‘We live in an age where you cannot be passive and merely the proverbial spectator’ especially in the event industry. This was part of the message presented by Louis the Lawyer and Wayne Duvenhage at the sixth MICE Focus Group of 2013.
Entitled ‘From Passive to Proactive’ was the title of the latest MICE Focus Group which witnessed Louis the Lawyer detailing the important aspects of the soon-to-be-promulgated Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act.
The highlights were noted from the handout sent to all participants with their confirmation. This ensured that the participants had several options rather than receiving loads of paper. As the MICE Academy are Event Greening Forum founder members – reduction of paper in particular needs to be practiced wherever possible. The law states that:
*your personal information may not be retained without your request;
*if you have agreed to receiving information on tennis rackets – it is illegal to send you information on
other products without your request;
Most importantly all organizations – large and small – should appoint a compliance officer who would also be the RP (Responsible Person) retaining all individual’s personal information. Essentially the RP must study the applicable rules and ensure these requirements are complied with, each and every time. Failure to do so can be very expensive when it comes to fines which can be decided by the Information Protection Regulator.
Wayne Duvenhage of OUTA and former AVIS CEO let us know that ‘Everything can be copied – what makes the difference is how you shape the servicing of the client – who are spoilt for choice’
Wayne shared a most outstanding real-time service excellence presentation. Nothing hypothetical with this one – it was what had been implemented and very successfully.
There were many highlights – the main ones being:
*Start with benchmarking your own company…you have to know where you are, before you can move
forward;
*The company must become lean and start gaining loyalty – step-by-step;
*Ask your customers directly – it can prove a most enlightening exercise;
*Human impact is always the most important element within any organization;
All participants took the test of 15 questions following the two presentations and a 100% compliance certificate attainment was achieved.
The next and 7th MICE Focus Group will take place on Friday 26th July at the 5 star Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand covering ‘Volume Catering’. Trends and methods will be presented.
Contact The MICE Academy to receive the final programme. info@miceacademy.co.za
