Sri Lanka Institute of Directors holds Annual Directors’ Dinner
The month of November hosted the most-awaited event of the year in the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors’ (SLID) social calendar: the Annual Directors’ Dinner.
The event took place on November 2, 2018, at Balmoral, The Kingsbury, with around 250 guests attending.
This year, the SLID presented a unique corporate event, a magical evening where guests were entertained by illusions of seemingly impossible feats by Sri Lanka’s greatest talent Yasas and Hannibal, the Magic Warrior of Knight of Illusions, with special guest performances from internationally renowned and award-winning magician Danny Cole and Stacey Cole, who were especially flown in for the evening.
Danny, a professional illusionist, said, “I do all visual magic. My clothes change colour instantly. I float in the air without a chair. I make things disappear and appear right before people’s eyes. It’s visceral. It’s immediate and you can see it.”
He also has the privilege of being one of the few magicians who has successfully fooled Penn & Teller, the world famous magician duo in their show ‘Fool us’.
The event started out with a drinks reception, in the terrace overlooking the lush green gardens of the hotel, where participants were able to relax, unwind and mingle with friends and colleagues whilst sipping a fruit juice or Scotch Whisky or soft drinks or wine sponsored by Coca Cola Sri Lanka and Favourite International.
After the lively drinks reception guests proceeded to the Ballroom for dinner, a fine dining six course meal which was created especially for the event in collaboration with The Kingsbury Director Culinary Services Kithsiri De Silva.
The curtain raiser by Yasas of Knight of Illusions was followed by the address by SLID Chairman Preethi Jayawardena, who welcomed the guests to the annual event and briefly spoke about the SLID activities.
The Jazz Project provided excellent music to accompany the dinner service giving guests more opportunity to continue with their fellowship, whilst performances by the international and local artists took place in between dinner service with participation of the audience.
This year’s the SLID dinner was memorable in its own right as an evening of magic and illusions but those involved will have also contributed to building better boards: Gold sponsor Commercial Bank, Silver sponsors Capital Trust Holdings and Blue Ocean Group, Bronze sponsors Hameedias and Tokyo Cement, Special sponsor J F Packaging, Exclusive Print Media Partner Daily FT & Daily Mirror and Hi TV as the Tv/digital Media Partner.
The SLID is supported by Certis Lanka, Allianz Insurance, and Boardpac as the annual corporate partners. The other partners, whose expertise made the occasion a success, were Wine. lk by Favourite International, Coca Cola Beverages Sri Lanka Ltd, the Event Coordinator Spotlight Solutions (Pvt.) Ltd and the team at The Kingsbury.
This year’s event too was compeered by Ramesh Schaffter, who added his own brand of humour, keeping the guests entertained whilst contributing to the success of the event.
The magical atmosphere of the night with unforgettable performances by the night’s entertainment made the SLID Annual Directors’ Dinner a memorable event for all the participants who spent a delightful evening whilst supporting the SLID’S initiative to contribute to the professional advancement of directors and to foster leadership characteristics, which are beneficial to companies, their stakeholders, the community and the nation.