meetings - mcintl · meetingsoutlook-fall-2016.indd 65 10/20/16 12:17 pm. 1116_066-067.indd 66...

MEETINGS

2016 FALL EDITION

At a time when headlines are fi lled with stories of terrorism, turbulent political rallies, protests turned violent and the threat of the Zika virus, many meeting professionals are giving safety and security top priority in their spending.

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TOP BUDGET REQUEST FOR 2017: SAFETY AND SECURITY

that they can lock the exterior doors to a building so no one can en-ter. The college also sets aside time twice each year for professional education of the staff and faculty on what to do if there is an active shooter on campus, and has invited an FBI agent to address the group on protecting themselves and others.

“We all acknowledged this is the last thing we want to think about or talk about,” Catt says. Nonetheless, he notes, the adminis-tration knows it needs to be proactive—and its approach has caught on so much that other community colleges have asked for advice on how to implement similar programs.

Increased Security BudgetsConcerns such as those at Butler County Community College echoed throughout MPI’s most recent Meetings Outlook survey. At a time when headlines are illed with stories of terrorism, turbulent polit-ical rallies, protests turned violent and the threat of the Zika virus,

many meeting profes-sionals are giving safety

By Elaine Pofeldt

ith each passing year, Stephen Catt, EdD (MPI Pittsburgh Chapter), ramps up security at But-ler County Community College, where he is di-rector of events and grant management.

The bucolic suburban campus in the Greater Pittsburgh area frequently hosts events ranging from theatrical performances to a regional workshop for librarians. To make sure the school is prepared for potentially violent incidents, campus police were trained to handle active shooter strategies about two years ago and received training in using assault ri les. “If the worst-case scenario did happen on our campus they could respond quickly and in a professional way, just like any well-trained police force,” Catt says. The college of about 3,000 students has also changed all of the locks on the doors to its classrooms and meeting rooms so that they can be locked from the inside, and assigned individ-ual employees the role of building monitors so

8%TREND FORECAST

of respondents believe that meeting planners are making the most of event technology.

W

MEETINGS

UDGET REQUEST 017: SAFETY ECURITY

erior doors to a building so no one can en-side time twice each year for professionalfaculty on what to do if there is an activehas invited an FBI agent to address theselves and others.d this is the last thing we want to think says. Nonetheless, he notes, the adminis-

be proactive—and its approach has caught mmunity colleges have asked for advice on

PLANNING IT

SAFETerrorism, Zika and guns

are just a few of the security threats that modern-day meeting

professionals need to take into account.


said security concerns infl uence destination selection.

OF MEETING PROFESSIONALS14%

and security top priority in their spending. “The

No. 1 thing they are budgeting for in 2017 is safety and security,” says Bill Voegeli (MPI Georgia Chapter), president of Association Insights, the Atlanta-area research irm that conducts the survey.

Though safety and security barely made the list of current trends in the survey, meeting professionals’ actions told another story. Among respondents, 15 percent said they had in-creased threat awareness and response preparedness, 14 percent said security had in luenced the selection of

urrent trends in r

story. Among respondents, 15 percent said they had in-creased threat awareness and response preparedness,14 percent said security had in luenced the selection of

BETTER PREPAREDAs events manager at The International Centre in Toronto, Marcelo DeOliveira (MPI Toronto Chapter president) works closely with building security and clients to make sure all events are secure. That’s a big responsibility. The 500,000-square-foot facility often hosts consumer events for anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 people at the same time, as well as trade shows with 8,000 to 10,000 attendees. It is also used for corporate events and fundraising galas. For the past 18 months to two years, The International Centre has seen an increase in clients’ interest in talking more about event security in response to violent events in Europe and the U.S., DeOliveira says. More started requesting a closer review of the emergency response plan from the facility. The document covers the scenarios that could happen during an emergency and it explains how the alarm system and public announcements in the building work. It also provides information on how to handle threats to events by working with onsite security personnel and, if necessary, with law enforcement authorities. This is in addition to the cen-ter’s Crisis Management Plan, an internal document that covers all aspects of event and guest security. “We are also using the Event Safety Alliance’s The Event Safety Guide as a useful resource to maintain and update our plans,” he says. “The more we all are aware of what the potential risks are, the better prepared we are to prevent them and act in case they happen.” For certain meetings where more secu-rity may be warranted, such as those of a political or cultural nature, the clients often use metal detectors for pre-screening. Local police sweep the building in advance of political meetings, DeOliveira says. The center typically meets with event organizers in advance of trade shows and consumer events to go over these procedures. “It is important that we are now having these conversations,” DeOliveira says. “It’s something we should not put on the back burner. It should be something to always keep top of mind for the future. There is a greater need for transparency between venues and clients/planners on security needs and to create a proper balance to ensure safety for attendees without scaring them altogether.”

