limited
• ISS Facility Services Limited

Bronze Sponsor

• Honeywell Limited
• Megaman, Energy Saving Lamps

Organizations supporting the conference this year are: -

• The Hong Kong Institute of Engineers
• The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
• The Hong Kong Institute of Facility Management
• British Standards Institution
• Building Services Operation and Maintenance Executives Society
• The Hong Kong Institute of Architects
• The Society of Operations Engineers
• The Hong Kong Association of Property Management Companies Ltd.