I am pleased Hong Kong is slowly catching up with the rest of the world and making moves to open up. The allowing of live entertainment in smaller venues is a great help for the events industry. The allowance of larger events is also wonderful news. The government seems to be using the Global Financial Leaders’ Forum and the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens as an announcement to the world that Hong Kong is open. This is great news however as details emerge of the restrictions around these events I am reminded once again just how misunderstood managing live events is to non industry people.
Many seem to consider an event from its start time to finish time and don’t consider anything outside that to be part of the event. What they forget is an event is an experience. Experiences are greatly influenced by many external factors including weather, time of year, mood … much of the fun of going to a concert or show is meeting up with friends beforehand or gong to dinner afterwards… often it is the experience leading to an event that make or break the overall experience. When it comes to conferences for me it is rarely the conferences itself that makes the event worthwhile but rather the conversations that happen in the hall, the opening and closing parties or the private lunches where the real connections are made.
Every event is the same, in the sense each event has the same basic elements of administration, coordination, marketing and legal ethical risk management. Event management is fairly formulaic and can be done mostly with common sense but every experience is different. Creating an experience takes deep understanding of the behavioural psychology, the attendees and a myriad of other influences.
The Hong Kong Sevens and the Financial Leaders’ Forum are apparently being used as an event marketing tool to say to the world “Hong Kong is open!”. Unfortunately, we are not truly “open” yet. We only just allowed live entertainment and dancing in regular venues after a 285 day ban. In order to be allowed however there is very strict testing (impossible in some cases) of all performers. Still it is 4 days after arrival before overseas visitors are allowed to eat in a restaurant. I worry this message ‘we are open’ will backfire. The Financial Leaders’ Forum is smaller easier to manage, many of the vvips will not need any ‘quarantine’ as finance is considered “essential business” or they will be wined and dined in private venues. Very likely they will also be given other privileges that come with being ‘essential’ and well heeled. The Hong Kong Sevens faces tougher challenges.
The Hong Kong Sevens although a sporting event is more a festival in Hong Kong, crowds sing, dance and generally “party hard”. In order to comply with strict licensing HKRFU has to change many aspects of the event to comply, for instance, no food will be allowed to be sold in the stadium. Drinking is allowed however a mask is being worn when not drinking. Basically the mask law says lowering your mask to have a drink is ok however you are supposed to raise it between sips. Smoking is not allowed under the mask laws. Drinking is a major part of the Seven’s experience, the combined rugby and festival crowd guarantee vast quantities of beer Pimms and other alcohol are consumed. In most of the stands the fact that the consumption of alcohol is spread over 5-7 hours and mixed with food and snacks makes for a jolly atmosphere. The South Stand is traditionally known for a more vigorous drinking with many tales of extreme drunken debauchery. The side stairs at the sevens are usually the designated smoking area and in the later afternoons are packed with smokers.
Many of the people that will attend the sevens have recently travelled to Europe and to US where ‘covid is over’, masks are not required and life is generally ’normal’. The idea of wearing a mask in a festival will be ludicrous for many. Enforcement of a strict mask policy will be extremely difficult. The lack of food and plentiful alcohol will cause a host of problems ranging from extreme drunkenness to potential alcohol poisoning requiring medical attention. The combination of a rugby attitude with an alcohol fuelled crowd that has no buffer of food is likely to cause scenes not seen at previous sevens. This messy angst filled encounters will not create very positive stories on social media. If the mask enforcement is strict with fines being handed out and a heavy police presence the PR will not say ‘Hong Kong is open’. Instead, it could say just the opposite and add oil to the already damaged image. My hope is there is a major policy shift in Covid strategy for the whole country at the end of next week signalling a real end to the pandemic for Hong Kong.
*UPDATE
On October 21st HK Gov gave permission for food to be served at the Sevens. This is great news however it remains to be seen if the caterers will have time to prepare to serve 34,000 people. That is a lot of food to order, staff to hire in 2 weeks.
