如何应对充满挑战的时代中的变革

Sven Bossu^[1]　兰美玲^[2]

So indeed：embracing change in challenging times.Just as an introduction：what we saw this year was quite dramatic.2019 was a very good year，and everybody was planning to have an even better 2020，but then we saw everything come to a standstill and all event venues across the world are closed.And in some cases they were actually transformed into health or care facilities.What we're seeing now across the world and especially in Asia，is that venues are reopened again for business，but that situation is very different per region.

确实，在充满挑战的时代中迎接变革。在此我想先介绍一下：今年我们所看到的景象是相当戏剧性的。2019年是非常美好的一年，每个人都期待迎接一个更好的2020年，但后来我们却看到一切陷入停顿，世界各地所有的会展场馆也随之关闭。而在某些情况下，它们实际上被改造为医疗场所。如今我们看到世界各地，尤其是亚洲的诸多场馆重新开业，但每个地区的情况大不相同。

And here are some figures we got from the AIPC Community.I will not spend a lot of time on these because I think the most important thing is that a lot of main events got cancelled，a lot of events got postponed.That's the process which is still ongoing for the moment，and everybody is looking at changing their booking contractual language，liability，etc.Those things are being looked at very carefully，and the vast majority of the venues have now a plan in place for business re-activation and re-booking activities.Everybody is eager to get his business up and running again.

这是我们从AIPC得到的一些数据。我不会花过多时间在这方面，因为我认为讨论的重点在于很多主要的活动被取消、被推迟。这一状况目前仍在持续，大家都在考虑更改其预订合同术语、责任条款等问题。人们密切关注这些事项，并且绝大多数的场馆目前已经制订了重新刺激和预订业务的计划。每个人都渴望把自己的企业重新经营起来。

However，there are some key challenges：1.Delegates are still a little bit concerned to travel.2.Budgets have dropped and revenues have been lost.Travel capacity in the area of airports and airplanes is getting back to its situation.But it's still not a good situation we had before the crisis.And of course there's the challenge in creating safe environments.However，what we're seeing are some really good examples，especially in China where events take place properly again and being organized in a very safe and secure way.And in that way，I think what is happening in China is a true example for what needs to be done in the rest of the world.

然而，目前我们面临一些关键的挑战：①与会代表们还是有些担心出行问题；②各行各业预算下降，收入减少。机场客运量与航班数正在回归原状，但尚未恢复到危机前的良好形势。当然我们还面临创造安全环境这方面的挑战。然而，我们也看到一些非常好的例子，尤其是在中国，展会再次以非常安全的方式有序进行。正因如此，我认为在这方面中国为其他国家树立了一个真正的榜样。

So now，with everybody eager to start their business again，what we're seeing is that the entire event ecosystem is concerned.This is not only about event venues，it is also the hotels，it is also the airlines，it is also the people organizing outside.Everybody is going through a circle where this year we survived on that.Hopefully next year we will start constructing business again.We stopped to grow and hopefully as from 2022 we will thrive again.

因此，当下人人都渴望重新开业，由此我们看到整个会展生态系统相互关联，它不仅限于会展场馆，也关乎酒店，关乎航空公司，同时也关系到场外组织人员。每个人都处于一个联系圈，今年我们在这一联系中得以幸存，明年我们有望重启业务。今年我们停止增长，而从2022年开始，我们有望再次繁荣。

Now what is difficult here is that the exit strategies are different per region.And what we now need to do is do massive effort to re-create the trust both with the organizers and local authorities that organized events can take place in a safe and secure way.That's really crucial in re-getting the trust from our customers that we can do our work safely and securely.In order to do so，I think you all agree that investments will be required to create this safe and secure environment.And the other thing that's especially the case in Europe and in certain parts of the Americas is that sometimes your authorities mix up two things：organized events and mass gatherings.The business we are in are events organized in a safe and secure way.

