The crisis plan inspired by a protest that almost grounded an international conference
Sometimes the worst-case scenario happens. The scene of this incident is Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland. The time is May of 2023. A box truck full of protestors on bicycles breached fencing at Geneva Airport (GVA) during the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE), and some of them managed to handcuff themselves to the multimillion-dollar private jets on display. The airport shut down. Flights were diverted. Police eventually arrested the trespassers with minor injuries and some aircraft damage, but also with a powerful emotional and operational impact.
“It feels very personal after you have worked on a program for a long time,” said Sacha Carey, vice president of exhibits at National Business Aviation Association (NBAA). The experience changed not only how that show, which was co-produced with the European Business Aviation Association, was managed going forward, but all shows NBAA produces.
Evolution of a Crisis Plan
Protests were not unexpected. A crisis plan was in place and had been strengthened when a peaceful protest was announced. Palexpo was a helpful partner in managing the risks, according to Carly Heideger, associate vice president of client partnerships and performance at MCI USA, who presented at Expo Expo 2024 with Carey about lessons learned. The venue alerted organizers when a permit was filed, and a meeting was scheduled with protest organizers.
“They said they planned to be outside in the park across the way,” said Carey. “But we also knew they could be telling us something that wasn’t what their plan was.”
Read More: Event Safety PSA: Failing to Prepare Could Cost You
A security vendor who had managed safety at NBAA’s U.S. events was brought in. Because the vendor was not familiar with Swiss law or the venue, organizers also talked to local law enforcement and hired a dark web intelligence monitoring service to better understand any plans that might be floating around and what could be done.
At that point, the booths had been sold, so there wasn’t a lot of room for extra bag check and access security in the convention center, but a second-floor area was carved out for screening, and the press conference was limited to invitation-only access.
An added level of complexity was the shuttle from the convention center to the display area at adjacent GVA where manufacturers had borrowed customer jets as examples of what was possible. “We knew that was our biggest target,” Carey said. Secondary screening was always the procedure for going into a secure airport environment.
Need to Know
All possible scenarios were floated, and any credible news was shared with exhibitors. “We said, ‘It isn’t a matter of if it’s going to happen. This is a matter of just what and how,’” Heideger said. Then they shared how they were preparing for it. Because most exhibitors had encountered similar situations around the world, they were not surprised. But they did stress the importance of being able to bring in VIP guests without having them go through the robust screening process.
Read More: How to Wow Your VIPs
Communication was a big part of the equation, especially for the couple of dozen vendors showing at GVA. A group text set up with the exhibitors and their private security would ensure everyone had the latest information at the same time, but it had to work for an international audience. WhatsApp was not considered secure enough. Eventually, NBAA settled on the encrypted messaging app Signal and found it works for a lot of purposes outside of monitoring protests.
When the breach occurred, everyone in the convention center was focused on the keynote and didn’t know what was going on next door, noticing only that the shuttles weren’t running. But in the war room the team was putting the crisis communication plan into action.
Biggest Take Aways
“My biggest lesson learned is truly how resilient exhibitors are,” Carey said. The show went on as planned the rest of the day and week, with full capacity. “The exhibitors work just as hard as you have, and protesters on bikes are not going stop them,” she said.
The peaceful protest also went on that afternoon as planned. The trespassing protestors were out of jail the next day.
For the NBAA team, however, it wasn’t over. They had a show in White Plains, New York, with the same exhibitors in 20 days and were going to make some changes, quickly.
This article appears in the March 2025 issue. You can subscribe to the magazine here.