STUART RUFF-LYON, CMPMPI Greater New York City ChapterVice President, Events and Education at RIMS

“Our security budgets are increasing, increasing, increasing.”

have increased threat awareness and response preparedness.

OF MEETINGPROFESSIONALS

15%

said security concerns infldestination selection.

OF MEETINPROFESSIO

anprsp

No. 1 thing they are budgeting for in 2017 is safety anBill Voegeli (MPI Georgia Chapter), president of Assocthe Atlanta-area research irm that conducts the survey

Though safety and security barely made the list of cThough safety and security barely made the list of cthe survey, meeting professionals’ actions told anothestory. Among respondents, 15 percent said they had in

“Our security““budgets areincreasing, increasing, increasing.”

have increasethreat awarenresponse prep

OF MEETINPROFESSIO


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a destination or location and 13 percent said they were coming up with more detailed, documented plans. Another 13 percent said they were providing more employee training. The research found that many meeting professionals are taking other steps as well, such as developing better communi-cations with attendees regarding security issues and emergency response, adding more onsite security personnel, purchasing more event insurance and vetting technology for cyber security credentials.

No BlindersMany meeting professionals are preparing for the worst while hoping for the best. Stuart Ruff-Lyon, CMP (MPI Greater New York City Chapter), vice president, events and education at RIMS, the risk management society, organizes an annual 11,000-at-tendee trade show, as well as smaller events. At the group’s most

recent event in San Diego, RIMS invested in bomb-snif ing dogs to walk the loor. He has also increased the presence of police at the entrances of the building and on the loor, in the event of an active shooter. “We have added many plainclothes police of icers that are armed that look like attendees walking the loor, walking the center,” Ruff says. None of this is inexpensive, he notes: “Our security budgets are increasing, increasing, increasing.” Costs have gotten so high that Ruff has begun to wonder if meet-ing organizers should bear them alone. “I think we are close to a point where we are probably going to have to add metal detectors to ensure the safety of attendees,” he says. “Part of me wonders if that should be something that convention centers are planning to do.” Sam Bhandarkar, CMP, CASE (MPI South Florida Chapter), event placement director at LRP Publications in the West Palm Beach, Fla., area, says his organization is also giving more thought to prepared-

GLIMPSE AT CURRENT EMPLOYMENT TRENDS

INCREASE

FLAT

DECREASE

45%

62%49%

34%

16% 10%

28%

45%

10%

FULL-TIME PART-TIME CONTRACT

SAM BHANDARKAR, CMP, CASEMPI South Florida ChapterEvent Placement Director at LRP Publications

“...the recent enactment of open carry laws in many major convention destination states is very concerning.”


Business Conditions throughout 2016OVERALL FIGURES INDICATE STABLE BUSINESS CONDITIONS—OF NOTE: 4% MORE RESPONDENTS INDICAT-ED “FAVORABLE” BUSINESS CONDI-TIONS OVER THE PREVIOUS QUARTER.

