ELIE LORES BLANES

 

President SITE Belux & Managing Director Master Events

The name may suggest Spain, the looks definitely confirm Spain, but ..”I am a real ‘zinneke’ “, says Elie, “and proud of being one!” Born and bred in Molenbeek from a Spanish father and a Belgian Mother, Elie considers Spain as a vacation or travel destination rather than home!

KEYWORD: NETWORKING, NETWORKING, NETWORKING ….

“Are you the blond with the black dress who just drove off again without ringing our doorbell?..” Now, that I call a dangerous statement by a subject of an interview to the journalist sent to make a - flattering – portrait….. Anyway I soon found out that it was said with the same enthusiasm and verbal animosity that are characteristic for all of Elie’s statements and I decided that he was right, I did not investigate the address properly and could have been there earlier…(…and I am a faux blonde by the way…).

Elie Lores Blanes is this years’ President of the Belux Chapter of SITE; he has himself been a member of SITE for the last 10 years. He took a while before actually joining, as he wanted to make sure that the networking possibilities were optimal. Networking is definitely the word of the President and Elie uses it frequently…
“It is also the word that typifies my main ambition for my presidency. Of the 50 odd members of the chapter I only know and regularly see about 20; my ambition is to convince these other members that our regular get-togethers are worth attending as they provide perfect opportunities for encountering fellow professionals.

There is a lot of work to be done in the chapter and I want to be clear that when I am at a SITE function, I am there as the President of SITE and not as Managing Director of Master Events.
SITE, although not well known by our clients, is very important for the networking of the suppliers. My main aim is to ‘wake up’ those members who miss out on the full options and benefits of SITE. I know it is not an easy task that I set myself, but I hope to convince them of the networking value and also to attract new, valuable members.

Do not forget it has been many years since an Incentive House supplied the president… maybe that can inspire.”

Lores Blanes continues enthusiastically: “But Belux, actually only Belgium as we do not have, currently, a member in Luxembourg, is not doing badly, on the contrary. SITE is alive and well, at ESNEP (the European yearly get together of SITE) Belgium was one of the largest delegations and the Belgium Chapter is the one with the highest Incentive House representations! We are going to continue the Meet & Lunch activity at Diamant for the 3rd year running as the formula is successful, my ambition is to find subjects of discussion that go further than the world of travel, more general subjects, but of course always with a MICE connection. I have a feeling this could attract more interest and therefore help me in my goal to activate those SITE members that we rarely see at our meetings.”

INCENTIVES, A PASSION

Elie Lores Blanes is a happy man as he has been able to turn his 2 major passions – sports and travel – into his job. After a rewarding career as a P.E. teacher in a Brussels school, Elie decided in 1991 that he valued his independence more and started up Master Events. He had past experience with accompanying groups during the school holidays and set up his own company along the lines and values he subscribes to: lots of passion for the people and destinations, thorough preparation resulting in a fluid organization and giving full confidence to his people so that they can also go in the field with group. Like that there is always a maximum of know-how on the destination and the details of the group present with the client during the incentive. “Our force is our ability to react quickly in the field and therefore we need the full confidence of the client. We are definitely not the cheapest and have no ambition to be that, we just want to give the best possible tailor-made service to the client.”

Elie is still very much involved and will often accompany the groups himself. When asked about his best memories, he reflects – with great enthusiasm! – on trips to Iceland…in January. With over 1.000 people over a period of 1 week, this was the largest incentive the country had ever seen and that in winter conditions! Another treasured memory is of India. “ It was our best ever and my most difficult trip as a group leader…..I literally had nothing to do the whole week as all went according to plan, the clients were happy and the destination was fascinating…I could have sent a stagiaire!” Elie beams a big smile while he recalls this great trip.

Elie is a bit of a ‘pasha’ when it comes to his team: he is surrounded by ladies and talks about his girls with great pride: Dominique – also his life partner -, Nathalie – his right hand for the last 13 years -, Claire – with him from the start – and Linda, a former stagiaire who stayed on.
Elie likes to teach, that is the former teacher speaking, and he loves contact with people, talking with people and listening to them. He loves – as he puts it – people who are passionate about a subject, a place, but he has little time for fools. His didactic background also helps when organizing his groups and ‘his girls’ have the same approach thus guaranteeing conformity in approach to the client.

“Each incentive needs to have an element of dream in it, to give it that special touch. The real dream incentive, from start to end, I do not think exists. Actually I hope it does not exist because than I would have to make it happen and then I would have nothing to live up to afterwards!
A dream destination? Each one of us knows and loves certain destinations better than others. I am fairly familiar with South America but I love discovering other destinations. Once I have found a destination that can be used for my groups I will do a thorough investigation personally before introducing my clients to the idea. After that, it is the element of creativity that makes it special!”

…… AND NEXT?

Is there life after the incentive business, do you see yourself doing something else?
“I’m 54 years young, not old enough to retire, but I would always stay in the travel or event business. In a business where I can use my creativity, perhaps advertising?... But let’s be clear, I am not looking at retiring, I am having too much fun. I have a great life both private and professionally, I can make time for friends, play golf at least once a week, I have my health, a great 15 year old daughter…what more can I hope for? “

Elie acts and speaks like a contented man, I meet him when he is about to leave on holidays to the south of France – no planes, large hotels for this man – in a lovely house with a pool where he can relax and enjoy good food, sunshine and his ladies (Dominique, his daughter and his goddaughter.)
Holidays is time to read ‘easy’ books by the pool, there is limited access to television so it is also a period for de-connecting with the big world.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FRIENDS

Friends are very important to Elie. In his office hangs a picture of him with his 5 best friends with whom he meets up on a regular basis, and who, judging by the smiling faces on the picture, have great fun when they set off on their yearly ‘just men’ trip. Elie likes to entertain and his house is regularly the place where all the friends with wives and children meet, he is at his happiest when his friends are around him. “I am blessed with real good friends, “he repeats more than once with real emotion. “Meals are simple, I am a carnivore, a good piece of nice red meat will do me fine. I will invest, though in a good restaurant now and again and I like discovering new addresses that are worth the detour.”

Music is another passion, he shows me the CD he has already prepared with favorite music to take along on holidays, he still talks about ‘records’ and when questioned more closely on the choice of words, tells me about his collection of over 1.000 LP’s that he still listens to on a regular basis!

With Elie the conversation sooner rather than later always comes back to his passion for the incentive business. “ I am very much aware that we are privileged in this business and that we not only create dreams for others to live but also get to live them ourselves. When I climbed up to Machu Pichu for the 8th time, it was again different from all my previous visits and that has to do with discovering new things about a destination and of course also with the people that you travel with.” Elie uses superlatives and grand gestures (must be the Spanish blood!) when in full flow...talking about his hobby, oups sorry, his job! Must be fun to be so passionate and contented with one’s way of living and working!

We end up on a more sober note: is there a future for incentives with all the rising costs and failing economies these days? Elie is convinced that travel is still the very best way to motivate or thank employees or clients and does not see this change. The length of travel and the choice of destination may change, actually he sees a tendency to much shorter lead times, but he is fully convinced that incentive travel is there to stay!

 

Elie LORES BLANES
Managing Director
President 2008
BeLux Chapter

MASTER EVENTS SA
AV.DES 9 PROVINCES 16 B5-6 / 9 PROVINCIESLAAN 16 B5-6
1083 BRUSSELS * BELGIUM
TEL +32 2 413 03 13 / FAX +32 2 413 03 19
elie@masterevents.be
www.masterevents.be

 

Back to the top