How to host one of the world’s largest conferences — virtually

If you were to watch each meeting held so far in APEC 0 1, ac -to- ac , it would e li e watching the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy 9 times, with a cast exceeding 300

In a small corner of Wellington, an industrious team has transformed an unsuspecting office space into a vi rant epicentre It’s where hundreds of glo al virtual meetings are ta ing place, to rechart the course of the AsiaPacific’s Covid-19 economic recovery

A row of high-definition monitors occupy one side, while chairs and des s piled with files and folders sit on the opposite side Another area houses a control room, with a small army of support staff wor ing ehind the scenes to ensure smooth meetings from clear audio and video to uninterrupted connections and seamless conversations his is what it loo s li e to virtually host one of the world’s largest conferences: the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation APEC summit As host of this year’s forum, ew ealand is ringing together APEC’s

1 mem er economies in an online setting, charting a path to recovery and reigniting growth Collectively, APEC economies represent half of glo al trade and 0 per cent of P

Between the year’s first meeting on 9 e ruary and the 97th on Octo er 1 , there have een 91 hours of virtual meetings, or 37 days straight A out 30 more official meetings are scheduled

etween now and Leaders’ Wee the climax of APEC

0 1 in ovem er

o ens of people around Aotearoa have rought the virtual forum to life, allowing thousands of delegates including presidents and prime ministers, usiness experts, and government officials - to meet from across the region and eyond he third Senior Officials’ Meeting cluster involved 3707 officials over a course of a out 100 meetings

Keeping vital discussions moving

Leading the production of ew ealand’s host year are APEC ew ealand deputy secretary Andrea Smith and APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting chair angelis italis

“We spent a lot of time planning to ma e the virtual experience as positive as possi le, italis says

“We wor ed on giving a sense of ew ealand’s warmth and hospitality our manaa itanga

Smith manages a team of 100, with roles spanning communications, delegate services, planning, policy, production, resourcing, and technology

“We regularly host four or five meetings at a time, sometimes even more, she says “We deliver one set of meetings at the same time as we’re preparing for the next

Preparation happens days ahead, with a detailed timeta le and agenda created for each meeting

While a meeting ta es place, etween 10 and 0 people provide technical and admin support hey eep discussions flowing, monitor events in real time, and fix any issues that arise he focus is on excellence and continuous improvement

Innovation leading to higher turnout across 11 time zones

Covid-19 forced ew ealand to transition to hosting the firstever fully digital APEC year, posing challenges for the team - who now faced dealing with thousands of delegates across hundreds of meetings across eleven time ones all online

“We had to develop ways of operating and conducting meetings that allowed delegates to ma e progress on issues and have meaningful conversations over a virtual space, Smith says

o replicate the informal conversations that happen during in-person meetings

li e small tal over tea or rea fast the team assisted participants in using the virtual platform’s chat function and rea out meeting feature

Wor ing through 11 different time ones was another issue “We’ve had to e innovative on how we structure some meetings, and we try to limit them to three hours, Smith says

oing virtual has led to higher attendance rates and a significantly lower environmental impact

In a recent survey, nearly 0 per cent of participants were happy with the agenda - a testament to how the online nature of the conference has

contri uted to APEC’s successes this year

“We were a le to hold the first ever Informal Leaders’

etreat in uly, which was well attended y leaders and was only possi le ecause of virtual hosting, Smith says

“We’ve also found that with some meetings, there’s more scope to get experts participating ecause it’s a three-hour commitment rather than having to travel

Looking ahead

or the rest of the year, APEC

0 1 is full steam ahead Senior Officials’ meetings will continue regularly, tac ling finance, food security, health, small and medium enterprises, and women and the economy ovem er is the last month for APEC 0 1, with several ey events including the youthfocused oices of the uture,

and a CEO Summit ringing together usiness people and leaders from around the region to discuss the most pressing issues for usinesses

Smith and her team plan to eep their momentum going until the conference concludes with the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, the pinnacle of ew ealand’s host year, featuring the iconic leaders’ family photo affectionately referred to as a the silly shirts’ photo

“We’ve proven that APEC’s wor can continue even in a pandemic-laden environment, she says “We want to ma e it a positive experience for all, ena ling fruitful conversations and impactful dialogue

“We spent a lot of time planning to make the virtual experience as positive as possible” - Vangelis Vitalis

For more information about APEC 2021, visit apec2021nz.org.