Photo by Jacob Slaton / Whatever Media Group Boardroom: You have said that resilience can no longer be treated as a separate skill. What do you mean by that?
Ori Lahav: Resilience has to shift from being a skill set to being almost like a brain muscle. It has to become automatic. You do not stop and think about how to walk; you just do it. I think it is the same in our industry today. Change is constant. We have gone from one disruption to another for years now, whether that is Covid, war, economic pressure or sudden policy shifts. Crisis is no longer the exception. It has become part of the normal operating environment. That means organisers need plans, communication methods and decision-making structures that are ready to activate immediately, without hesitation.
Boardroom: When disruption begins to affect an event, what is usually the first concern you hear from clients?
Ori Lahav: The first reaction is usually very direct: how will this affect my congress, my event, my association, my members? Can people still travel? Can they still fly? Will participation be affected? That anxiety is understandable. Our role is to make sure clients feel that the situation is being monitored, that there is a plan in place and that we are already thinking through possible outcomes. The key is to build confidence. That comes from proactive communication and from showing clients that you are in control of the process, even when the environment itself is uncertain.
Boardroom: How do you communicate in those moments without becoming drawn into the politics of a situation?
Ori Lahav: We stay neutral. We are not there to take sides; we are there to reflect the situation and manage its impact on the event. Communication is the first thing we focus on. We do not wait for clients to come to us with questions. We try to be proactive. We sit down internally, agree on the messages we need to convey, explain what is under control, what we are monitoring and what contingency plans are in place. Then we communicate that clearly. This is something we have practised and improved over time, because this is the reality in which we operate.
Boardroom: Has the industry moved beyond traditional risk management?
Ori Lahav: I think we have moved from risk management to crisis management. Traditional risk management is based on models and matrices: what might happen, how likely is it, and what would the impact be? But today the environment is too dynamic for that to be enough on its own. You cannot always predict what is coming next. So when something does happen, you need the ability to switch quickly into crisis mode. At Kenes, we open what we call a situation room. We bring together all the relevant internal stakeholders, we meet frequently, and we make fast decisions. That is how you deal with a sudden event, whether it is a weather emergency, a transport disruption or an unexpected policy decision that affects attendance.
Boardroom: From the client side, do associations still have confidence in major international meetings?
Ori Lahav: Yes, because for most associations the annual meeting remains a major source of revenue. Many are looking at ways to diversify, of course, but for the majority the large congress is still central. I do not see a broad move away from those flagship events. What I do see is the growth of smaller meetings around them. We are seeing more micro-events alongside mega-events: committee meetings, sub-specialty gatherings or regional sessions that take place just before or around the main congress.
For example, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) held a half-day meeting during the International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases and Related Neurological Disorders (AD/PD) pre-conference day, and the World Intracranial Hemorrhage Conference (WICH) was organised back-to-back with the World Stroke Congress (WSC), reaching a very similar audience. It allows associations to make better use of the fact that people are already travelling and gathering in one place. That is efficient, and in many cases it also makes sense from a sustainability perspective.