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Sherrif Karamat, CAE
Like all of you, we continue to receive updates on the escalating global impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on people’s lives and on the business events industry.
And, like all of you, we are saddened by the tragic loss of life and the thought of tens of thousands who have been sickened by this virus. But we must remain hopeful that an unprecedented global collaboration of government, scientific, health, business and social leaders will succeed in containing its spread, providing care to those afflicted and developing a vaccine to prevent future outbreaks. We believe resolutely in the power of people to come together to solve any crisis. Indeed, bringing people together to address challenges is the bedrock of our industry.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that the business events industry is directly feeling the effects of this outbreak. While the short-term economic impact of postponed or canceled events on communities and businesses is a significant concern, the disruption of business events could also have an equal, if not larger, global social impact in terms of halting the sharing of critical knowledge — across every industry sector and profession — that propels our society forward.
PCMA cannot take a wait-and-see approach in this global crisis. There is simply too much at stake for our industry and for all those for whom business events and our overlapping industry sectors support their economic and social well-being. We must take a proactive role.
Informed by our PCMA community’s frontline experience with managing the business events industry’s response to health crises in Toronto (SARS) and Mexico (H1N1), we have begun to activate a plan in consultation with our partners. Our plan is anchored in the belief that business events must play a role in contributing to the solution — not the spread — of this crisis. That means business events, first and foremost, must step up efforts to keep their participants and their host communities safe from the spread of COVID-19 during this outbreak in order to do our part to aid the global recovery.
What We’re Doing Now
We are providing those in the business events community with the most relevant information and resources to help inform their response to the impact of the crisis:
- This starts with our constantly updated resource webpage — What Business Event Professionals Need to Know About the COVID-19 Coronavirus — on COVID-19’s impact on business events and how business events professionals are responding. You will find helpful information on measures to prevent the spread of infection at events, answers to questions about contracting and insurance, and crisis management best practices, shared by some of the world’s leading business events practitioners.
- You can also sign up to receive daily updates through our PCMA News Junkie e-newsletter.
How We’ll Move Forward
The timing for post-recovery efforts is uncertain, but we will be prepared and ready once global health authorities, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), give the world the “all clear” signal.
Our job will then be to help restore global confidence and assure business events stakeholders that the virus no longer presents a threat. While the full extent of the impact of the outbreak cannot be known at this time, we know from experience that a stigma about travel risks will remain, particularly related to China. That must be confronted head on.
PCMA will help convey the message that business events are not only safe, but a vital component to widespread economic recovery. We have been in ongoing discussions with business events leaders in China to collaborate around the development of a plan. This will be based, in part, on learnings that came out of the SARS and H1N1 recovery plans. We will also share crisis response research from the PCMA Foundation and engage PCMA’s global network of partners to support this effort.
We invite anyone with an interest in supporting PCMA’s business events recovery plan to connect with us at [email protected].
This remains a very fluid situation. We have no crystal ball. Nevertheless, PCMA is prepared and resolute in our commitment to leading our global business events community — in collaboration with our network of equally committed partners — through this crisis and forward into recovery.
Moving forward together,
Sherrif Karamat, CAE
President & CEO, PCMA
PCMA关于新型冠状病毒（COVID-19）危机管理及恢复计划
Sherrif Karamat, CAE
正如大家一样，我们持续收到了有关信息，新型冠状病毒（COVID-19）对全球人类生活和商业活动行业带来的全球性负面影响日益升级。
也正如大家一样，对因此而不幸离世，以及其他成千上万遭受新型冠状病毒感染的人们，我们深感悲痛。但是，我们仍要心怀希望，通过政府，科学，卫生，商业和社会领袖间的这场史无前例的全球合作，一定会成功遏制病毒进一步扩散，为患者提供护理，并研制出疫苗以预防未来病毒爆发。我们坚信，大家团结一致的力量，可以战胜一切危机。同样的，带领人们团结一致应对挑战，也是我们所在行业的根本。
此次疫情使商业活动行业受到了直接影响，且这种影响日趋显著。尽管活动的取消或延期对社区和商业带来的短期经济影响是一个重要议题，但事实上商业活动中断可能会在全球造成同样的，甚至更加严重的社会影响，即阻止各个产业、行业和专业的关键知识的分享，而这些知识的分享推动着我们社会的前进。
在这场全球危机中，PCMA无法采取观望的态度。这对于我们的行业，以及所有和我们息息相关的，支撑经济和社会福利的商业活动同行们来说，都具有巨大风险。我们必须发挥积极作用。
在PCMA社区管理商业活动行业时对于多伦多(SARS)和墨西哥(H1N1)的使用的卫生危机响应机制与前线经验的启发下，我们已同合作伙伴洽谈开始着手启动新计划。我们的计划基于，商业活动一定要在这场危机中扮演“解决者”而不是“扩散者”的角色信念而行。这意味着，商业活动首先必须加强努力，来保证参会人员和举办团体免遭疫情爆发过程中新冠病毒传播影响，从而为全球复苏尽一份我们的力量。
我们正在做什么
我们正在为商业活动社区中的人们提供最相关的信息和资源，以帮助告知他们面对疫情危机所带来影响的应对方式：
- 您可以先关注我们持续更新的资源网站：商业活动专业人士需要了解的新型冠状病毒-有关新型冠状病毒对商业活动的影响以及商业活动专业人士的响应方式。您会找到如何防止活动中的疫情扩散的方法，关于活动合同和保险的问题和解答，以及危机管理的最佳实践方案，这都是由全世界领先的商业活动从业者分享的。
- 您也可以注册接收PCMA News Junkie电子邮件来获取每日更新信息。
我们将如何前进
疫情后的复工时间尚不确定，但我们会时刻准备等待包括世界卫生组织（WHO）和疾病控制中心（CDC）在内的世界卫生权威机构给到全球“解除警报”的信号。
接着，我们的工作将是协助重筑全球行业信心，并确保疫情不再对商业活动利益相关者构成威胁。 尽管目前尚无法确定疫情的全面影响程度，但根据我们的经验，对于旅行风险的担心尤其是与中国有关的仍存在，我们必须直面这一点。
PCMA将协助传达这样的信息：商业活动不仅是安全的，而且是经济大规模复苏中的重要一环。我们也将继续与中国商业活动的领袖们洽商新计划的后续发展合作。该计划将在某种程度上基于SARS和H1N1恢复计划所得出的经验教训。我们还将分享PCMA基金会对于危机应对所研究出的成果，并邀请PCMA全球网络中的合作伙伴支持这项工作。
任何有兴趣支持PCMA商业活动恢复计划的朋友欢迎通过[email protected]与我们联系。
目前疫情的情况仍非常不稳定，我们无法预知未来。我们行业网络中的合作伙伴正砥砺前行。通过与他们的通力合作，PCMA已准备好，也将继续坚定不移地引领全球商业活动从业者在危机中走向复苏。
与你们同行！
Sherrif Karamat, CAE
PCMA总裁兼首席执行官