The Victorian Chamber is excited to present our newest series: Fast Five. 

In this new fortnightly series, one senior business leader is presented five unique questions to answer honestly and frankly to give you a behind-the-scenes look into the workings of Victoria’s most successful and inspiring businesses. 

The VCCI is proud of its vast network of members and is honored to share their stories and bring you the best of Victoria’s business leaders’ insights.  

As the Chief Executive of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Peter King knows first-hand the devastation the COVID-19 lockdown has brought many businesses across Victoria, but most importantly, what is needed to endure.

As a former elite-level cricketer with a substantial background in the events industry, Peter reveals how he and the MCEC is staying on the front foot and continuing to drive forward.  

#1: What is one piece of personal advice that has motivated your success? 

I have been lucky in my career to have worked with some great leaders. I have an in-built desire to be part of a successful team and I think the most important advice has been to surround yourself with strong, passionate and committed people who have similar goals regarding the legacy a team can deliver. 

I have been fortunate to have been able to provide career opportunities to many people who have gone on to become wonderful contributors to their respective organisations.  

Having finally landed in recent times at the MCEC, I have been able to combine a fast-changing and challenging commercial environment with the ability to support and invest in wonderful long-term outcomes for our community. Combining a love for growth, a diverse and enjoyable industry along with serving the community is the best of all worlds.  

Another learning that has always stayed with me: “love what you do and it is not onerous to turn up each day!” 

#2: What excites you about the future? 

While there’s a lot of uncertainty at the moment in what the future holds, I think we’ve seen a resurgence in a sense of community and a willingness to experiment. 

Take MCEC for example; our core business involves bringing people together. Even while we’ve been unable to hold events, I’ve been so proud of the community of support our workforce and the wider industry has built.  

There isn’t a day that goes by that I haven’t seen one of our employees or partners reach out to a colleague through these difficult times.  

That empathy is something I think we can all take away from this experience. It also helps build a culture of openness to experimentation, to try new things. We’re doing this right now at MCEC through our business relaunch initiatives, to explore new revenue streams and ways of working.  

I’m optimistic these values will remain a focus in our world moving forward.   

#3: How has COVID-19 impacted the MCEC in the long term?

Even when MCEC’s doors open again, it is unlikely that we will return to business as we once knew it.  

There’ll always be a demand for face-to-face meetings, and bringing together great minds to solve problems is more important now than ever, but the way those gatherings happen will be fundamentally different.  

Our industry, like so many others, will need to adapt. We’re doing this already, by offering virtual events solutions which we know will likely play a larger part in our industry moving forward, be it through events held entirely online or through a hybrid of virtual and in person. But there are also potential opportunities for MCEC to lead in a socially-distanced event market, given the space available to us and the size of our building. I think that advantage will play a key role in our recovery.  

We are also seeing an acceleration in the use of some technologies and we intend to be leading the way in creating better customer and visitor experiences via digital technology. 

#4: What is currently the biggest problem for the MCEC and how do you plan to solve it? 

Certainly, our most immediate challenge has to be the complete loss of revenue.  

The last financial year was one of two distinct halves; going from a record-breaking six months of revenue and customer satisfaction, to the effective closure of our building due to COVID-19. However, we’re fortunate that we have the support of the Victorian Government at this time to ensure we can retain our employees and plan our recovery.  

Beyond the immediate challenges of revenue, our focus needs to be ensuring health authorities and customers are confident in our safe operation for when we’re able to run events again.  We’ve already done a lot of work in this space through the release of our comprehensive VenueSafe plan, which includes industry leading health and safety measures.  

I am confident that once we’re through current restriction, this will provide the assurance our stakeholders need.  The business events industry can be an immediate driver of economic activity and jobs, so we are working with authorities to be able to open our doors again as soon as possible. 

#5: What changes have you implemented to support your workers?

Our people have remained our priority throughout this challenging time. From the onset, when we immediately lost our revenue streams, we were able to offer a support package to all employees. We’ve now been able to continue to offer salary maintenance to most of our employees with the support of the Victorian Government. But beyond the financial support, we’ve invested in our people’s wellbeing and development over this time. 

In addition to our Employee Assistance Program, we’ve offered mental health seminars and developed health and wellbeing resources for our people, as well as provided learning opportunities through a new ‘learning credit’ scheme, that reimburses employees for using this time to learn in a way that is meaningful for them. 

Our MCEC culture remains so strong, especially when we have a workforce that is a majority made up of casual employees who work through events that can’t currently happen. 

I am most proud of the resilience shown by our people and the care they continue to provide to each other and our customers. 

Business mentoring program 

The VCCI has partnered with the Victorian Government to deliver a business mentoring program to help small businesses navigate the economic challenges posed by COVID-19 restrictions and to help grow small businesses into the future. 

Through this program, eligible business owners can receive one-on-one mentoring sessions with an experienced professional who will help them make informed decisions about the future of their business. 

The program is open for applications now, click here to register your interest now.