Columbus collaboratory6/19/2023 The effect of this loss was felt by the community as a whole, and the industry’s recovery was prioritized. Rivkin noted in the 2015 study, who is a senior associate dean and chair of the MBA program and a professor in the strategy unit at Harvard Business School.Īccording to Williams, this approach came into play in a major way as the pandemic descended upon Ohio and shut down meetings and conventions. In interviews and conversations, business leaders who had moved to Columbus from other cities said that they were more collaborative and civically engaged in Columbus than they had been in their prior homes,” Jan W. “City leaders considered Columbus far from typical, however, in the manner that citizens worked together. The city, businesses headquartered in the region, and academic institutions mindfully work together to help Columbus improve and thrive, exemplified by its revitalization of downtown, new developments and more. Community CollaborationĪt the heart of Columbus’ success is the “Columbus Way” attitude-a term coined by Harvard Business School in a 2015 whitepaper examining the city’s highly unique collaborative approach to tackling its biggest challenges. The four-part series provides foundational knowledge about infection prevention and practical tips, backed up by science, to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In February, Experience Columbus announced that the Live Forward Pledge had adopted an infection prevention 101 course from The Ohio State University, supported by CloroxPro, to help partners level up their commitment to health and safety. In addition to major facilities pursuing GBAC, the local businesses rallied to participate in the Live Forward Pledge, launched in summer 2020, with nearly 150 business committing to putting health and safety at the forefront of all they do by following CDC and Ohio Department of Health guidelines. “I could preach from the mountaintops that our city is safe and secure, but we wanted to have that third-party validation, and that’s what we wanted to make sure we did with GBAC with all the high touchpoints in our destination,” William said. COTA is one of only two transit agencies in the US to earn GBAC STAR accredidation. This spring, Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA)-the city’s public bus system-also achieved the accreditation and is the second of its kind in the world to do so. The John Glenn Columbus International Airport was one of the first three airports in the world to receive the GBAC STAR accreditation, with the convention center, Nationwide Arena and various hotels following. From there, Columbus began to take immediate steps to make the city’s high travel and gathering touchpoints as safe as possible. Williams noted that the tradeshow event was one of the first big events to be cancelled in the nation. The bodybuilding and strongman competition and expo was scheduled to bring in 250,000 people to Columbus, March 5-8, 2020. Safety FirstĬolumbus came out of the gate fast when it came to recognizing the enormity of the pandemic and investing in safety, beginning with the early cancellation of the Arnold Sports Festival’s tradeshow. Preparedness and community collaboration are at the center of Columbus’ strategy to welcome back meetings and events, in whatever capacity. “We don’t know what to expect yet,” Williams noted, “but people are clamoring to get back-and we will be prepared for them.” and restrictions are easing in many cities across the country, the future is still uncertain with variants of the virus looming. Though there is encouraging vaccination access in the U.S. “They usually bring in 10,000-2019 was a record year for them,” Williams said, noting that while this year’s event isn’t at pre-pandemic levels, it’s an encouraging sign for the return of conventions to the Ohio state capital.įollowing Cultivate ’21, the convention center plans to welcome more large events like the National Association of Insurance Commissioners hybrid event and the National Emergency Number Association Conference & Expo this summer. Some of these include AmericanHort’s premiere horticulture industry event, Cultivate ’21 in July, which brought in 7,500 attendees to the Greater Columbus Convention Center. “We have about 80-plus events still on the books for the remainder of the year.” Dan Williams. “Things have come back quicker than anticipated, and we are extremely excited,” said Dan Williams, vice president of sales for Experience Columbus. Meetings and conventions have started to return to Columbus, Ohio.
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