Long-term training stories

During the year under review, in addition to generally standardised short-term training, the CTICC provided two permanent staff members with highly targeted long-term training via the International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC) Future Leaders programme. One male and one female were trained. Their story follows below.

Arisha Sukaloo and Sibongiseni Gcelu: Building legacies with winning ideas
Commercial and Food & Beverage departments

During the year under review, two key staff members from our Commercial and Food & Beverage departments were selected to participate in a prestigious international leadership development programme for the MICE sector. The nine-month programme took the form of seven masterclasses on topics such as Leadership, Personal Journey, Ideation, Agility and Customer Experience.

Thirteen industry professionals from around the world were chosen to address an industry challenge. Collaborating in groups, they devised a solution, crafted a business case and documented it in a white paper published to the AIPC online community. These solutions were showcased at the AIPC Conference 2023 in Luxembourg. aiming to attract potential investors to bolster the events industry.

“I want to be remembered as the Revenue Manager that was not only a bean counter, but one that was an influential leader and cared for the business as if it was her own,” says Arisha

Our committed colleagues found themselves in separate teams for the business case exercise and although Arisha‘s team’s ‘Visionary’ 3D space visualisation sales tool idea won the day, Chef Sibu‘s team‘s E:QUAL inclusive and collaborative sector support initiative was a superb runner-up. Many lessons were learned by everyone involved.

Arisha’s journey was marked by transformative insight. She learned to embrace ‘failure’ as a stepping-stone to ‘opportunity’, discovered the enriching potential of networking and realised that true accomplishment lies in overcoming one’s inner challenges, not just external ones. Notably, she transformed her once-deep fear of public speaking into passion. Through her training, she emerged not only as a confident speaker but also as someone who is now enthusiastic about sharing inspirational messages with others.

Chef Sibu’s top three learnings were simple yet powerful: harnessing the power of networking; remembering, as a leader, that change begins with you; and creating positive outcomes out of crises. The programme also empowered him with the skills to be more solution-driven: great communication skills; crisis management skills and an appreciation for collaboration – a learning that Arisha echoed.

Ultimately, the AIPC Future Leaders programme left lasting impressions on them both. Arisha says that representing the CTICC on a global platform and ‘Visionary’ being the winning team at the AIPC Conference 2023 reaffirmed the CTICC‘s dedication to excellence.

“More team members are excited to be part of this experiential opportunity and are also proud that I represented the CTICC in Luxembourg,” she says.

For Chef Sibu, the experience allowed him to forge long-lasting connections – and that working at the CTICC has presented many opportunities. This is truly our values in action – passion, integrity, innovation, excellence, gratitude and caring – and reflects our commitment to training.

We intend to continue leaving our mark on the individuals that we work with, as well as their teams, departments, our centre, our communities and our country

“I want to be remembered as a committed individual: a hard worker: a passionate go-getter: an innovative problem solver and a caring colleague and leader,” Chef Sibu says.