First, I wanted to say a big thank you to all the members that responded to the survey we sent out. I think I can say that we have never had a response like that and the data that we collected is going to be vital in our workshop with MBIE next week. James Wilson has more detail on that in this newsletter, but it became apparent that in order to properly represent our sector we needed to have the kind of figures that Governments understand. This the first time that we have attempted to properly value the venue industry in terms of gross revenues and those results along with the other data are really impressive. We will be releasing the results to all of the members that participated.

One of the outcomes of the first meeting with MBIE was the Minister talking about a sector lead plan of how to operate in the future while contact tracing and social distancing are still required. To that end, EVANZ will be putting together some working groups to drill down on the detail of the various elements of operating in the new environment. We will look to populate the groups from our members and tap into the expertise that exists within our venues and associate members. This will commence as soon as is practical after the MBIE workshop.

I have been really heartened in recent weeks with the contact we have had with some of our sister organisations, representing other parts of the business, and their openness and desire to share and contribute to the survival of the industry as a whole. I have also been pleased with the response from Government and their desire to listen and engage. It highlights the importance of having a representative association that they can talk to, knowing that they are communicating with over 120 venues of all types around the country as well as our associate members.

As we always say it’s about the people and I know that my main focus during this time is how to ensure that our people are looked after and communicated with as often as possible. I love the Webinar format, it’s a great way to get messaging out to staff that work rostered hours or can’t make a staff meeting.

Mark Gosling

CEO The Trusts Arena.