On the afternoon of January 31, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc announced the second directive to strengthen prevention and control of severe respiratory infections caused by a new strain of the coronavirus (nCoV). Among solutions, the government requests to end all festivals that have yet to open, and scale down all festivals that are happening.
After Tet, we are scheduled for multiple events, several of which require the vast halls with only a small portion of them being actually utilized. Normally, booking venues for these sizable events would be a challenge, but things went smoothly as sales staff revealed that other agencies would cancel their bookings. Upon hearing it, we saw a sad future loom on the event industry. Then, as various messages flooded in calling for cancellation, our imminent reality became more convincing. In turn, we contacted musicians, performers, MCs, etc. to cancel our bookings, they said they had received the same cancellation for several consecutive days. It is evident that once “natural disaster, war, and pandemic” has stretched to a large scale, it will heavily affect human and property, as well as the economy.
For Apex alone, the number of events after Tet is much higher than before Tet. This year, as Lunar New Year being too close to the New Year, most enterprises and corporations find it difficult to conclude their year before Tet. In years like this, the peak season of the event industry will be a month after Tet. Not to mention the first quarter also welcomes kick-off ceremonies, campaign launch, etc. – kinds of events that have thousands of participants. If the ratio of pre-Tet events to post-Tet events is 3:7, the event industry is prone to see a 70% drop in Q1 revenue.
What should we do now? Hibernate to develop ourselves or retreat to heal? It is up to each agency to decide.
Apex adapts to change, and allocates time to things that we failed to arrange for. In particular:
– Finalize incomplete regulations, develop new processes.
– Update organization chart, job description, and KPIs
– Conduct employee training in each department and entire company
– Conduct experiments to supplement and transition existing technology for corporate governance.
– Meet up with partners, clients, and suppliers that we have not seen in the entire year; implement customer service plans.
– Have a discussion with strategic partners on major projects planned to take place at the end of the year.
– Brainstorm new ideas, because when the economy gets back on track after-COVID, enterprises will have too much on their plate.
– Design and prepare a full sales kit for the company, from hardcopy to softcopy.
– Keep brand awareness alive with available resources.
– And many other activities.
When all aspects of society are affected by one issue, no industry can escape its grip. In times like this, our way of thinking makes all the difference. Talking about bears, they do not hibernate to take a rest, but to survive. When spring arrives, bears come out of their dens, as healthily as ever. Bears even can give birth and nurse their child during hibernation. That is why, Apex and other event agencies, let’s just hibernate for a while.
May we wish you good health, safety, and strength during unexpected but valuable hibernation.
Le Quynh Thu – CEO Apex Multimedia
