From the Chair: 23rd February 2022

In this week's #MEAExpress, MEA Chairman Michael Firman spoke about moving towards recovery and the eagerness to reconnect in person.

As the world slowly moves towards recovery, meetings and events have been lagging in the process mainly because of people’s perceptions of safety and risk of catching COVID. In the mainstream media, tourism and hospitality have been singled out as having significantly suffered from travel restrictions and lockdowns but speak to anyone from our industry and they’ll tell you we’ve suffered worst. By default, large groups of people gathering in a single location that is often indoors typifies what’s been defined a high-risk environment amidst the global pandemic. Most public health measures have centred on minimising social contact and physical touch, which has led to more cautious behaviour being required for our sector’s activities.

Many organisations have been understandably focused on staying afloat in the short term by controlling costs and, where possible, developing new, innovative ways to meet and engage customers. The arrival of the Omicron variant spurned fear of another round of restrictions and border closures and it almost began to feel like the early days of the pandemic all over again. Our industry faced a ‘triple blow’ of staff and skills shortages, a supply chain crunch resulting in higher costs, and a sharp drop in consumer confidence.

Despite the year kicking off with a fresh wave of event cancellations and further postponements, MEA is witnessing a high appetite for organising business events, and knowledge exchange has accordingly become more crucial. As many industries adapt to a new normal, the need for conversation has become greater than ever. Likewise, there are new benchmarks for people’s desire to meet, share and enjoy new experiences. Pent-up demand is seeing a resurgence in live-events, consumer spending and travel. People are eager to reconnect in person. Companies that were laying off employees last year are now recruiting to meet an anticipated demand increase this year.

Coupled with restrictions being lifted in most Australian states and territories due to high vaccination rates, the reopening of international borders and state-based announcements of travel and hospitality incentives means our industry can finally start to accelerate along the road to recovery. We’re already seeing it. Over the past weeks there have been multiple large business events and trade shows successfully delivered with strong participation and visitation. Many companies are shifting from managing risk and disruption of COVID to optimising future growth opportunities afforded by stifled demand. It’s an exciting time for us.

Now that we’re all familiar with the health and safety protocols required to successfully navigate the pandemic, we can expect these will help create confidence in attendees, participants and business. The ability to connect face-to-face, share experiences, discuss strategies and future trends is one of the most important facets of live events to a meeting professional, so one can reasonably expect recovery to be rapid. Are you ready?

The recovery of the event ecosystem is happening faster than expected and it’s exciting to see. The enthusiasm and anticipation for face-to-face events again is energising. The opportunity events provide to build new connections, share knowledge and reconnect with industry colleagues, clients and friends is itself motivating.

Now recovery is underway it’s also great to see the return of MEA’s national Mentor Program, with expressions of interest to participate being sought from today (see further down). With the valued continued support of the program by Tourism Australia, the MEA Mentor Program is a great forum to personally and professionally develop, to exchange ideas, gain experience and build new networks. It offers members an opportunity to learn new skills and share their knowledge and experience.

Participants stand to experience a myriad of benefits. Being a mentor serves as a way to give back to your industry, and is an important growth and learning experience for mentees. Sharing knowledge and teaching others is also a way to learn yourself. Mentors become better leaders and communicators as they guide and help rising talent. It’s a great way to help get our industry back to the business of connecting people and building networks. Welcome to the recovery.