DEALING WITH THE NOW AND PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE

According to CEO of ICC Sydney， Geoff Donaghy ， the outbreak of COVID-19 is having a catastrophic impact on businesses， people and livelihoods in Australia and globally. Colleagues and friends in the events industry are all feeling the impact deeply， and in many countries the situation is already much bleaker.

With the progressive measures taken over the last few weeks by the Australian Federal Government to protect the nation， ICC Sydney now finds itself in a situation where all indoor events for over 100 people have been shut down. “For venues such as ICC Sydney， this means we are no longer able to deliver nearly all events. This is quite simply an unprecedented situation.”

“However， amongst all the uncertainty there is one certainty； at some point this will end. When it does， we have a responsibility to our clients， visitors， employees and communities to be ready and emerge once again as a healthy and thriving industry.” He observes. “So， while we deal with the situation at hand we also have one foot in the future.”At ICC Sydney they have put in place measures to take care of its people and wider industry， to make sure they are ready as soon as this dark cloud passes.

Taking care of the extraordinary team

“The team at ICC Sydney is our number one asset. ” Geoff Donaghy tells the reporter. He thinks that without the teams hard work and professionalism， ICC Sydney could not put on the world class events that have earned it the reputation over the last three years and they will be critical to its recovery. “Our top priority from the first day this crisis broke has been to retain team members.”

It is with great sadness that this has not been possible for the casual team. Rostering casual team members requires events to be taking place. At this point in time the venue does not know when this will resume as normal. “In lieu of this we are doing what we can to ensure these casual team members have access support， providing counselling services and communicating updates on the situation whenever we can.” Geoff Donaghy explains the solution.

To protect the fulltime team members， the company has reasonably redeployed these people to essential administrative tasks including cleaning， stocktaking and updating our databases with the objective of trying to ensure everyone has a job here at ICC Sydney. It has also implemented measures to ensure that the venue is practicing the health recommendations of social distancing such as working from home， setting up new desk spaces across the venue and opening up venue halls as a free staff car park so teams feel comfortable getting to and from work.

A voice for the industry

Geoff Donaghy reveals that ICC Sydney is working closely with industry representative bodies， particularly peak national body the Business Events Council of Australia， to ensure the MICE industry survives today and thrives tomorrow. “By providing input on lobbying and submissions to the Federal Government， we are ensuring there is ongoing support for our industry and that there is the appropriate focus in place on the recovery period. ”

Going digital

While events under 100 people are still allowed， with the correct social distancing， Geoff Donaghy is realistic that it very unlikely any events of scale will go ahead in the immediate future. In response， ICC Sydney has set up audio visual services to enable clients to continue running events and connecting with their audiences through online technologies. This offering includes live or recorded web streaming， remote presentation， video conferencing and a broadcast studio. These tools have already been used by one of the key city associations， the Committee for Sydney， and it will continue to offer this to its industry and client base during this challenging global climate.

Not losing sight of the future

Last but not least， Geoff Donaghy points out that people cant underestimate the impact that this most serious combination of a pandemic and economic downturn that we have seen will have on the MICE industry. But what is as equally as serious during this time is ensuring we keep a strong focus on the future， undertaking planning and ensuring our recovery readiness. “Our industry， and ICC Sydneys role within it， will be at the forefront of our local and national economic recovery – and well ensure we are ready from the moment it begins. ” He concludes.