What’s the number one challenge facing business events? When this question was posed in November 2019 by Convene as part of its 29th Annual Meetings Market Survey, just a few answers talked about dealing with the unknown. One respondent alone cited the management of risk, and specifically of epidemic risk, as a challenge. From PCMA…
Iceberg partner IMEX has just taken the “devastating decision” to cancel IMEX Frankfurt. Citing the danger of the German health ministry forcing a last minute shutdown very close to the trade show’s opening this May, the meetings industry stalwart has just given the sector a textbook lesson in how to make a difficult call. From PCMA…
The meetings industry, very used to things “going viral”, is now dealing with a real virus crisis. One of this site’s favourite bloggers has distilled down five suggestions for survival. Stick with the facts. Postpone, don’t cancel. Make use of this “period of reflection”. Be kind. Remember, this too shall pass. From SoolNua’s Pádraic Gilligan at Padraicino…
Public views about COVID-19 have seemed to polarise around either very sensationalist panic or similarly dangerous complacency. Perhaps we should choose to hear neither of these extreme positions. The events industry is going to take a battering from this crisis. The sector should try to accept this. From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…
The spread of COVID-19 has many planners confronting big questions about the risk assessment, the crisis management and communication involved in bringing thousands of people together. Bill Reed, Chief Event Strategy officer at ASH, the American Society of Hematology, has just had to pull the plug on a meeting. From PCMA…
GESS Dubai is a global exhibition showcasing educational products, plus a CPD accredited conference. Held at the end of February, the 13th edition of the show was to feature a Chinese pavilion with 30 companies confirmed as exhibiting. Ten, plus one more international exhibitor, cancelled participation because of the COVID-19 crisis. From UFI…
Organisers of the 2020 American Physical Society March Meeting opted to cancel their event due to concerns about bringing COVID-19 into Denver. With more than 10,000 attending, some from risk countries, the “gut-wrenching” call was taken “out of an abundance of caution”. But the decision was made less than two days before opening. From PCMA…
Julia Sonnemann, PR Manager for ITB Berlin, was all smiles during a press conference on February 19th. On February 28th, days before its opening, the travel and tourism trade fair was forced to cancel because it couldn’t meet local health authority requirements on COVID-19. Sonnemann now picks through the difficult decisions that were faced. From EventMB…
The purpose of this document is to outline key planning considerations for organisers of mass gatherings in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak. It should be read in conjunction with the World Health Organization’s Public Health for Mass Gatherings: Key Considerations, which provides general advice on the public health aspects of mass gathering events. It…
ITB Berlin, the international travel and tourism trade fair, has been cancelled just days before opening over fears of spreading COVID-19. The health authority of the Berlin district was requiring all delegates to prove they were not from a risk area and had not been in contact with anyone who is. From International Flight Network…
The Geneva International Motor Show has been cancelled days before opening after the Swiss government put an immediate ban on events involving more than 1,000 people to halt the spread of the new coronavirus. Planners called it a case of force majeure, or unpredictable circumstances that obviate liabilities in contracts. From Meetings & Conventions…
Hong Kong is to pump HK$1 billion (US$130 million) into its faltering events industry as political unrest and the coronavirus outbreak take their toll. Where at least half of all attendees are coming from outside Hong Kong, the government will pay the full venue rental costs of large exhibitions and conventions. From Association Meetings International…
The Research Division of Iceberg partner the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) is monitoring the status of 1,065 meetings in the ICCA Association Database currently scheduled for Asia Pacific during 2020. Only 44 are affected by COVID-19 (4.1 percent). Of these, 34 are being postponed, five cancelled and five relocated. From UFI…
Singapore’s meetings industry has been badly hit by the coronavirus outbreak, with a string of significant association events withdrawing from the city as a result to mitigate their risk. The Association of Corporate Counsel, The International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition and also Alzheimers Disease International have all cancelled or postponed. From Association Meetings International…
The organisers of IBTM Asia Pacific 2020 have postponed the launch event, set to have taken place this April at the Singapore Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, until April 2021. The Iceberg partner made the decision due to the risks of coronavirus in discussion with its wider stakeholders. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Hundreds of attendees at a London conference have been emailed by health officials after a delegate was diagnosed as having COVID-19. The patient, who has not been identified, had attended the UK Bus Summit at the QEII Centre. The email warned delegates with a fever or cough to self-isolate and seek advice. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
What next? The question is haunting meeting and event planners as the COVID-19 shows its contempt for national borders. There’s now grim fascination in seeing organisations responding quite differently to the unfolding crisis, and what this then says about our attitude to “known unknowns”. From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…
A recent Twitter #Expochat devoted an entire session to the coronavirus outbreak and its impact on US and global exhibitions. Industry leaders including Kai Hattendorf, MD and CEO of Iceberg partner UFI, talked through the shows being cancelled or seeing major absences from their Chinese delegations. Far more are going ahead than not. From UFI…
Global Pet Expo, run by APPA (the American Pet Products Association), is taking place at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center, despite bans preventing nearly 150 Chinese exhibitors from now entering the US. Andrew Darmohraj, APPA’s Executive Vice President and COO, has been “navigating the uncharted territory” COVID-19 presents. From PCMA…
As organisations consider how to address the impact of coronavirus on upcoming meetings and events, what about the legal and insurance issues that arise? Barbara Dunn is a Partner with the Associations and Foundations Practice Group within Barnes and Thornburg, practicing in association, meetings, travel and hospitality, law. From PCMA…
Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), the world’s largest exhibition for AV and systems integration, has just taken place at the RAI in Amsterdam. With growing concern over coronavirus, and after the cancellation of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, ISE’s MD Mike Blackman explains which steps the meeting chose to take. From UFI…
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