Kemajuan teknologi terbukti mendisrupsi industri transportasi, media massa, atau ritel. Tapi tidak dengan industri MICE. Esensi kegiatan MICE tidak bisa digantikan dengan teknologi canggih sekalipun.
Kehadiran salah satu ojek online (ojol) di kisaran tahun 2015 ibarat dua sisi mata uang. Bagi konsumen, adanya ojol yang menawarkan kemudahan ketika memesan dan tarif yang bersahabat tentu disambut baik. Sementara bagi pengemudi ojek konvensional jelas menolak, karena kehadiran ojol mengurangi jumlah penumpang. Kemajuan teknologi juga menggerus industri media cetak dan ritel. Tak sedikit yang gulung tikar.
Kekhawatiran yang sama sempat terbersit di benak pelaku MICE manakala pandemi mengubah bentuk kegiatan MICE dari offline menjadi online. Masyarakat menjadi akrab dengan kegiatan meeting bahkan pameran secara daring. Pelaku MICE pun segera beradaptasi mempelajari seluruh perangkat lunak dan keras penyelenggaraan kegiatan MICE secara daring.
Padahal kegiatan MICE secara offline dan online tidak tepat disejajarkan. Keduanya menawarkan pengalaman yang berbeda. Kegiatan online hanya fokus pada pengalaman penggunaan platform, sedangkan offline fokus pada pengalaman merasakan event-nya, dan inilah esensi dari kegiatan MICE.
Melalui perbincangan Podcast yang tayang di kanal YouTube MICE Indonesia, pakar branding, Silih Agung Wasesa menegaskan, bahwa kegiatan MICE ialah kegiatan fisikal.
Silih mengingatkan, agar pelaku MICE jangan sampai seperti pelaku industri transportasi. “Dulu pengusaha transportasi (konvensional) merasa dia yang berkuasa, transportasi online bukan ancaman. Ternyata sekarang transportasi online yang jadi penguasanya. Artinya, mesti disiapkan, bahwa MICE itu punyanya orang MICE bukan orang digital,†tegas Silih.
Ia mengingatkan jangan sampai pelaku MICE terjebak seperti pelaku industri transportasi. Toh, esensi MICE itu pertemuan fisik, bukan pertemuan online . “Kalau orang ikut konferensi atau meeting biasanya ada proses lobi-lobi, nah ini yang belum didapat di kegiatan MICE digital. Apalagi MICE itu dasarnya pertemuan fisik,†imbuhnya.
Seperti yang dialami TJ Anggara, Founder Indonesia Outdoor Festival (Outfest), di masa awal pandemi ia sempat menggelar pameran virtual yang menawarkan virtual booth. Sayangnya, belum dua tahun pandemi, tren virtual booth sudah mulai ditinggalkan.
“Makin kesini virtual booth makin ditinggalkan, mungkin karena pengunjung merasa pengalamannya kurang. Artinya, konsep virtual secanggih apapun dalam kegiatan MICE, tetap beda feel-nya,†cetus Anggara.
Memang, menurut Anggara, digitalisasi dan teknologi tidak bisa dihindari. Kegiatan MICE juga harus bisa mengakomodir kemajuan teknologi. “Yang harus disiapkan pelaku MICE harus imbang dengan digital berjalan lurus. Kita tidak tahu kondisi ini sampai kapan, harapannya cepat selesai, tapi kalau ini masih lama ya kita harus siap,†pungkas Anggara.
English
Offline MICE Events Are Irreplaceable
Technological advancements have disrupted transportation, mass media, and retail industries. But not the MICE industry, for the essence of MICE isn’t replaceable with any cutting-edge technologies.
The emergence of an online ojek service in 2015 was like two sides of the coin. To customers, the presence of this service offered an easy ordering system and affordable prices. To conventional ojek drivers, the online ojek service was a threat. Technology also poses a challenge to printed media and retail industries. Many went out of business.
Kekhawatiran yang sama sempat terbersit di benak pelaku MICE manakala pandemi mengubah bentuk kegiatan MICE dari offline menjadi online. Masyarakat menjadi akrab dengan kegiatan meeting bahkan pameran secara daring. Pelaku MICE pun segera beradaptasi mempelajari seluruh perangkat lunak dan keras penyelenggaraan kegiatan MICE secara daring.
The same concern also occurs to MICE industry players when the pandemic forces offline MICE to change into online events. People have become familiar with online meetings and even exhibitions. MICE industry players then quickly adapted to the softwares and hardwares necessary to organize online events.
However, online MICE events are not on par with offline MICE events. The two concepts offer a different experience. Online events only focus on the experience of using a platform, whilst offline events focus on experiencing the event, which is the essence of MICE.
In our podcast on MICE Indonesia’s YouTube channel, a branding expert named Silih Agung Wasesa highlighted that MICE activities are physical events.
Silih reminded MICE industry players not to follow the steps of transportation industry players. “Back then, [conventional] transportation businesses thought that they were dominant and that online transportation was not a threat. But now, online transportation holds the power. It means that MICE industry players must prepare to keep the industry from the digital sector,†explained Silih.
He said that MICE industry players shouldn’t fall under the trap like the industry players in the transportation sector, as the essence of MICE is physical meetings, not online. “If people participate in conferences or meetings, they usually lobby. This is not something that can be achieved in digital MICE, especially since MICE is fundamentally offline,†added him.
Just like what Founder of Indonesia Outdoor Festival (Outfest), TJ Anggara, went through during the beginning of the pandemic when he held virtual exhibitions with virtual booths. Unfortunately, many have started to turn down virtual booths.
“As time goes by, virtual booths are starting to be abandoned, maybe because visitors feel that the experience is lacking. It means that no matter how advanced the technology is in MICE, the feel is different,†said Anggara.
Indeed, Anggara believes that digitalization and technology aren’t avoidable. MICE activities must accommodate technological advancements. “What the MICE industry must prepare should be proportional to digital technology improvements. We don’t know how long the situation will last. Although we hope that it ends soon, if it doesn’t then it means we have to be ready,†concluded Anggara.
