Katherine Raso, co-founder and general manager of Global Communications Agency, reveals what’s new in the F1 VIP lounge this year, the exclusive guest list, and the designer must-haves in the celebrity goody bags.
Which famous faces are you looking forward to welcoming this season?
Enrique Iglesias, the members of Blur, Florence and the Machine, Cheb Khaled, J Cole and Pixie Lott.
Aside from the inclusion of new brands, in what way does the F1 VIP lounge differ from last year?
The big difference is Mahiki, our entertainment partner. It’s not just a gifting lounge, it’s about providing a backstage area for entertaining the celebrities and VIPs that we host. We have a ping-pong table, a spa and the Mahiki–esque [Polynesian-themed] dancers and music. Mahiki have essentially moved their boat to our backstage area, so stay tuned for the “who’s who” of the celebrity world to visit. Prince Harry was on their boat in the past.
Are guests given samples from all the brands or do they pick and choose what they like?
The guests are taken around to the different brands who present them what they have in store. We always have a mix of international brands and Middle Eastern designers, so the gifts the VIPs tend to pick up from each brand are always well thought out.
Regional designers such as Asayo Boutique’s kaftans and Caliente’s caps fit perfectly with those attending – not to mention bespoke Eisenberg fragrances and Lacoste eyewear’s latest collection, which will arrive in stores in January.
Which Caliente caps will be on offer this year? Are there any specific F1 Abu Dhabi-branded ones or only the current collection?
Caliente hasn’t created a new piece for this event, although that’s an option for the future. That said, the brand will be showing some new pieces.
What have been some of the most memorable celebrity encounters in the VIP lounge?
We have been lucky to host some amazing artists and celebrities.
A few years ago we had Nickelback, Wyclef Jean and Travie McCoy, all in the lounge at the same time. Wyclef ended up grabbing his guitar and, before we knew it, there was an impromptu jamming session happening. Kylie Minogue tweeting her new pair of earrings before heading onstage was pretty cool as well.
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First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
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Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Low turnout
Two months before the first round on April 10, the appetite of voters for the election is low.
Mathieu Gallard, account manager with Ipsos, which conducted the most recent poll, said current forecasts suggested only two-thirds were "very likely" to vote in the first round, compared with a 78 per cent turnout in the 2017 presidential elections.
"It depends on how interesting the campaign is on their main concerns," he told The National. "Just now, it's hard to say who, between Macron and the candidates of the right, would be most affected by a low turnout."
Company profile
Company: Eighty6
Date started: October 2021
Founders: Abdul Kader Saadi and Anwar Nusseibeh
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Hospitality
Size: 25 employees
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investment: $1 million
Investors: Seed funding, angel investors
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Know your cyber adversaries
Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.
Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.
Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.
Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.
Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.
Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.
Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.
Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.
Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.
