A guide to accepted practices for MICE business recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was released yesterday by the Events Industry Council (EIC).

The Meeting and Event Design Accepted Practices Guide is based on the first wave of findings from the meeting and event design workgroup of the EIC’s APEX COVID-19 Recovery Task Force. Formed at the end of April, the task force’s mandate is to aggregate and curate accepted practices for recovery across the events industry and to provide a framework for recovery and resilience as the industry adapts to the present realities and the need to best prepare for its future through its ability to analyze and mitigate risk.

The guide is intended to serve as a resource and educational tool for industry professionals to utilize as they put the task force’s curated resources and materials into practice. It is also intended to be global in nature, assisting MICE business recovery worldwide.

EIC is hosting a webinar on Friday, July 24, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. EDT to discuss the Meeting and Event Design Accepted Practices Guide. Additional guides, including one from the Hotel/Accommodations Health & Safety work stream, will be relased in the coming weeks.

Customizable tools offered in the guide, include:

• A meeting and event decision grid
• Guidelines and a code of conduct for pre-event, post-event and onsite
• Meeting and event success metrics (pre- and post-vaccine)
• Attendee communication considerations
• Resource guide

“We must, as individuals and organizations, take the responsibility to own the assessment and mitigation of risk, taking into account guidance from global, national, regional and local public health officials. If we do so consistently and communicate these steps effectively, we will make considerable strides toward re-establishing trust. Trust with organizational decision-makers, event organizers, participants and all stakeholder groups is an essential element in the process of recovery and ensuring our future relevance. These materials represent a living workstream and as new information and knowledge is gathered, we will update this guidance so that trust is renewed and reinforced,” said Amy Calvert, CEO, EIC.

Cathy Schlosberg, senior vice-president of marketing for PSAV and a member of the task force’s meeting and event design workgroup, points out that while they’ve seen some very encouraging examples of events beginning to take place around the world, the work to advocate the industry’s ability to create safe environments must continue. “Our colleagues want to understand and implement accepted practices that bring in-person meetings, events, exhibitions and trade shows back to life. The guide EIC released today will help do that.”

“Included in the Accepted Practices Guide is a code of conduct, meant to serve as a tool for event organizers to engage all meeting participants in the health and safety of our events,” said Meeting and Event Design workgroup member and APEX Commission chair Allison Kinsley, CMM, CMP, CED, Chief Meeting Architect, Kinsley Meetings.

According to the Global Economic Significance of Business Events study, the global business events industry and its workforce of 26 million generated an estimated $1.5 trillion USD in GDP, which would rank the sector as the 13th largest economy in the world. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the loss of millions of jobs in the sector, decreased travel, cancelled and postponed meetings and events, and closed businesses and borders across the global events ecosystem.

APEX COVID-19 Business Recovery Task Force

The task force is led by co-chairs Michael Dominguez, president and CEO, Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI) and Kristin Horstman, senior director, Strategic Events, Salesforce. With representation from across the many sectors and regions of the global events ecosystem, it provides a voice in planning, preparing and participating in the industry’s recovery and its future as well as helping to amplify its story of economic and social impact as advocates for the industry.