05 August 2020

The CSIR International Convention Centre (CSIR ICC) recently hosted the business  events industry ‘Proof of concept’ hybrid event organised by the Southern African Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI) on behalf of the South African Events Council. The hybrid event took place in five cities across South Africa and online with the purpose of proving the ability of the hybrid event concept and to demonstrate that business events can be hosted during lockdown – safely, and effectively.

Click here to view the event recording.

The Proof of Concept event follows a meeting the CSIR ICC held with representatives from Southern African Communications Industries Association (SACIA), City of Tshwane Municipal health, Disaster Management and Alliance Safety, and the South African Events Council. The meeting objective was to draft a document on the implementation of the re-opening guidelines of the events sector and focusing on the City of Tshwane’s business events resuming operation.

Having members of the CSIR ICC team actively involved in local associations such as (AAXO, SAACI, SACIA, TTA, TBCSA, etc.), who understand the value of collaboration made the CSIR ICC COVID-19 preparations for operations during, and post the national lockdown caused by Covid-19 not such a daunting task.  The CSIR ICC is able to tap into knowledge streams from the association networks it has and to contribute and assist by actively participating in the development of business events’ operations protocols.

“We are very cognisant of the fact that the pandemic is only now really on the rise in South Africa and it is not business as usual.  We have a deep commitment to putting the well-being of our clients and guests before any of our own business imperatives and take a long term view in monitoring and controlling the situation in our facilities”, explains Bronwen Cadle de Ponte, CSIR ICC General Manager.

During the lockdown, the CSIR ICC was able to explore a number of virtual meetings opportunities, and assist clients to use them successfully with the aid of specialist partners.  As technology and user-experience evolves rapidly, it continues to seek the best options available for virtual connectivity that will enhance the core objective of its business, which is to facilitate collaboration and inspire knowledge sharing.