Digital venues and virtual booths: how hybrid MICE events can be piloted

SINGAPORE: Last year, Singapore International Energy Week welcomed more than 13,000 delegates from more than 80 countries to its event in Singapore. This year, the number of physical attendees will be, at most, 250.

The event is one of the hybrid conferences that will test a new way of hosting Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) events.

While the event organizer did not give details on the number of attendees for this year’s conference, which runs from October 26-30, he said that with the live broadcast, many more participants are expected to participate virtually, in addition to the 250 people on site at Marina Bay Sands (MBS).

Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing announced on Monday (September 7) that the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will accept applications to host MICE events for up to 250 people. Event organizers must demonstrate their ability to implement safe COVID-19 management measures when piloting their events, STB said.

READ: STB will begin accepting applications to hold trade events for up to 250 people starting October 1

READ: COVID-19 risk management framework to be tested in 2 pilot trade events: STB

How will these “hybrid events” work?

MBS, where at least two pilot events will take place, has established a hybrid event broadcast studio, which it said will turn the events into “immersive visual experiences.”

“Meeting planners must develop the agility to adapt to changing customer demands and accelerate their digital transformation plans,” said Ong Wee Min, vice president of conventions and exhibitions at MBS.

DIGITAL SPACES FOR HYBRID EVENTS

Event technology provider GlobalSign.in founder and CEO Veemal Gungadin told CNA that while there has always been a digital component to events, it was more of an “afterthought.” Now it has become a mainstay in the midst of the pandemic.

To facilitate such events, where most participants will virtually “attend”, the company has built a digital venue at MBS – with the lights and cameras from a broadcast studio – and will sync it up with live elements and interactive features. , so that virtual loggers can interact with physical participants in real time.

For example, a panel discussion can now be held with speakers who are physically present and those who log in remotely, and can answer questions from study participants and remote attendees, he said.

“He’s really been implementing the existing technologies, but really putting it all together … he’s really building, using all these building blocks,” said Mr. Veemal.

“I think we are on the cusp of a really big change, and I think nobody really prepared for that, it is being imposed on us.”

The next digital component that GlobalSign.in will test is virtual exhibitor stands, which will be featured at a new event in November called TravelRevive, organized by ITB Asia.

STB said these hybrid event models will be important, for continuous testing and refinement of events, as border restrictions still exist in many countries.

“We hope that while there may be foreign visitors who will attend these MICE events in person, many may choose to attend virtually for now,” STB said in response to media inquiries.

SAFE MANAGEMENT MEASURES ON SITU

There will still be a physical aspect to the events being piloted, and that too will face significant changes.

For example, to make face-to-face meetings more secure, participants in pilot conferences in Singapore can meet, but they must be separated by a Plexiglass panel into “meeting groups”.

Other ways to minimize the risk of infection include automated check-in kiosks and Plexiglass displays in physical display booths that serve to reduce the transmission of droplets.

To limit the density of attendees, especially in closed places, the organizers must guarantee a space of 1 meter between the participants at all times and separate them into groups of less than 20 people. There should be no intermixing between cohorts.

During meals or other scenarios in which people are allowed to remove masks, the number in each group should not exceed five people, STB said. These groups of five cannot be mixed.

Organizers must also be prepared for any COVID-19 related emergencies and be able to respond to situations, such as handling attendees or staff with COVID-19 symptoms and seeking medical treatment for them.

The precautions extend until after the event. All attendees must use the TraceTogether system and will be asked to monitor their health for COVID-19 symptoms for 14 days after the end of the event and to report any symptoms to the organizers.

If they do, they will be asked to get tested for the coronavirus.

“If there is a suspected or confirmed case from the start of the event to 14 days after the event, the event organizers should immediately inform STB and MOH. Contact tracing will also begin using data from TraceTogether,” STB said.

The tourism board said it will enforce the measures to ensure they are strictly adhered to.

Professor Dale Fisher, senior consultant in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the National University Hospital (NUH), said that the safe handling measures designed are consistent with good safe practices for COVID-19, but implementation is key.

“The proof is always in the implementation as they provide an acceptable balance of security while retaining the specific conference / meeting experience,” he said.

“There will be a lot to learn from the drivers; these will be useful test benches to determine which execution techniques and deployments work best. “

The MICE industry supported more than 34,000 jobs with an economic added value of S $ 3.8 billion, or nearly 1 percent of Singapore’s GDP, according to a study commissioned by STB last year.