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UIA’s 8th Associations Round Table Asia-Pacific is set to take place on September 17 and 18 in a virtual meeting space in Seoul with speakers comprising of association experts.

The programme addresses topics of immediate interest and relevance to associations from working with remote teams, finding the ideal destination for an event, association business model innovation, mobilising resources, achieving goals and finding partners.

During the session, delegates and speakers will split into virtual break-out rooms for parallel sessions, where each speaker, will present a workshop on their topic. In the virtual break-out-rooms, delegates will be able to conduct discussions in real time with the speaker and their peers.

At the same time, participants are invited to join in mini games individually or in teams with opportunities to win prizes. They will be a virtual tour of Seoul showcasing the city’s tourist attractions and convention options.

Throughout the session, UIA team members will moderate, guide and assist delegates.

Seoul Tourism Organization provides the virtual meeting platform for easy access, networking and educational content and will combine it to provide an engaging experience for delegates.

UIA Associate members and other industry partners are welcome to join all education and networking sessions through the full virtual event.

Decision has been made by the Malaysian Government to reopen the business events sector in the country – allowing the industry to host domestic events with up to 250 participants effective immediately – under comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures.

According to a statement from the Business Events Council Malaysia: the announcement demonstrates the recognition and importance of the business events industry in contributing to economic recovery of the country. It also affirms the government’s confidence that the sector can operate safely, and provide a controlled, regulated and secure environment for the commencement of events.

“Our industry understands that it is crucial in this new environment to deliver assurance and trust through the delivery of safe, hygienic, secure and controlled business events, and that is why, the industry as a whole, worked very hard to develop the comprehensive SOPs, in line with directives stipulated by the Malaysian Government and guidelines and standards outlined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), to deliver safe, hygienic and healthy environments for all. It was great to witness how everyone came together to develop the various SOPs. This process has truly strengthened the voice of our industry and we recognise and thank all partners and stakeholders for their active involvement,” said the chairman of Business Events Council Malaysia (BECM).

While the chief executive officer of MyCEB, Dato’ Sri Abdul Khani bin Daud mentioned that is has been  heartening to see how the entire industry supply chain in the country, has come together and worked in solidarity to proactively engage with the government to establish detailed standard operating procedures to enable the business events sector to reopened.

Getting Back to Basics: The Purpose of your Meeting

Seventy percent of meeting planners are shifting upcoming face-to-face meetings to a virtual meeting. Due to Covid-19, we’re looking at alternatives to face-to-face meetings by moving to a virtual platform –this causes one to disconnect as many, lose sight of what the purpose of their meeting is about.

So get back to the basics, sit down with your stakeholders to identify the purpose of your meeting.

Are you aiming to educate, offer a space for networking or create a marketplace? Could it be a combination or all? Answer this core question and move on to looking at differences between a face-to-face vs a virtual environment.

Differences between virtual vs face-to-face meetings

• Time: if you usually run a whole day or multi-day event do not expect to do the same in the virtual world. You will fail, as it is much harder to keep the engagement up with a virtual audience who can get distracted. The sweet spot is one hour for a virtual event going up to at most two hours.
• Meeting formats: your virtual sessions will need condensing, resulting in impacts on your session formats and programme design. It is key to brief your speakers so they are to the point and keep time as overruns will be disastrous for the rest of your programme. Make sure to build in some buffer between sessions for participants to grab a coffee and for your team to reset and prepare for the next live sessions.
• Networking: your participants will need a little more help with networking in the virtual world as opposed to the real world. You should include networking in every virtual event you are running. Why? Because it makes your participants feel part of the event when they can interact with others.
• Content: one of the benefits of virtual meetings is that it opens up the world to content. That great speaker you couldn’t get to your face-to-face meeting can now call in to your virtual meeting to deliver their talk. Yet, being smart about your content will also help you deliver great virtual events. What content could be pre-recorded and what needs to go live.

Once you understand the differences between face-to-face versus virtual meetings and how, it impacts your meeting, you can start looking at platforms to deliver your event.

Identifying the right platform

You have established the purpose of your meeting and how a virtual event will impact it. Your next step will be to identify the technology to help deliver it:

• Webinar and networking style sessions like Zoom and GoToWebinar
• YouTube and Vimeo to store pre-recorded videos and embed in your virtual event, or live broadcasting
• Integrated virtual event solutions like OnAir from EventsAir, for integrating everything from registration right through to delivery

Next comes the most important step in the whole process, rehearsing till you get it right.

Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!