当前的困境在于每个地区的退出策略各不相同。我们现在需要做的是尽最大努力重新建立同组织者和地方政府之间的信任——组织完备的会展活动能够以安全可靠的方式进行。这对于重新获得客户的信任，让他们相信我们能够安全、可靠地完成工作，是非常关键的。为此，我想大家都认可有必要引入投资来营造这种安全环境。另一方面，尤其是在欧洲和美洲的某些地方，当局政府混淆了两个概念：有组织的会展活动和大型聚会。我们所处的行业（会展业）正是以一种安全可靠的方式组织的活动。

In order to do this，I think it's important that the collaboration across the globe is required to share knowledge.I think what's happening in China and the measures you are taking and the solutions you are finding，need to be shared with the rest of the world.AIPC，is a global association of event venues.We have 180 members in 60 countries across the world with a growing number in Asia，specifically in China.And what we are doing is collaborating with two other global associations UFI and ICCA.We're creating its guides which are made available to the entire event industry.So it's not just for our members.We made them be available free and induct the entire industry.And on this slide，you can see that the latest one is the Good Practice Guide for the Re-opening of the Business Events.Now we know that a lot of experience will be learned in the next couple of months and a new version of this guide will be created by September，which will once again be made available to the global event industry with its first really importance to work together and to share the knowledge with everybody around the table.

为了做到这一点，我认为通过全球合作来共享知识至关重要。我认为此刻中国正发生的事情、所采取的措施以及正在寻找的解决方案，都有必要与世界各地分享。国际会议中心协会（AIPC）是全球性的会展场馆协会。我们在全球60个国家拥有180名会员，在亚洲，特别是在中国，会员数量还在不断增加。我们正在与另外两个全球性协会——全球展览业协会（UFI）和国际大会及会议协会（ICCA），一起合作创建面向整个会展行业的指南。因此，它不仅提供给AIPC的会员，我们将免费对外提供这些指南，用于引导整个会展业的发展。最新一版的指南是《商务会展重启实践指南》。我们确信在接下来的几个月里将会学到许多经验，新版指南也将于9月份推出，并再次提供给全球会展行业，它的首要意义是作为交流合作的媒介，并为同在座各位分享知识提供契机。

Once more I remark here，as we are writing the new guide in August，and because you already have a lot of experience in successfully re-opening.If you who have any information that you would like to share with AIPC community，please do not hesitate to send me an E-mail.

在此我想重申，鉴于我们将于8月制定新的指南，且你们已经具备诸多重新开展业务的成功经验，如有任何想与AIPC分享的信息，请随时给我发电子邮件。

So，there are two things ahead of us：on the one hand，uncertainty，and on the other hand，opportunities.And I will discuss a little bit on both of them.

因此，目前我们面临两大形势：一方面是不确定性，另一方面是机会。我将对这两个问题进行一些讨论。

The first one is the lack of standards.I have already mentioned that exit strategies and regulations are very different across the world and sometimes even within one country，because the decision power is at the level of the regions，at the level of countries，or sometimes at the level of the cities.So what we need to do as an industry is to provide authorities with guidance on why organized events need to take place and how they will take place.We can demonstrate that we can do it in a safe and secure way.And I think you also need to accentuate that events are very important to drive economic development，to drive economic innovation.And that's why the Joint Meeting Industry Council（JMIC）and AIPC，a part of the Council released a manifesto to explain that.And that's actually your resource which can be used by anybody across the globe to explain to local authorities.This is why business events are so important.(www.xing528.com)

第一个是缺乏标准。我此前已经提到，世界各地的退出策略和法规大为不同，有时甚至在一个国家内部也是如此，因为决定权在地区、国家一级，或是在城市一级。因此，作为一个行业，我们需要向当局政府提供为何要举办有组织的会展活动以及如何举办会展活动的指导意见。我们可以证明能够通过安全可靠的方式做到这一点。此外还需要向其强调会展对推动经济发展、驱动经济创新的重要作用。这也是联合会议工业理事会（JMIC）及作为该理事会一员的国际会议中心协会（AIPC）发布了一份宣言的原因。实际上这是你的资源，世界范围内的任何人都能使用这些资源来向地方政府作说明。这也是为什么商业会展如此重要。

This，of course，is a snapshot of the situation today.And we will continue to get involved in all of these documents and make sure that there is a global calibration and share the standards so that we talk the same language with all the authorities across the world.

当然，这只是当下形势的一个缩影。我们将继续参与制定这些文件，并确保文件的国际性、共享性和标准性，以便我们与世界各地的所有权威机构使用相同的标准。

But there are also many opportunities and if you look at the event venues，then you know actually all of them are reinventing themselves.As I mentioned at the start that people are looking at their business model，right？And they're always reinventing themselves，for example，so we have new models can be involved.You can attract new customers.For example，the universities are in need of more things for their students.Therefore，what we see is that event venues step into that market and actually start offering space for universities，which starts attracting a new type of customer.People are also attracting new types of business.

