Sphere
#36
2014
13
HK Electric Shows its
Muscle for The Rugby Sevens
They may be smaller than the
Olympics, but the 2009 East Asian
Games and the annual Hong Kong
Rugby Sevens still have high standards.
The Hongkong Electric Co Ltd (HK
Electric) made sure it pulled out all
the stops to guarantee their supply of
energy was stable and secure.
“Meticulousity”
Special events demand meticulous
testing to ensure all the equipment
within substations is functioning as
planned. The police then sweep the
area for suspicious elements, and when
everything checks out, seal the entrance.
This seal lets them identify immediately
whether anyone has accessed the
substations, and prevents unauthorised
interference with the equipment.
During the critical periods of the
events, HK Electric avoids having other
planned work in the same part of the
network. Since all the supply networks
are interconnected, this maintains
maximum availability to the substations
servicing the events. Staff technicians
are then stationed within the vicinity
of the substations. Usually, HK Electric
makes a pledge to its customers to
arrive at the scene within 28 minutes on
average for an incident in urban areas.
But for mega events like the Rugby
Sevens, they cut that down to less than
one minute, with staff on standby at
Hong Kong Stadium.
Back-up planned
In HK Electric’s network supplying the
Hong Kong Stadium, more than one cable
is installed to feed substations at the
same time. If one cable fails, the other
one automatically picks up the load and
safeguards any event from interruption.
The supply network is world class with
reliability of over 99.999 per cent. But
at mega events, HK Electric goes the
extra mile to make sure game visitors
and global viewers get 100 per cent
excitement from the action.
<<
The People’s Olympics
The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics
were a resounding success. Much of the
city’s efforts focused on training the over
100,000 volunteers for the Olympics and
Paralympics. Watsons China made sure
they did their part to upgrade the city’s
human resources.
Convenience for tourists
Beijing today is a much more inter-
nationalised city than it was in 2005 when
volunteer preparation began. Watsons
China realised that they could contribute
to helping tourists and making the Games
a success.
Watsons used their experience in customer
service to produce a custom-made package
containing vital information for tourists: a
map of Beijing city, a subway map, schedules
for the Olympic Games and events,
airport shuttle bus routes and timetables,
useful daily phrases in Mandarin Chinese,
emergency telephone numbers, and, of
course, the locations of the nearest Watsons
stores and details of Watsons products.
Twelve thousand copies were placed in
12 Watsons stores in Beijing and 38,000
copies in special restaurants, economy
hotels and the airport. They proved wildly
successful in both helping tourists and
driving business to the stores. Many visitors
were from regions that Watsons does not
serve. They were introduced to the brand
as a trusted go-to in Beijing for their trip.
When they arrived, they could even find
someone who spoke English to help them.
“I can speak English”
To better serve foreign tourists, Watsons
made the commitment to send staff
to a well-regarded specialist English
language training school for two and a half
months. After the training, staff sported
“I can speak English” badges. The English
language service was available in 12
Watsons stores in Beijing and one in the
seaside city of Qingdao, the venue for the
Olympic sailing events.
From Beijing to London to Hong Kong,
the Group’s experience in upgrading
infrastructure power and human capital
continues to make the difference to the
success of global sporting events. Like the
world-class athletes in the spotlight, staff
dedicate themselves to the challenge and
bring their best to the events. It’s possible
they may miss being in the stands. But
then again, why go to the party when you
can
be
the party?
Credit: Hong Kong Rugby Football Union
