H E A LT H & S A F E T Y
DON’T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN! “Relaxed capacities don’t mean relaxed protocols,” say members of the SA Events Council. Meetings hears more
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ew industries suffered under the ongoing South African Covid-19 lockdown to the same extent as the beleaguered events and exhibitions industries. Finally, after 20 long months, we have arrived at Alert Level 1, where capacities have been relaxed to accommodate 750 people indoor and 2 000 outdoors, spectators are being allowed into sporting events, and pilot projects for larger capacities are in the planning stages. The industry and its diverse supply chain of organisers, production teams, entertainers and speakers, venues, technical production and accommodation partners finally have the opportunity to resume work, albeit on a reduced scale. The excitement is palpable as planning starts to resume and stakeholders discuss what 2022 might hold for events. However, the lockdown has been in place for so long that Covid-fatigue has set in and – as tired as we are of hearing what we should, or shouldn’t, be doing – we must ensure that the focus on safety awareness is not diluted in the wave of excitement. If we
do not stand together as an industry, remain vigilant, vaccinate and help each other, we run the risk of suffering a major setback by damaging client and attendee confidence or, worse still, inadvertently causing a spreader event.
CREATING CONFIDENCE
Across the board, our clients want to feel secure when mounting an event. Ellen Oosthuizen, chairperson of the Professional Conference Organisers Alliance, highlighted a new trend surfacing among corporate clients. “Some of our clients are requesting that we only put forward venues and production teams where staff and organisers are fully vaccinated, so this is becoming a prerequisite for events. Along with that, the venue must be demonstrably safety-savvy from arrival. Clients want to see all safety protocols in place – from having the TV control in a plastic cover and having no magazines on the coffee table or desk, to wiping the microphone down between speakers and having food individually wrapped rather than
open, buffet-style catering,” she says. The exhibition industry is prepped and ready for lift off but is awaiting the goahead from government. “We have evaluated our protocols, collaborated with our suppliers and venues, and are currently educating our exhibitors and sponsors on the new ways of doing business at exhibitions,” notes Projeni Pather, chairperson of the Association for African Exhibition Organisers, adding that our expectations need to shift to work in line with our current and future environment. “Our optimism has risen as government has led the way, with the first large-scale exhibition, IATF (Intra-African Trade Fair), happening this November at the Durban ICC – where an expected 10 000 visitors has been advertised. Following this major feat is SA Tourism’s announcement of dates for South Africa’s window to the world, Meetings Africa in February 2022, and Africa’s Travel Indaba in May 2022. To keep up the momentum, we will continue to work with government to ensure the swift reopening of the exhibitions industry,” Projeni says.
BIG CONCERTS
Justin Van Wyk
Projeni Pather
20 • MEETINGS l NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021
Ellen Oosthuizen
Justin Van Wyk, CEO of Big Concerts, deals with much larger live entertainment events and has been working closely with Business4SA to make vaccinations easily accessible to all. He asserts that widespread vaccination is the key to reopening larger events and that it is up to everyone involved to take responsibility for safety. “Our clients
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