With a new virtual event offering and a relaunch plan in the works, International Convention Centre Sydney is preparing for a strong comeback.
Prepare for relaunch L
ike all convention centres across Australia and the world, International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) was immediately impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19 and the resulting restrictions on mass gatherings. But, in a show of true resilience and a testament to the dedicated team, the venue has been quick to adapt to the changing event landscape, adopt a virtual events solution and develop a relaunch strategy for when events are back online.
Supporting team members and clients ICC Sydney CEO Geoff Donaghy says communication has been the key to supporting both team members and clients throughout the pandemic. “We’ve endeavored to communicate as much information to team members as we can about support services, counselling services, financial advice and even charity programs,” says Donaghy. As for clients, ICC Sydney’s business development teams continue to engage with them to rebook their events. “Initially clients were hoping to rebook past July, but that's probably not realistic and feasible, now people are looking beyond September and into next year as well,” says Donaghy. “But really, communication has been the key.” 8 Spice Winter 2020
The switch to digital In rapid response to the restrictions on mass gatherings, ICC Sydney developed two purpose-built studios to allow local clients to continue sharing messages with their audience, albeit in a virtual setting. While the centre has always had the capacity for live streaming, the new studios allow the AV team to produce highly effective and engaging virtual experiences. Director of AV services Brian Nash says the shift to virtual events has been an exciting change for the team. “We talk to different clients almost daily, to explore what it is they want to achieve with their event and determine how they can get their message across in an engaging way,” he says. The benefit of having studios in a venue like ICC Sydney is the abundance of space available, which allows for proper social distancing. “It’s very important that people remain safe when they come on site and there's a whole process that visitors go through before entering the venue and being escorted up into the space,” says Nash. “We have separate rooms as well for green rooms if we need them, but there's plenty of space, which I think is the key to it.” ICC Sydney Studios have attracted business from a variety of clients looking to host webinars, staff briefings and even awards nights. Meetings & Events
Australia will broadcast the MEA 2019 National Awards from ICC Sydney Studios on 29 May, while the Exhibition & Event Association of Australasia has also chosen ICC Sydney to host its virtual Global Exhibitions Day celebration on 3 June. In addition to corporate clients, the studios have also garnered interest from outside the business events sector. Recently, ICC Sydney helped facilitate Dirt Detectives, a program led by Sydney Learning Adventures and an initiative of Place Management NSW. The program was live-streamed from the studios and took school students on an archaeological ‘virtual excursion’ of The Rocks in Sydney. Nash says it’s been rewarding to work on an event that might not otherwise be hosted at a convention centre. “It’s been exciting for us as the AV team to be involved in these sorts of events, because it's a little bit out of what we would normally do,” he says.“The team is really enjoying the experience.”
Recover and relaunch ICC Sydney is utilising the downtime in events to prepare for its reopening, including overhauling and reordering storage, a digital cleanup and internal team training. “We opened [the centre] nearly four years ago going 100 miles an hour and we haven't really had the time to do those sort of things,” says Donaghy.
