Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/380554
Events 41 maltatoday, Sunday, 14 September 2014 Divine DS: capturing the essence of the DS brand With more than 500,000 vehicles sold worldwide in four years, DS is building on its success and is now a brand in its own right. Its latest creation, the concept car Divine DS, is a true expression of the brand's DNA. Designed and created in Paris, France, it captures the very essence of DS. Unique styling cues: a 4-door, compact vehicle (4.21m) DIVINE DS immediately draws all eyes. Spec- tacular, elegant and enchanting, with a subtle shimmer in its metal grey bodywork. The strong, sensual curves showcase striking graphic features such as the 'DS Wings', the sharp sweep of the side lines and the unique roof design. A unique exterior and an excep- tional interior! The original cabin features a bold, high-tech layout of spectacular contrasts, expressing the avant-garde design, refinement and sophistication of DS; -Bold design: with its exclusive 'Hypertypage' concept, Divine DS introduces a new automotive ex- perience. Customers are invited to choose an interior trim that truly re- flects their personality from a selec- tion worthy of a haute couture fash- ion house. The cabin of Divine DS features three interchangeable in- terior ambiences, each with its own original and unique personality. French elegance: Divine DS reflects the combined expertise of several prestigious houses, such as Lesage for embroidery and Swarovski for crystal work. The presence of these firms, each one setting the standard in its field, demonstrates the ambi- tion and the capacity of DS to over- turn established codes and bring different worlds together, a first in the automotive industry! -Technology contributing to style: Divine DS is a car of dynamic, active design, with futuristic, avant-garde headlights combining sequential in- dicators with laser technology, facets on the roof that open to reveal a re- versing camera, and optimised aero- dynamics. Inside the car, the 'cock- pit' driving position and exclusive use of digital systems (touch screen, holographic display, etc.) showcases the in-car technology. "Divine DS is an expression of our expertise. This concept car is the very essence of what DS is and what it will be. A perfect alliance between sophistication and tech- nology. Unveiled just a few weeks after the birth of the brand, Divine DS perfectly expresses the unique personality of DS." Yves Bonnefont, CEO, DS Brand. Charity auction at HSBC UK Contact Centre Malta HSBC UK Contact Centre (HBEU), home to Malta's largest number of call centre employees, hosted its fifth annual charity auction as staff and their families and friends tried to outbid each other for a good cause. The evening auction raised more than €2,000 for Europa Donna, the European breast cancer coalition. Originally starting out as an in-house effort to support social causes, the auction has continued to grow in size and scale over the last five years with this year's attendees and auction items outnumbering previous years. At least 30 business- es and establishments around Malta donated items, ranging from dine- out vouchers and getaway deals to artworks created by HBEU's own staff. Up for grabs were close to 60 items as participants jostled to snap up the prizes at the start of each new bid. HBEU People Experience Manager Richard Powell, who energised the participants with his well-known wit, said: "Considering we raised a meagre €500 in our first year of charity auction to over €2,000 this time, the continued enthusiasm of staff in chipping in to support wor- thy causes is laudable. The event also serves to raise awareness that living and surviving with cancer of any kind is indeed possible." Europa Donna Malta President Gertrude Abela, a breast cancer survivor for 15 years, said: "The good work of HBEU and the funds it has been making available to Eu- ropa Donna Malta are a solid pillar of support to our organisation. The money received will be used to sus- tain further education and research in the area of breast cancer." A participant, Kevin Krishnan, who has attended the event each year in a row and who was first in- troduced to the event by his wife as an employee of HBEU, said: "As someone who has known cancer patients and survivors around my- self, my main aim to attend HBEU's annual charity auction is to be part of the support network available to cancer patients. Each year, I try to participate and each year I try to bring a new set of friends to join in." HBEU regularly organises various fund-raising and awareness activi- ties to support the society it operates in, while its staff are encouraged to volunteer in the community. Established in 2006 with a target of 250 employees, the superior cus- tomer services delivered by the Con- tact Centre have resulted in more than 400 employees assisting UK account holding customers today. Malta has received glowing cover- age in a long article on its successful tourism industry in Travel Weekly by leading features reporter for Travel Weekly Group, Katie McG- onagle. McGonagle's report 'Malta: It's Party Time!' states that she is very impressed by Malta's thriving festival circuit which she contends is perfect for the short-break mar- ket. In a review of the Islands' music scene 'Malta's