EDITOR’S COMMENT

Be the beacon of light

The business events industry has started the year on a high, with business picking up to almost pre-covid numbers.

Recently, I’ve heard many stories from industry people about their experience during Covid. It just feels so surreal that during this most difficult and unpredictable time, with no control, we still found some light in what can only be described as one of the darkest times, especially for the business events industry, which came to a complete stop. It is almost as if people need to talk about it, to affirm we survived a pandemic.

The beacon of light was its people, always ready to make a plan and work together. Virtual meetings became the norm, and replaced our face-to-face meetings, conferences, exhibitions and events.

Yet, there was something missing, which resulted in us having so many Zooms, MS Team meetings and webinars.

What was missing? The human connection. The one thing we all discovered, no matter what industry we are in — is that we all need face-to-face engagement.

They say we need to learn from our past, and certainly this was a big learning curve. During this time, at first, we were all in denial, then we moved into anger and despair, and once we passed that stage, we began finding new, positive ways of keeping busy and making a living. It wasn’t all bad; many of us refreshed our current skills, while others learnt new skills, and some even moved out of our sector to continue surviving. The key — we kept connected, one way or another with colleagues, industry partners, and clients, and one thing is for certain, we came out stronger, together.

So where am I going with this?

We are currently experiencing another kind of ‘darkness’ – loadshedding has certainly become a central talking point in our lives, we are all scrambling at the moment, looking to find solutions to what can be seen as one of the biggest challenges our country has ever faced. However, take a step back and think about where we have come from. We are still here, stronger than before.

It is another hurdle that we can overcome.

Our sector is very innovative and I have no doubt that there are some new power solutions coming out from within our own sector. Here is another opportunity for suppliers.

I’ve said this many times before, I believe our biggest asset remains our resilient people, our relationships and partnerships.

Whatever challenge that comes, if we work together, we can ensure we emerge stronger.

We have a beautiful country. Even through the darkness, our people remain our beacon of light.

Meetings Africa 2023 is taking place at the end of February, it remains my favourite regional business events show. Being at the show, always makes me feel like I’m at a big family reunion. After the difficult years we have had, I’m sure it will bring much needed positivity to our country and continent.

Become the beacon of hope.