Conference Matters 143

EVENT DESIGN

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The African Way

In the week of August 18th, the first ever AIPC Africa Academy was held at the Cape Town Inter national Convention Centre (CTICC). The 25 percipients covered all functional areas – from sales to operations – allowing to exchange knowledge on the full convention centre value chain. It was also a unique opportunity to get a better understanding of the South African market landscape. Below are some key learnings. The events industry in South Africa is in good shape and is continuously increasing the quality of its services. While there are regional differences, South Africa has some world-class infrastruc ture, meeting the requirements of the most demanding customers. At the same time, the country does face several real and perceived challenges. The real challen ges are mainly related to ‘hardware’: the quality and reliability of energy supply, communication networks or transport infrastructure is not consistent throughout the country. The perceived challenges are a different story. Often based on completely incorrect information and amplified by mainstream and social media, the wildest stories go viral (e.g., civil war going on in South Africa). During a panel debate with three South African event organizers, other challenges became clear. Like long haul destinations like, for example, Australia, South-Africa is seeing lower attendance figures when it comes to international meetings, mainly related to travel costs, combined with an increased awareness around sustainability. This means that in order to attract more meetings, even more attention needs to go to the needs of the client and its international delegates. Obviously, this is something which can only be achieve if all parties involved closely collaborate. Interestingly, there was also a consensus that clients need more guidance when it comes to making their events successful, also on the financial front. So instead of asking a 120 percent service level at a 60 percent cost, it would be in the interest of all parties involved to make sure that there is a realistic view on expected outcomes and the services required for making this happen. Venues play a key role in this. Sustainability is another topic where clients and service providers need to come to clear agreements. For example: opting for water stations without cups, whereby delegates are expected bring their own refillable bottle, might sound nice but does not work as well as it sounds. There are of course opportunities as well. In an environment where values such as inclusiveness and community engagement are becoming ever more important, due to the rise of value-driven generations, the events industry has an opportunity to become an employer of choice, if – and that is the key success factor – the employers walk the talk. Another opportunity, specifically for PCOs, is to become a regional or even global centres of expertise and excellence. Technology now allows one to leverage the expertise of South African event professionals on a global scale, with the relatively low labour cost as a clear advantage. Already, South African companies are doing graphic design, registration, et cetera for event organizers globally, and this is expected to expand going forward. This can be of significant benefit for the South African events industry on different levels: from revenues generation to becoming a global knowledge hub. In short, the South African events industry is active and agile, seizing the opportunities as they come along and making full use of all the assets it has. This makes it a fascinating environment and provides a world of opportunities for upcoming talent. Events like the AIPC Academy are therefore necessary to bring all stakeholders together and learn from each other. We look forward to the next edition.

Raya van Hugten 'Planning an event often starts three, four, or five years in advance. That's when it's time to make the connection'

Marije Sant 'We're not changing the entire concept of a conference; that is the basis, but by adding small details, you can quickly create an experience'

Bart van Wanrooij 'The multi-mediality of content and campaign ensures a broad approach'

Limited means “There are options even with a finite budget,” says Marcel Dekker, Business Development Director at Kenes Group. “Of course, we try to make every conference an unforgettable expe rience for everyone involved, which can some times be challenging. Our conferences, which are generally for medical nonprofits, have limited resources, so we make due with what we have. We often plan field trips to hospitals and scien tific laboratories in the host city, which is espe cially exciting for young participants.” “We also hold networking meetings in the evenings, usually somewhere else than the conference centre. There are ‘Meet the Profes sor’ sessions where participants can talk to key opinion leaders in a more intimate setting. And we strive for interaction instead of the tradi tional lecture with a speaker. You can achieve this with large groups using technology such as voting rounds and asking online questions.” Wads of questions Marije Sant, Account Manager and Team Lead at Congress by design calls it ‘adding sparks’. “The traditional format of days filled with long presentations is a bit dull and outdated, espe cially for the future generation. They want variety and interaction.”

Congress by design has developed a meeting design tool for this purpose. It provides the means to organise a conference in such a way that goals are achieved and the conference makes an impact. “We’re not changing the entire concept of a conference; that is the basis, but by adding small details, you can quickly create an experience. They can really make a difference,” says Sant. She mentions the world map that the organiser hung up at the start of a conference. “Everyone could point to where they came from. That’s a networking moment right there. It’s classy and adds a playful touch to the standard half-hour of questions afterwards. If people write down their question on a piece of paper, crumple it and throw it forward, that’s also a nice touch.

We’re also seeing more gamification. We hold small competitions in teams during our confe rences. People invest time in conferences; there fore, you want them to feel like it was worthwhile.” Definitely paying off “That’s certainly important to the next gene ration. They no longer want to sit in a room all day and just listen; they want different things. Five to ten years ago, we were mainly concer ned with the logistics of the entire conference. Now the added value has become much more important. We have a workgroup looking at how AI can play a role in this. We now guide our clients much more towards strategic decisions about how to handle a conference, and that’s definitely paying off.”

TAUBIE MOTLHABANE CEO of Cape Town International Convention

Centre (CTICC)

CUDDLING PUPPIES Maintaining a personal touch as an event grows can be viewed as an additional challenge. NatCon had to come up with a new approach for a larger location while still creating meaning ful connections. It was inspired by the ‘Guiding Principles for Event Design’, a study by the PCMA Foundation, Storycraft Lab, Marriott International, and Corporate Event Marketing Association (CEMA). The exhibition floor was transformed into a successful place with all kinds of play and well ness areas, complete with pinball machines, video games, massage stations, and even puppy cuddling corners.

SVEN BOSSU CEO of the International Association

of Convention Centres (AIPC)

Comments? Send an e-mail to

conferencematters@zynchrone.com.

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