VENUE
Africa’s smartest
CONVENTION CENTRE The Durban ICC is providing an offering that positions it as one of Africa’s top convention centres.
T
he Durban ICC has consistently aimed to position itself as ‘Africa’s Leading Convention Centre’ and, having invested in the latest, cutting-edge meeting technology, the venue is reinventing itself as the continent’s leading high-tech convention centre. “Without moving away from our existing market positioning, we are adding this competitive edge and aiming to also be recognised as ‘Africa’s Smartest Convention Centre’,” says Lindiwe Rakharebe, CEO, Durban ICC. The centre offers a range of innovative solutions such as hybrid events, live-streaming, video-on-demand, and remote-presentation events. For the uninitiated, a hybrid event is
simply the combination of a traditional faceto-face event with an online component, which extends the reach of the conference to a wider audience using technology like live-streaming. The best part is that, even during the lockdown, companies are taking advantage of this kind of event solution by using the technology on offer and not having to wait until live events fully start up again. By taking their events online, some are even able to reach much larger audiences than they would have with their traditional live event.
• share the content with others in their organisation directly without having to repeat it themselves second-hand to their colleagues • choose to consume the event content at a later time, if that suits their schedule • view selected elements from the event programme that pertain to their area of interest. The Durban ICC hosted its own live-stream event in September 2019 and has subsequently run several successful events of this kind for its clients.
VIRTUAL BENEFITS
INCORPORATING INNOVATION
The Durban ICC’s virtual events offering provides a range of benefits; for instance, the digital delegate can: • get all the content of the live event from the comfort and safety of their homes • watch the speakers via the video feed and view any presentations via the picture-inpicture mode • engage remotely with the event in real time via the event’s chat or social media channels
“There is no shortage of innovations out there, but it’s our job to incorporate the meaningful ones that make our clients’ lives easier into the Durban ICC customer experience”, says Scott Langley, director: Marketing, Sales and Events, Durban ICC. The Durban ICC boasts the country’s fastest convention centre Wi-Fi network, which is also able to support the most concurrent users. Leading the way, it was the first convention centre in the country to offer indoor Google Maps and to incorporate the ‘whatthreewords’ navigation system into the complex. The centre has also invested heavily in its massive video screens and interactive digital totems in the past year and takes pride in being on the leading edge of the latest developments in this space, with the latest addition to its ever-evolving range of tech offerings available at the Durban ICC. No wonder it is now also being recognised as Africa’s smartest convention centre.
+27 (0)31 360 1000 sales@icc.co.za l icc.co.za @DurbanICC
@DurbanICC
@durbanicc
Durban International Convention Centre