67%of respondents predict FAVORABLE business conditions

20%of respondents predict NEUTRALbusiness conditions

13%of respondents predict NEGATIVEbusiness conditions

Projected Budget/Spend Over the Next Year

57%of respondents predict FAVORABLE budget/spend

25%of respondents predict FLATbudget/spend

18%of respondents predict NEGATIVEbudget/spend

ness for violent incidents. Some of its events have more than 10,000 attendees and take place in states with open carry laws, in which some residents wear guns in a holster. “While we have not found a need for speci ic new policies for our programs, the recent enactment of open carry laws in many major convention destination states is very concerning,” Bhandarkar wrote in his response to the survey. “While there appears to be little that can be done at public facilities…to disarm individuals walking in the door, I believe that many of us are still eagerly awaiting speci ic feedback from major hotel chains and privately held venues for updates on policies and procedures to ensure that all of our attendees are free from the growing threat of active shooter gun violence.” In an interview, Bhandarkar says he didn’t want to suggest that states that have active laws are more dangerous places. “I don’t believe that,” he says. But he worries about the potential for confusion during a shooting when multiple people on site are carrying guns. “There are a whole bunch of issues that I think are reasonable topics for us to begin discussing as professionals—and certainly not with the intent of limiting anybody’s rights within the law,” he says. “How do we as an industry proactively manage these kinds of possibilities as we do many, many others in advance of our program?”

INCREASE

FLAT

DECREASE

46%

63%51%

38%

12% 6%

31%

49%

5%

FULL-TIME PART-TIME CONTRACT

A LOOK BACK AT EMPLOYMENT TRENDS“The gradual cooling of the employment growth rate over the past year is consistent with the long-term, slow-growth stability of the meeting and event industry,” according to Bill Voegeli, president of Association Insights, the research fi rm that conducts Meetings Outlook.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO OPEN CARRY IN THE U.S.A.?

states do not require a permit

states require a permit

states do not allow open carry of handguns

3015

5


Kimberly Faith, a keynote speaker from Greenville, S.C., has noticed more meeting organizers inviting her to advance meet-ings with the hotel staff to go over security procedures during the past year. Hotels are making sure their maps are accurate, in case an evacuation is needed, checking that exit doors are not blocked and that there are ways to protect attendees in open areas. “I was surprised by the number of hotels not able to lock their doors,” Faith says. “If I’m in a ballroom and there is a shooting taking place in the lobby, a number of hotels are not able to lock the doors to the meeting rooms.” In such instances, she says, “I’ve been told to tell the group to leave through a different exit.” For Faith, such security issues are not hypothetical. More than a decade ago, she participated in an event where a domes-tic abuse situation interrupted. “We had to lock down the meet-ing room doors so the spouse wouldn’t come in,” she recalls.

From Screening to Escape RoutesFor other meeting professionals, heightened emphasis on security has resulted in stepped-up screening and evacu-ation planning. Cindy Lo, DMCP (MPI Texas Hill Country Chapter), owner of Red Velvet Events in Austin, Texas, says that in managing registrations, her third-party event planning irm is giving closer scrutiny to attendees’ ID cards than it

once did. When talking with event organizers and hotels, Lo now routinely asks if there is a plan in place for evac-uating the facility if a ire, violent incident or unexpected event takes place—and an emergency phone number to which everyone can text their locations to check in. And at the start of events, she is making sure that speakers an-nounce where the emergency exits are, as a safety precau-tion. “For some reason people, when they come to events, tend to let their guard down a little bit,” she says. “When you’re coming to an event you’ve been invited to, you feel safe. I don’t want to say people shouldn’t get too comfort-able. But as a planner, these are things I worry about.”

RICHARD O’MALLEYPresident of The O’Malley Project

“What a lot of people forget to do is really do security on the vendors.”

ATTENDANCE FORECASTS10% MORE RESPONDENTS PROJECT POSITIVE GROWTH FOR UPCOMING LIVE EVENT ATTENDANCE. LIVE AND VIRTUAL ATTENDANCE FIGURES ARE STILL EXPECTED TO GROW 1.9% AND 2.4%, RESPECTIVELY.

Live AttendanceOutlook

60%of respondents predict

attendance growth

26%of respondents predict

no change in attendance

14%of respondents predict a decrease in attendance


Research conducted by Association Insights.

© 2016 Meeting Professionals International

Explore and compare the latest and all archived editions of Meetings Outlook at www.mpiweb.org/MeetingsOutlook.

Meetings Outlook is developed in partnership with MGM Resorts International.

Meetings Outlook is supported in partnership with IMEX Group.

