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industry revenues had dried
up in Australia: “The A$35bn
that industry creates is no
longer happening and that
money is not flowing through
to local businesses.”
It was a chain of thought
echoed by Maurits van
der Sluis, COO of RAI
Amsterdam who noted: “A
lot of people are without
work and a lot of companies
are going bankrupt.”
Alessandro Cortese,
CEO, European Society for
Radiotherapy and Oncology,
made the point that the
losses were by no means
just financial. “There is
now less interaction at a
scientific level and fewer
transfers between the
business world and science
and the development world,”
he noted. While Tommy
Goodwin, International
Association Advocacy
Practitioner said universities
were missing collaborations
and local government was
not leveraging knowledge
because of the lack of
conferencing.
It was a point IAPCO CEO
Martin Boyle, attempted
to answer: “Governments
that are serious about their
economic and social recovery
should be looking for drivers
to facilitate this. I believe the
business events industry will
do just that.”
James Rees, ICCA
president, added that
introducing a destination
to such knowledge-rich
communities was indeed a
driver for transformation
and a perfect platform which,
in turn, could secure the
investment and knowledge
transfer they require.
Kai Hattendorf reminded
that it was exactly
exhibitions and business
events that were the meeting
places and market places that
everyone needs to recover
after Covid-19.
Professor Clark
concentrated on the
relationship between
meetings and business
events and cities, noting that
business events contributed
to diversification and
projected the soft power of a
city. Meetings also provided
strategic connections
and long-term legacy in
terms of breadth of supply
chains. Meetings could also
help form a new normal,
noted professor Clark
and he identified several
themes for the future,
including nations becoming
more self-sufficient in
critical goods, a massive
uptick in digitisation,
new implications for
human health and the
environment and better
connectivity. Meetings
should be aligning with
these themes, he thought,
and added there would also
be new spatial patterns
and ways of organising our
lives, which all provided
critical challenges but
opportunities, too. Business
events, he said, are a
strategic tool in innovation
ecosystems. Professor
Clark also saw associations
as great “accelerators” for
destinations, providing
unique opportunities for
storytelling and branding.
He did warn, however, that
the coming likely recession
and restrictions on travel
would have a dulling effect
on the market. He saw a
more blended meetings
model between digital and
real physical meetings
emerging and he forecast
more ‘clusterisation’ and
combined events.
In another of the video
clips, Arnaldo Nardone,
Director FIEXPO group,
Uruguay, drew the
distinction between
organised business events
and uncontrolled gatherings.
He said: “We can control
events and meetings; we
know the people who are
coming; we know we have
excellent protocols.
Singexpo Singapore’s
CEO and president of venue
association AIPC, Aloysius
Arlando weighed in with
some wise words. “Events
need not be just a physical
event but ongoing web
engagement,” he noted. And
he urged us all “not to waste
a crisis. Necessity is the
mother of invention.”
IBTM World director
Shane Hamann warned that
events in future would look
very different and the GCB’s
Matthias Schultze advised
working “on innovative
concepts and think future
events on different levels;
F2F, hybrid and purely
digital”.
BE Sydney CEO Lyn Lewis-
Smith said immediate future
meetings would likely be
local, and the problem would
be how we beam them to the
world.
Tommy Goodwin thought
that destinations that were
better at embedding their
event in the community
would have a competitive
advantage. “Destinations
that get it right will have a
huge leg up,” he said.
After the Manifesto is
published, what is to be done
with it?
David Peckinpaugh,
president Maritz Global
Events urged the industry
to focus on economics when
dealing with politicians.
Lewis-Smith said the
narrative needed to be
around innovation and
knowledge.
“This is our opportunity
to be heard and become a
strategic partner.”
Caroline Teugels added
that we were not in the long
queue for handouts from
governments but in the short
queue for helping.
We leave the last word
with professor Clark and
eagerly await the full draft
Manifesto.
“We should position
business events for the
agenda that emerges out of
Covid-19. Not just critical
to recovery, meetings are
powerhouses for the future
shape of economy we wish to
have,” he says. EN
September — 31