IFES 4 Life Supports the Event Industry

IFES member and IFES 4 Life partner, Scan Display, is designing and building Africa's largest provisional COVID-19 hospital at the Cape Town Convention Center (CTICC) in Cape Town, South Africa.

Since the beginning of the year, the current global pandemic has dealt a significant amount of collatteral damage to the worldwide event industry.  

Exhibition and event companies stymied by the suspension and cancellation of events face unprecedented financial challenges. While authorities in parts of the world are allowing exhibitions and business event to be held again provided that certain conditions are met and protective measures adopted, thousands of live event companies continue to experience serious financial collapses, mass layoffs and insolvencies.

In the spirit of ”Exit not Exitus” the International Federation of Exhibition and Event Services (IFES)  took inspiration from the American initiative ”LiveForLife” a Live-Event Industry COVID-19 Coalition, and created ”IFES 4 Life” a coalition of exhibition industry partners fighting COVID-19.

IFES 4 Life consists of live communication experts who offer their skills and knowledge in bridging bottlenecks in the fight against COVID-19. Whether it’s construction of a hospital alternative on short notice or supporting health authorities with rapid installation of temprorary negative pressure structures, IFES 4 Life partners answer the call.

One such partner is Scan Display. The South African trade fair construction and event company was commissioned by the Western Cape Department of Health to convert four exhibition halls of the Convention Center into a temporary alternative to a hospital.

"Even though we've never built anything like this before, it was encouraging and felt good to just go back to work and support the fight against the virus," says Justin Hawes, IFES President-Elect and Managing Director of Scan Display.

For the current status of reopening markets, visit www.ufi.org the offical site of UFI: The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry.  For more information on ”IFES 4 Live” visit www.ifes4life.com