10%TREND FORECAST

of respondents are increasing their 2017budgets to include virtual experiences.

Heightened screening now extends to vendors, in some cases. Richard O’Malley, an event producer based near New York in Ridge ield Park, N.J., does destination and event management, as well as weddings and bar mitzvahs. On big shows or meetings, he always asks vendors for a list of employees such as waiters or riggers. “What a lot of people forget to do is really do security on the vendors,” O’Malley says. “Who are your AV people? Are those the AV people that are supposed to be here? Just because a guy has a shirt on that says he’s from the catering company, that doesn’t mean he’s with the catering compa-ny.”

To make sure unknown individuals are not slipping into the events he produces, O’Malley often turns to the lead individual a vendor has sent to run the team. “If there are 10 waiters we’ll make sure there are 10 waiters—not 11, not 15,” he says. When someone unexpected turns up on the list, he’ll check with the captain of the group. “The captain of that group will know who his people are.” The rising concern about security is keeping some ven-dors busy. Charles Patterson is president of Exec Security TSCM Services, a irm in the Greater New York area that performs security sweeps for corporate clients in situa-tions such as corporate board meetings and shareholder meetings or union negotiations. Although he says business is not up dramatically, “there has been an increase in gener-al security concerns.” Often among Patterson’s clients, the impetus for secu-rity sweeps is a sensitive subject matter. “It’s usually when there is a discussion going on where they are talking about things that are con idential, usually inancially related or related to new products,” he says. One challenge he faces in keeping such meetings secure is the proliferation of digital devices that can be used for eavesdropping or spying. Sometimes, technological problems are leading to po-tential breaches, even when there is no ill intent. At one meeting his company swept, Patterson says, “a defective piece of equipment turned out to be transmitting a radio signal of all of the conversations in the room. It was part of the AV system. It was not supposed to be transmitting like this. You could receive the transmission out in the parking lot.” If it hadn’t been removed, the client would never have known about the transmission, he adds. In another meeting room with a high-level AV system, his team came across a very inexpensive wireless micro-phone—“not what you would expect to ind in a more advanced AV system.” Concerned about why it was there, he says, “We had to remove it and make sure it wasn’t put there by the wrong person.” Despite the rising concern about security, many meet-ing organizers and planners are still leaving glaring gaps, according to Robert Siciliano, who speaks to corporations and associations about security.

One big oversight he often sees is attendees leaving

their computers and personal devices on meeting room ta-bles when they leave for breaks. “When they don’t simply take their device with them to lunch, they’re saying, ‘We’re not concerned about our devices being stolen. It’s really not going to happen here,’” he says. “It’s a complete showing of denial that these things are going to happen around here.”

Zika on the Radar ScreenZika is another fast-emerging concern—and one that requires a different approach to risk management. Tyra Hilliard, CMP, PhD, JD (MPI North Florida Chapter), is a St. Simons Island, Ga.-based attorney who serves the meeting industry, as well as a professor who teaches courses in business and hospitali-ty, meetings and events for the College of Coastal Georgia. She is hearing from meeting professionals worried that fears of the virus will disrupt their events—particularly association planners. “I get about a call a week from someone who says, ‘We booked a meeting in Mexico two years ago. It’s getting close. Now our attendees don’t want to go because of Zika. Can we cancel?’” Unfortunately, the answer is of-ten no, according to Hilliard. “I’m having to break the not-so-great news that technically, you can’t call that force majeure and get out of it without penalty,” she says. The exception would be a meeting that is speci ically focused on, for instance, preg-nancy health, where most of the attendees are expected to be pregnant women, she says. Many contracts de ine force majeure as something that prevents 25 percent or more of attendees from attending. In some cases, the groups that call her have already put down a US$100,000 deposit. “No one saw Zika coming two years ago,” Hilliard says. Given that Zika is now a reality, she recommends that organizers invest in a legal review of their contracts. “Legal review is a lot like insurance,” she says. “You don’t want to pay the money for it but then when you need it, you’re really glad you’ve done it.” The same holds true for putting other security plans in place, as well. ■

AMERICANZIKA

Among U.S. states and territories, Puerto Rico has the most reported cases of Zika.

21.5K


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