After more than half a decade working to evolve the look and feel of the Trade and Investment Convention (TIC), the Lollabee Events Management team is confident the event can grow even further.
Sheldon Stephen, head of the Lollabee Group of Companies, said he continued to be impressed by TIC’s growth, as he looked back upon Lollabee’s contribution to the event since the T&T Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) approached them in 2018.
The Lollabee event team may be better known for its party events such as Carnival Fete Xperience, where Stephen unveiled a $1million, 250-foot stage at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy carpark earlier this year.
However, the company’s time alongside the TTMA has highlighted its ability to manage and design for corporate events as well.
“Every year we try to do a little more, a little more to make it look better. If we have anything from the year before that we think we could correct or go even further enhancing we try to do that on a year-to-year basis. It’s a really nice event. I think my team has a lot of fun working for this event. It is a pretty massive event as well. So we take it very seriously,” Stephen said.
He explained that the team kept the mindset of pushing for excellence regardless of the scenario.
“We started to grow with them. TIC back then was, it wasn’t small, but it was somewhat smaller. And year on year, they started to grow with us,” Stephen said in an interview with the Business Guardian.
Stephen said the Lollabee team had taken up the challenge to raise the event to international standards and over time he has seen the event gain significant traction, even after the pause caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in TIC being taken off the calendar in 2022 and 2023.
“It started to look and feel better, according to international standards. You know what Lollabee stands for, in terms of what we do. We always stay current and up to date with the current trends. We are big on look and feel and design and that sort of stuff. So I think we started to bring some structure to it. Over the years, we grew with them and it started to get better. Last year was really successful. TIC had over 15,000 people in all attending the trade exhibition,” said Stephen.
Last week, in an interview with the Business Guardian, TTMA president Dale Parson said the event has outgrown the Centre of Excellence. Since taking up the role of president, Parson has called for a larger convention space to be provided so that T&T can further push trade and business events like the TIC, noting that the event had earned US$1 billion as of 2024 in trade.
Stephen is in agreement that a bigger convention space is needed as he noted the event had already squeezed almost every square foot of the Centre of Excellence to accommodate the various vendors and companies set to be featured.
“Being around for the last five years, I saw the growth in TIC and being involved this year as well, I was involved with the floor plan and the layout. I could tell you that they basically used every inch of the Centre of Excellence that they could have used to accommodate the most booths that they could have facilitated. With such demand, one assumes that they have to expand further. I will say they could easily expand more, because I’ve been seeing year-on-year growth with the TIC. But my question is, if not the Centre of Excellence, where could this be done that is bigger?” asked Stephen, who also noted that the TIC had a larger space to operate in this year.
“It’s even bigger than last year, because they got back the other side of the Centre of Excellence, which was in use last year as it was rented before. But now it’s not. So they got the whole hall this year.”
He said this underlined the need for a larger event space to be created.
“I think holistically, Trinidad needs a bigger convention space. Centre of Excellence is a great venue. I’ve been working there for many years, and it’s a very nice venue. It facilitates a lot. But I think for TIC to go even further, if there’s even bigger venue, I am 100 per cent sure that they could fill it,” said Stephen,.
“I’m in events, and I can tell you that I don’t think there’s any bigger space than Centre of Excellence in Trinidad currently other than if you go outdoors and then do everything from scratch, which is a whole other situation. I don’t think it would be as nice as it is in Centre of Excellence, with the facilities that it provides, especially with air conditioning and an enclosed area. But definitely in the future, I think if, if there’s a bigger venue, or somebody develops a bigger venue, definitely TIC could fill it, for sure.”
The entrepreneur explained that working with TIC fell in line with his company’s goals to continue to enhance the events landscape in Trinidad and Tobago.
“I basically love trying to evolve Trinidad production holistically. Which you would have probably seen with the massive stages (at Carnival fetes) and the sets and the events and the corporate execution that we do. We always try to innovate. We have the latest technology. I always try to bring down the latest stuff that’s on the market, which you know, easily, helps to look and feel modern and new. That’s one of the things that I do, to keep ahead of the competitors,” Stephen said, pointing to the design changes that had been incorporated into the event from 2018 to now.
“From the beginning of us taking it over, we would have started evolving the decor and the look and the entrances and, you know, just bringing some, I would say, life to the event.”
Apart from the layout, lighting and decor for the event at the Centre of Excellence, the Lollabee team was also responsible for the set up for TIC’s open ceremony on Wednesday night.
Stephen said he is eager to continue working on improving the event and its overall impact on trade and the T&T economy.
The TIC is set to run from today July 17, to Saturday July 19.
