First major live business event after Lockdown: The Circle Conference submits

On July 1, 2021, The Circle Conference took place, probably the first major live business event in Switzerland after the lockdown. In compliance with a rigorous protection concept, 880 visitors literally met face to face again at the Circle Convention Center at Zurich Airport.

Showtime! The Circle Conference on July 1, 2021 was the first big live business event after the Corona drought. (Image: Thomas Berner)

It was finally showtime again: After more than twelve months without events, a major live business event took place for the first time again at the Circle Convention Center on July 1, 2021: The Circle Conference. 880 visitors, 70 exhibitors and 19 speakers provided the framework for a successful premiere. The event was hosted by Oliver Stoldt of MICE Service Group Switzerland in cooperation with the hosting partners Flughafen Zürich AG, The Circle Convention CenterHyatt Regency Zurich Airport The Circle and Hyatt Place Zurich Airport The Circle. He wanted to offer the MICE industry, i.e. the event and hospitality sector most affected by the Corona pandemic, a fitting re-start. Accordingly, the industry made itself the theme of the event. The exhibiting companies all showed their services for the organization of meetings, events, conferences and other occasions.

Live business event under corona conditions

Oliver Stoldt and Janine Heukamp began planning The Circle Conference while still in the midst of the lockdown. Their goal: July 1, 2021 should be the deadline for the first large live business event after Corona. As recently as April of this year, it was far from clear whether events with 1000 attendees would be approved as early as the beginning of summer. The relaxation of the Federal Council on May 26, 2021 paved the way, and a few days later the approval by the authorities followed. "We gambled high," Oliver Stoldt said on the sidelines of a media conference held to mark The Circle Conference. "There was only this Plan A." But the effort must have paid off: everywhere you looked, you saw happy faces - and not hidden behind protective masks. The rigorous protection concept - only pre-registered people were allowed in, and everyone had to show a valid Covid certificate or a negative test result - allowed for this newfound freedom. "You have to get right back into the habit of personal closeness," was a statement often heard. Indeed, the "elbow salute" could still be observed frequently, and even when applauding, the audience sometimes seemed to exercise a little restraint...

Congress tourism in transition

At the media conference, Andreas Züllig, President of HotellerieSuisse, epidemic expert and consultant Daniel Koch, jazz festival organizer and St. Moritz community president Christian Jott Jenny, Oliver Stoldt and Stefan Feldmann, Head The Circle, Flughafen Zürich AG, expressed their views on the future of the MICE business. There was agreement that new, creative concepts will naturalize in the congress and event business alongside classic solutions - thanks to rapidly developing digital tools. "We learned a lot during Corona," said Andreas Züllig, pointing out that quite a few seminar hotels, for example, are now "igniting the turbo" to upgrade their infrastructures. It is possible that there will be fewer very large congresses in the future than before the pandemic, said Züllig. He and Christian Jott Jenny were optimistic about tourism for the coming summer season in the mountain regions, but less so for places that rely on international customers. And Jenny is further clear with regard to cultural creation: "Concerts cannot be digitized." The Festival da Jazz in St. Moritz, for example, will be held live next week with the 3G concept.

The future of the MICE industry: from left to right Stefan Feldmann, Oliver Stoldt, Christian Jott Jenny, Daniel Koch, Andreas Züllig. (Image: zVg / Marco Stalder)

More sustainability - also for a live business event

What is the current demand for seminar hotels, for example? Andreas Züllig knows of good booking levels with corresponding providers. However, in addition to technical possibilities for hybrid implementation, the focus has recently shifted to completely different values. "Customers are paying more attention to sustainability. It is becoming more important to them to rely on regional products," says Züllig. And what about internationally? A little patience still seems to be in order there. Stefan Feldmann pointed out that The Circle and its convention center, which is geared toward international events and has a capacity of 2,500 visitors, opened in the middle of the crisis. However, he is optimistic that demand will also increase here as soon as the market situation permits. Then the second hotel, Hyatt Place, which is currently still closed, will also definitely open its doors.

Audience enjoys live performances

However, the virus will certainly keep the industry busy for some time to come, according to Daniel Koch, who was also a speaker. He assumes that the normality we knew before the Corona pandemic will be reality again in a few years. In addition to Daniel Koch, the presentations of other renowned speakers also met with lively interest. Solar Impulse pioneer Bertrand Piccard and the honorary president of FC Basel, Bernhard Heusler, impressed the audience. International expert Sita Mazumder and experts German Ramirez and Reto Wampfler spoke on digitalization, innovation, social selling and change management. On topics such as new work, communication, leadership and mobility, the expert Leonie Müller, ex-FIFA referee Urs Meier, the pilot group #clearedtoland, professional pilot Philip Keil and the "king of pickpockets" Christian Lindemann, who as a keynote speaker addressed topics such as self-confidence, repartee and performance. "People buy from people" was one of the things he called out to the audience. What might generally be dismissed as an often-heard marketing platitude took on an almost programmatic meaning on July 1, 2021: live and face-to-face, the atmosphere is simply different from digital via screen...

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