oustanding_new

Regional Property Giants Gather for
First Outstanding Individuals in Industry Awards

Hong Kong 16 June 2008: Real estate industry elite joined with fellow winners nominees guests and supporters for the gala dinner for the Outstanding Individuals in Industry Awards Excelsior Hotel, Hong Kong 12 June 2008. In an event that looks set to become the annual real estate industry function of the year the 2009 awards were announced with three new categories: Real Estate Industry Champion, Business Development Award, and Architectural and Systems Design Award. Winners this year worked on some of the biggest and most prestigious building and investment projects and deals in the sector.

Sponsored by ISG Asia, Goldcrest Consultants and table sponsor Jones Lang LaSalle tables full of winners, nominees and guests surrounded the stage with other well-wishers and the elite of the real estate industry. Flying in from all over the region everyone toasted the 12 winners (across 9 categories that span the entire lifecycle of real estate from investment to management) recognising the professionals who build, design and manage the buildings in which we work, live and play.

Claire Saeki, Co-Publisher of RFP Magazine said: "There are plenty of awards for buildings. Why celebrate a building? Nothing there happened by magic. We thought why not celebrate the people that made it happen? Those people that improved people's lives by solving a problem, creating beauty or advancing the understanding of the way we humans operate in our surroundings. Our winners are outstanding in doing all those things.".

In the spirit of community participation members of the audience were selected at random and invited onto the stage to present the award to the 12 winners. A judging a panel of senior industry experts had spent months selecting the winners based on various factors including their individual and team contribution, the significance of their projects, sustainability, effectiveness, projects size, innovation, difficulties overcome and budget-control exercised. (For more information on the awards winners, click to: http://www.rfpmagazine.com/outstandingindividuals/winners.htm.)

"The awards recognise high achievers and help promote professionalism. All our industry stakeholders, including clients, will ultimately benefit from an initiative like this," said Tim Threlkeld of ISG Asia, a sponsor of the awards.

"The awards were envisaged as a reward for the unsung heroes of our built environment, but they should not be seen as a competition," said Ashford Pritchard,
Editor of RFP Magazine. This was reflected by the selection of
two outstanding winners in three of the nine categories.

The awards hope to encourage some razzmatazz and sparkle to an industry that often perceived to lack glamour. "It is an immense initiative to recognise the individuals in the abyss," said judging panel member Kumar Ravindra, Design Director of VA Group and Principal Architect & Founder, Pragrup. RFP Magazine will feature an in-depth spread on the winners in its May issue, with the awards to be officially conferred at a
gala dinner in Hong Kong on June 12 th 2008.

Full list of Award Winners

About the Judging Panel
The judging panel comprised of a broad range of experts and leaders from top-tier management and high profile industry bodies from across the Asia-Pacific region. The judging approach will be collaborative and supportive rather than competitive. The judging panel (alphabetical order) is:

• Claire Saeki (Founder & Publisher, RFP Magazine)
• David Tse (Chairman, RICS Hong Kong , Managing Director, LT Management Services and L.T. Properties)
• John D. Gilleard (Professor) (IFMA Fellow)
• Ken Yeang (Ph.D.) (Principal, Llewelyn Davies Yeang ( UK )
• Kumar Ravindra (Design Director, VA Group; Principal Architect & Founder, Pragrup)
• Margaret Brooke (CEO, Professional Property Services)
• Michael A. Zamora (Senior Manager, Cisco Systems)
• Sachio Furusaka, (Founder, Women's Facility Management Consortium)
• Soichiro Okishio (Professor Emeritus (Architecture), Tokyo University of Science)

About RFP Magazine
RFP Magazine was created to provide quality, independent information for corporate Real Estate, Facilities and Project managers in Asia . First published in May 2004, RFP has been constantly updating and providing informative, timely and relevant contents so that readers, contributors and advertisers have a clear picture of their role in the market. To date, RFP has more than 30,000 readers working in a diverse range of local, regional and multi-national companies both within Asia and beyond.

For Media Enquiries (English & Chinese)
Jack Lee
+852 28519923
jlee@facilitymedia.com