Good morning! Dawn is breaking and I’m about to rouse the rest of the team for breakfast before we begin an absolutely action-packed day of meetings and experiences.

Over the next few days I’ll be telling you all about my trip. I’m here with two colleagues as the advanced guard: We do this ahead of every event so we can get the lay of the land and plan precisely what we’re going to do and how the agenda for the three days will shape up. The event is taking place from the 6th-9th of September 2015 and there is so much to do ahead of that date!

Across the next few days though, our list of tasks already takes up two sides of A4! We’ve got to head out into the desert, we’ve got to pay a visit to the Emirates Palace as that’s where we’ll host the official dinner (thanks to the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority), we’ve got to check out Ferrari World and… maybe… just maybe, take a ride in a Formula 1 car!

Plus, we have to check out Yas Island’s very own Cipriani for our inaugural dinner.

Of course, we’ve got a heck of a lot to do here at the wonderfully sumptuous Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi as well. I love it. I must say a very special hello to the Yas Viceroy team — they’re been fantastically helpful. I think it’s going to make a superb addition as one of the host hotels for Connections Luxury, joining both the Four Seasons Hampshire (UK) and the Conrad Algarve in Portugal.

For those of you who have been asking, we’ve got our themes for the event locked down: Technology and Wellness. Our wellbeing experts (Stella Photi of Wellbeing Escapes and John Bevan of SpaFinder Wellness) will be helping us programme the very best roundtables and experiences for our delegates. Meanwhile our technology expert Ewan MacLeod is already busy figuring out the next advances in luxury technology to stimulate our brains!

I must also say a very big thank you to the team from the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority. As our country partner their assistance to date has already been invaluable. We’ve got them to thank for all of the experiences we will be offering at Connections Luxury Abu Dhabi. Over the next few days we’ll be working through the huge array of options to showcase the local Abu Dhabi culture balanced with activities that truly stimulate your mind. The fundamental aim of offering experiences at our events is to enable our delegates to swiftly create meaningful and memorable relationships with each other — after all, business is done between people, not companies.

Our very first airline partner will be introduced at the next event in September — I’m delighted to be welcoming Etihad as the Connections Luxury airline partner. If you haven’t taken a flight with Etihad recently, many of our buyers will have a great opportunity to sample the Etihad experience on the way to Abu Dhabi.

Ok. Standby for blogs all this week from the Yas Viceroy. There might even be a few pictures of me on a camel, if the team can persuade me to try it out! For now, it’s time for me to grab a quick orange juice and begin the day!

If you’d like to find out more about participating at Connections Luxury Abu Dhabi, please drop me a note: My email is micaela@weareconnections.com.