packed programme of annual events', McGonagle ap- plauds the Isle of MTV music fes- tival for attracting top performers, calls the Valletta International Ba- roque Festival "atmospheric", covers traditional Maltese 'folk' music for Ghanafest and relates that Gozo's Festival Mediterranea "recounts the smaller island's history through op- era, classical music and crafts". She says, "Malta knows how to put on a good show", and she devotes a third of her feature article to Carni- val, feasts and the Fireworks Festi- val. Travel Weekly is a business maga- zine and online information service for the UK travel industry. It pro- vides news, analysis and destination articles for travel agents, tour opera- tors and tourism employees about the UK outbound and domestic hol- iday and travel markets. The weekly magazine has an audited circulation of over 14,000 and was published on Thursday 4 September 2014. In 2011, Travel Weekly was short- listed for two PPA Awards: weekly magazine of the year and editor of the year for business media. Lucy Huxley is editor-in-chief. Katie McGonagle devotes two paragraphs to the Malta Jazz Festi- val, in particular she cites Jazz on the Fringe and recounts that Hotel Phoenicia simultaneously held a jazz performance in their 7.5 acre garden as well as an art installation by Charles 'City' Gatt. She profiles Delicata's wine festival held in the Upper Barrakka Gardens and mentions that "the rest of the arts scene is just as wide-ranging" by detailing that the Malta Arts Festival comprises dance, theatre, art and music, as well as stating that "cultural events also make a great excuse to maximise off-peak sales". Notte Bianca and Birgufest also come in for praise. Hotel Phoenicia's General Man- ager Charles Azzopardi said, "Malta has had very encouraging results again this year and I am particularly pleased that Jazz on the Fringe and Charles Gatt's exhibition here were singled-out for such positive cover- age. The Phoenicia is an ardent sup- porter of Malta's art and culture, we are delighted to host events and support the development of this emerging area. It's great to see that these efforts by the industry to make Malta more interesting are resonat- ing with the leading travel writers in the UK." From tourism to sports: the success of the WebCheck project for tourism leads the MCA to extend the project to the sports sector The successful implementation of the WebCheck project in the tourism sec- tor, in collaboration with the Malta Tourism Authority has led the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) to offer a similar initiative targeting the sports sector, in particular, small sports organizations. Collaborating with the Parliamen- tary Secretariat for Research, Inno- vation, Youth and Sport the primary aim of this project is to provide these organizations with the necessary tools to make better use of the internet and various digital platforms to explore opportunities for growth, awareness- raising and recognition of their work. Speaking at the launch of this ini- tiative, Roderick Marmara, Manager, Information Society at the MCA said "We are launching this new pro- gramme as part of a wider initiative aimed at achieving widespread e- lit- eracy, digital inclusion and the use of ICTs as at tool to improve quality of life for all citizens in particular, disad- vantaged groups. The aim of this new programme is to encourage small organisations in the sports sector to create, or improve its online presence and use social media to increase visibility and raise funds through the most popular online ap- plications." Organisations participating in the scheme will be assigned a specialist in the online marketing field who will be tasked with reviewing its internet strategy with an emphasis on social media platforms, such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Participants will receive free expert advice on ways to capitalise on these digital platforms and develop a strong online strategy. Parliamentary Secretary Josè Her- rera explained that 'the main aim of this project is to assist sports or- ganisations, in particular those or- ganisations which carry less activity awareness to achieve a wider audience through their online presence. The online exposure will trigger interest with various individuals and encour- age them to even participate in local sports activities which currently are not aware of' A substantial amount of sports activists met Parliamentary Secretary Chris Agius and comment- ed that the media falls short in offering regular and relevant coverage on sport activities. Whilst acknowledging their concerns, PS Agius explained that 'unfortunately, the number of sports societies that communicate regularly with the media and keep them abreast with all their activities are few and far between'. Agius emphasised that the media is vital in assisting associations and federations to achieve better acknowl- edgement and recognition. Agius re- ferred to this project 'as the gateway to broaden horizons and reach a wider audience, whilst providing regular up- dates to all those individuals who have a particular interest in specific sports activities'. Participation in the WebCheck for sport, is free as the programme is fully funded by the MCA. Malta featured in the UK's top magazine for the travel industry