然而我们也有很多机会，如果你关注会展场馆，那么你会发现实际上它们都在自我重塑。正如我在一开始提到的，业者正在关注他们的商业模式，不是吗？他们一直在自我改造，因此我们有新的模式可以参与合作。你可以吸引新的客户，例如，大学需要为他们的学生提供更多的东西。因此我们可以看到会展场馆进入这一市场并实际上开始为大学提供展会空间，这说明会展行业开始吸引新型客户。同时人们也在吸引新的商业类型。

And I give you a very funny but embarrassed example.On the roof of the exhibition floor，we now have a place of 13，000 square meters where people grow vegetables.And vegetables are being offered to the city.There are also new types of venues.An example there is a medical association working together with their local health authorities and creating an event which has an immediate impact on the health care in that country，for example，for cancer treatment.And there are completely different types of products which are being offered，which is more and more in the space of virtualization.

我来举一个非常有趣但却尴尬的例子。我们目前在展览场地的屋顶有一个13000平方米的地方供人们种植蔬菜，这些蔬菜主要被供往城市。另外还有一些新型的展会场地。例如，有一个医学协会与当地卫生部门合作，举办了一次对该国医疗保健（例如癌症治疗）有直接影响的展会。现在展会提供的产品类型完全不同，越来越多的是虚拟化领域的产品。

So it's the combination of on-site events and virtual events.So you can see that there is a crisis.Yes，we have been stopped in our business because we need to reinvent ourselves，but there are also many opportunities for doing so and coming out of this crisis in a very strong and different way.

所以这是现场展会和虚拟展会的结合。因此你可以看到其中蕴藏危机。如今商事业务已被迫停止，因此我们需要自我重塑，然而我们面临很多机遇，足以让我们以一种非常强大和特殊的方式走出困境。

As mentioned，technology will be very important.Technology will be there to enable events.But it's also a way of increasing reach because travel will still be restricted and be in the hybrid model.We can reach people across the globe who cannot travel.So technology is an“enabler”.It's not the killer of events.So what we were seeing is physical and virtual co-existing，but each with different objectives.An event venue will need to offer both physical and virtual services.So what you see in some cases that venues are installing TV studios in order to allow for that connectivity.But it also means，from a mindset perspective，that venues need to be ready to deal with continuous change.What you've seen now，this drastic change，is something which will continue.And it also means that our teams in our respective companies need to be able to deal with that change.They need to be agile，understand fast and move fast.

如前所述，技术将非常重要。技术将确保会展活动顺利进行。同时它也是一种扩大覆盖面的方式，因为旅行仍将受到限制，并处于混合模式。通过技术我们可以联系到世界各地无法出行的人。所以技术是一个“推动者”，而非会展业的杀手。因此我们看到的是实体展会和虚拟展会并存，不过二者各有不同的目标。一个会展场所需要提供实体和虚拟两方面的服务。因此，在某些情况下，你会看到场馆正在安装电视演播设备，以实现这种连接。但从思维倾向的角度来看，这也意味着场馆需要做好应对持续变化的准备。就当前形势而言，这种剧烈的变化将会持续下去。这也意味着公司的团队需要能够应对这种变化。他们需要思维敏捷，能够快速理解、快速行动。

It's an interconnected world，so it's very important to share knowledge.And that's why I'm so happy and so honored that I am here today with you that I can share this message and reach out to you to get knowledge from you to come out of this trouble together.AIPC，with its growing number of Asian members，will continue to reach out to you.We will continue to collect your knowledge and to share the knowledge we collect from other agents so that we can grow together.But we must join forces and convince authorities and customers that organized events can take place in a safe and secure way.It is of key importance.And once again organizing events like this，where we share knowledge，where we talk to each other，are also of key importance.Thank you ever so much for inviting me.And I wish you all the best for the rest of today.

这是一个相互联系的世界，因此分享知识至关重要。所以我很高兴，也很荣幸在今天能和你们一起分享这些信息，并向你们寻求知识，一起走出当前的困境。国际会议中心协会（AIPC）的亚洲成员越来越多，它将继续为你们提供帮助。我们也将继续收集你们的经验，并分享我们从其他成员那里收集到的经验，以便我们能够共同发展。但最重要的是，我们必须团结起来，让政府和客户相信，我们有能力组织好一场安全可靠的展会。此外，再次组织这样的经验分享、知识交流的活动也十分重要。非常感谢你们邀请我，祝在座各位一切顺利。

【注释】

[1]Sven Bossu，CEO of AIPC（International Association of Convention Centres）.

[2]本演讲由兰美玲整理并经演讲人确认，由兰美玲翻译。兰美玲，北京联合大学应用文理学院法律系硕士研究生。