The increased  threat of terrorism in western Europe has brought a global problem to our doorstep. Since ‘Paris and Brussels’, the European meeting industry  can no longer avoid this new reality.

In addition to the main topics 'The Sharing Economy' and 'Business is Personal' on the programme of IMEX Frankfurt, the international meeting trade fair held in April this year, a supplementary 'track' was also added: security. Since the attacks in Paris and Brussels, and the many other attacks in countries we consider to be further  from home, the European meeting industry can no longer avoid the new reality of an increased security risk. The European meeting industry is directly affected by the consequences of this and will have to take responsibility by taking the necessary measures.

Practical  approach

At the trade fair, Marije Bouwman, Safety & Security Manager at World Forum in The Hague provided a knowledge session under the promising title 'Practical approach for event security management in a changing world'. In 2014, she gained experience in event security as a project manager of the Nuclear Security Summit, whereby 58 global leaders came together for their biennial meeting intended to contribute towards a reduced risk of nuclear terrorism. She then gained even wider experience, working for the annual meeting of NATO, visits by royal houses, corporate events of companies such as SAP, Microsoft and REED Elsevier, as well as ministerial conferences. Last year, she spent eight months  acting as Health and Safety Officer for the Pan American Games in Toronto on behalf of parent company GL-events and obtained the title of Certified Protection Officer (CPO).

Risk analysis

That doesn't mean to say that she preaches security above everything else. The security measures need to correspond with the actual risk and you always have to weigh security factors up against hospitality, she explains. A security plan for a specific event starts by drawing up a risk analysis. A relatively simple calculation helps here: risk = likelihood x effect The fundamental question, of course, is how you determine these two factors. In order to do so, Bouwman uses the historical data that is available as an 'open source' on the worldwide web. If you don't want to go into this much depth, the key is to focus energy and resources on the security risks with high scores in the combination of frequency and severity of consequences.

Extra eyes and ears

The host's role includes making use of everyone who is involved with an event. Train all of those extra eyes and ears to recognise security risks, she suggests. If you get an expert to explain how you can recogise 'unusual' situations, people will then be able to see them. That's not only possible during the event, but before it too. There is a 'terrorist planning cycle', for example, which involves someone showing extra interest in the floor plan of the building before the event. On the administrative side, it's important to have log sheets, checklists and call sheets to hand. You can use the log sheet to record security checks and surveillance. The checklists ensure that you don't forget any checks and measures and the call sheets, which list all the important telephone numbers, ensure that you can get communication going quickly and adequately.

Quick communication

The latter is important if something in or around the event ultimately goes wrong. In that case, there are two priorities as the person responsible for security, Bouwman explains. Number one is 'fact finding'. Collect and, above all, filter all information so that you can work out exactly what is going on. To some extent, that's at odds with the second priority and that's that of (quick) communication. Bouwman is adamant about this: Make sure that you're the first to post a message; even if it's just to say that you're working on it. If you leave the initiative to others, their reports, often unsubstantiated, will be distributed to the masses for a lack of better reports.

Experts

In a supplementary session by the German community MICE CLUB, a number of experts explained how to deal with a security crisis as a conference office. It made sense that there were also representatives of the conference offices in Brussels and Paris, as well as those in Dresden, for example. Of course it's on a different scale, but it's certainly a challenge if you have to tell the international guests that you really are a safe destination, while the international media is reporting about anti-Islam demonstrations in your city on a weekly basis.

Prepared for the second  time

Elisabeth Van Ingelgem, Director of the Convention & Association Office of Visitbrussels, explains how the terrorist attacks in Paris and the impact that they had on the whole way of life in Brussels meant that people were prepared for the attacks on Zaventem Airport and Maalbeek metro station. Before November, people weren't well prepared, she acknowledges. But now there was a 'chain of command' that was quickly operational and also clear for everyone. The conference office had set up a direct call centre, to which organisers and participants could turn with all of their questions. This meant that people could be referred to alternative means of transport, such as high-speed trains, so that they could still arrive at their destinations. Furthermore, the service level of VisitBrussels was further  increased. We simply didn't say 'no' to the requests, the director of the Convention & Association Bureau explains. The conference office also immediately made FAQs available that it sent to all organisers, which they in turn could pass on to their participants. Initially, the FAQs were updated on a daily basis and these daily updates were later replaced with weekly updates. They concerned very factual information, Van Ingelgem explains, because people expect leadership in uncertain situations like that.

Social media

Strikingly, the decision was consciously taken to keep a low profile on social media, because it's deemed too uncontrollable.  'Thank you for your support. 'For factual information please contact...', was the minimal message. At a later stage, online media was, however, used very actively, with the aim of putting potential visitors at ease. For example, you could watch how life was continuing as normal again in the Grand Place in Brussels via a live webcam stream, positive news was shared generously and video interviews allowed participants to speak at conferences and trade fairs. Now, a few months  down the line, it can be established that tourism to Brussels (and Paris and Istanbul) decreased significantly straight after the respective incidents. This relates, above all, to leisure tourism. Visitor numbers to business meetings may well have fallen slightly, but the number of international conferences, meetings and trade fairs stayed on track.    

SOURCES TO CONSULT

If you're  looking for more knowledge and information in the field of security management, Safety & Security Manager Marije Bouwman  from World Forum has  compiled  the following  list.

1. ASIS International (American Society for Industrial Security), an international community of security professionals: www.asisonline.org
2. International Foundation for Protection Officers (IFPO), an association aimed at the further professionalisation of the safety industry: www.ifpo.org
3. S2 Safety & Intelligence Institute, a training institute for safety professionals: www.s2institute.com
4. The G5 Guide to Global Standards of Health and Safety at Exhibitions,guidelines for working safe  in the trade fair industry: www.theg-guide.org