There is not a lot room to improvise in a virtual as opposed to a face-to-face environment. Moreover, any technical glitches could result in participants logging off and not returning. Thus, rehearsing is paramount to your success:

• Speakers: your speaker brief is important in identifying what you want them to speak about and for how long. Get their content in advance to help determine if the time allotted is going to be enough. Rehearse the session in advance to ensure speakers are comfortable using your platform. This allows you to check lighting, video and audio settings.
• Your event team: a face-to-face meeting will rely on an events team, each with a specific role in delivering a great event. A virtual event is no different and you will need to have resources for this. Your event manager should map out all the moving parts of your virtual event. What could go wrong? Work out scenarios and plan procedures with your team.
• Technology: when your technology fails, you fail! The technology has to work, if not you run the risk of irreparable damage to the event and to your reputation. Checking technology is essential.

Converting your virtual audience to a face-to-face audience post Covid-19

Organisations are seeing an uptick in registrations for their virtual meetings, but once life returns to normal, don’t assume this will translate into an increase in attendance at your face-to-face meetings. So what can you do now to capitalise on opportunities post Covid-19?

• Identify people registering for your events who are not part of your core audience. Who are they? What made them register for your event? This allows you to start profiling this group with the aim of converting them into customers.
• Have a rethink of all the events you deliver throughout the year. Do they need to be face-to-face or can they be virtual? Can you offer a hybrid meeting solution to bring together the face-to-face and virtual world?
• Explore new opportunities in underserved regions or segments. Are there possibilities to launch initiatives, face-to-face meetings or tap into a new customer base?

For the last few months we have all needed to operate in a virtual world and adopt technologies that are new to most of us – but returning to the core purpose of your meeting is at the heart of success. Most importantly, capitalize on your new skills to create new opportunities when we can go back to meeting face-to-face.

MICE event organizers when hosting events in Osaka are encouraged to use these guidelines and at the same time, incorporate infectious disease risk mitigation in their event planning and management.

The guidelines cover items to be implemented before the event and after. Published in a booklet available in English and Japanese; it includes policies and structures for infectious disease control, collaborative preparation with venues and associate companies, spreading awareness to event attendees, maintaining hygienic environment and how to prevent close spaces in crowded places and managing close-contact settings.

It was formulated beginning of April this year.  According to the bureau, consideration has been taken from the voices of MICE organizers in Osaka and related industries, resumption of MICE activities from around the world as well as, government policies in putting together these guidelines.

The bureau however will revise the guidelines along the lines of the latest situation of the pandemic and through monitoring the reopening of the MICE industry worldwide.

https://mice.osaka-info.jp/en/page/mice-guideline

Reed Exhibitions Mexico, organiser of IBTM Americas announced that IBTM Americas 2020, scheduled for August 26 and 27 has been postponed as a result of the ongoing effects of the coronavirus, including international travel restrictions and other factors, which would significantly impact the quality of the event.

For the past ten years, IBTM Americas has been a bridge to connect leaders of the meetings and events industry across the Americas. Its main purpose is to bring the community together to do business, network and inspire each other; so rather than a live event IBTM Americas will offer a series of virtual events throughout the rest of the year through to 2021.

Commenting on the announcement, David Hidalgo, show director, stated, “We are in an unprecedented situation that has affected of the entirety of our industry. However, our purpose of connecting and inspiring our industry remains alive and stronger than ever, so to face our common challenges together we are going to transform the way we engage our community. IBTM Americas is evolving to a 2.0 version that offers the opportunity to continue delivering our mission through an always-on 365-day platform to do business, to network and to learn from each other.”

This 2.0 version of IBTM Americas will be a mix of on-line and off-line marketing actions and sales opportunities, to deliver a virtual and face-to-face experience focused on the meetings and events industry. More information will be available in the coming days.

https://www.ibtmamericas.com/

Seoul a metropolitan city with a population of approximately 10 million people is entering a new phase of countermeasures against the COVID-19 that is: Distancing in everyday life.

Residents are expected to continuously follow the guidelines of personal hygiene routine such as washing hands, wearing facial masks and keeping a minimum of one-meter distance from others. Drive-through screening centers are still fully operational in the city as well as, walk-through ones.

Image of Seoul City by Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Seoul City is in the process of forming a hospital system with governments within the vicinity to control the number of patients overfilling hospitals in a certain area. These measures appear, to prepare the city, to defend itself in fighting smaller battles more quickly and effectively on a long-term base.

