CLOSED to members of the Press!

I have been contemplating the on-site aspects of running a conference/convention the past couple of weeks. On-site event management is one of those areas that more often than not test the nerves of event managers. You have a bagful of variables that are not in your control and that seem to have a life and will of their own. These variables always pop up at the most inconvenient of times.

For the large conventions and conferences, or those which run for 2 days or more, organisers and event managers like to have a room set aside as the Event Secretariat or Organiser's Office. This room has multiple functions - its a meeting room for the organiser and event manager to sit down and review ops plans; its a storage place for event staff to keep their handbags and other personal belongings; its a resting place for event staff during break times....and so on.

To keep it short.....keep the Press/Media out of the Event Secretariat/Organiser's Office. In fact I never let the Press/Media know that such a room exists. Do not get me wrong.....this is in no way a negative reflection of the Press/Media. I believe that the Press/Media is great for the MICE industry and for the specific conference/convention. Its just that the Event Secretariat/Organiser's Office is mostly manned by temporary staff and confidential event operations documents are kept in the office for easy reference (by working staff). Hence the danger of "wrong information", "mis-information" or "misleading information" being picked up by the Press/Media and splashed out for all to see the next day.......so the moral here is keep the Press/Media out of the Event Secretariat/Organiser's Office.