In the meantime, the Seoul Convention Bureau (SCB) has introduced safety measures to support its PLUS SEOUL program for MICE participants. Hygiene and safety in the MICE industry especially when it comes to face-to-face interaction are the fundamental elements in the program. Newly added PLUS SEOUL support options include Infection-free Zone and Reassuring Package. International conferences and exhibitions will be able to organise their events in the Infection-free Zone and, keep it sanitised for the days while hosting the event in Seoul.

The Reassuring Package provides comfort and care services from the arrival of the participants till departures beginning with international conference participants. It includes assistance services for translation and interpretation, emergency medical situations, reservation and more. Assistance will be offered in person where it is necessary while, most of the services are offered over the phone.

Seoul MICE industry is also expanding into the digital world.  Several conferences and exhibitions in the city have opened their events and welcomed participants online with many more are on its way.

We will be seeing the Seoul Convention Bureau dedicating more of its effort towards a digital MICE industry while securing safety measures on the ground.

A three-day local consumer exhibition, the 98th Hong Kong Wedding Fair which was rescheduled from February, was held successfully at the HKCEC from May 22 to 24 attracting soon-to-weds and couples for wedding products and services.

While the private management company responsible for daily operation of the venue that is Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (Management) Limited stepped up preventive measures to ensure a safe, hygienic and comfortable environment for exhibitors and visitors.

“HML is all set to welcome events back to the HKCEC. Health, safety and well-being of staff members and visitors have always been our top priority,” says Monica Lee-Müller, HML’s managing director.

All arrangements complied with the requirements imposed by the local authority, and reference made to industry guidelines and best practices. At the same time, the HML team cooperated with the organiser to implement special preventive measures in event arrangements from floor plan design, queuing logistics to food and beverage provisions.

Visitors, exhibitors, contractors and HML staff members were required to wear face masks at all times and had their body temperature screened before entering the venue. Social distancing practice was implemented at busy locations of the fair ticket counters, food and beverage outlets and washrooms also where queues were expected.

Sanitation and disinfection were carried out regularly by HML staff for hygiene in the venue. Public facilities and furniture, escalator handrails, door knobs, lift panels, tables and chairs in the exhibition stands were sanitised frequently. At the end of each show day, the exhibition hall was fully disinfected.

Thailand’s tourism and health authorities have teamed up to launch the Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Administration (SHA) project which is a unique certification scheme aimed at preparing the Thai tourism industry for the recovery period.

According to Yuthasa Supasorn, the governor of Tourism Authority of Thailand, all establishments who applied for the standard will undergo strict inspection and assigned the SHA logo, as a mark of quality certification of the service standards of that establishment.

The logo will be issued by TAT with a validity period of two years. All the names of the accredited establishments are entered into a database. If any violations are reported, the logo will be revoked.

Ten types of business can request the SHA standard restaurants, food outlets, hotels, accommodation, convention centres, recreation and tourist attractions, tourist transport vehicle, travel agents including tour operators, health and beauty parlours, department stores, shopping centres, sports stadiums, theatres, cinemas and souvenir shops.

Names of the SHA certified establishments are available at  www.tourismthailand.org/thailandsha and through the communication channels of TAT’s domestic and overseas offices.

An economic action council will be formed in Sarawak, an eastern state in Malaysia to facilitate the government’s post Covid-19 exit economic strategy up until 2030. The council will study details of the state’s economic, social and governance sectors.

The state government has reviewed the development strategies of Sarawak under the 12^th Malaysia Plan to recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 to remain resilient and adapt to the new norms by promoting economic growth and development.

According to Sarawak’s chief minister, Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, the state’s economy will be based on two core principles of: a digital economy agenda across all sectors of the state’s economy and the other on sustainable programme. He further explained that the two core principles consisted of the ten key propositions namely Data Centre and Innovation – The New Oil; Mining – The New Source of Revenue; High Productivity Commercial Agriculture and Commodity Sector; High Value Downstream Manufacturing; Re-greening Sarawak through Aggressive Industrial Forest Plantations; Beyond Leisure Tourism; Quality Social Services for the People; Renewable Energy – Fuel of the Future; and Aligning Education and Human Capital for the Future.

The state government has acknowledged that the tourism industry post Covid-19 would take a longer time to recover.  As such, the state will intensify its efforts to develop this sector through product developments and initiatives which would include diversification into other tourism products that are beyond leisure tourism.

Business Events Sarawak representing the business events sector of the state is now open for business after three months’ of movement control order in Malaysia due to the COVID-19 pandemic.