After 19 particularly intense and successful years, the nation’s building director, Mira Altman, decided to retire. She made the decision in January last year and announced it in advance. “The conclusion was that I was leaving in June, but then the corona arrived and everything turned upside down. I decided to stay until the end of the year and move on, “she says.
Altman is known for its abilities to lift companies out of deep crises and march them forward, so the Corona was just stuck in a track saturated with successes. So it remained in the ten most difficult months the world of culture has ever experienced, and here too – it has managed to produce out of nothing.
The corona crisis was not the first time Altman experienced during her work. Shortly before taking office in 2001, the second intifada broke out. The business crashed like a card tower: important conferences and events were canceled, and personalities avoided coming to Jerusalem at that time, which absorbed most of the fire.
“I got this company almost 20 years ago when it went bankrupt, and to my great joy we got into the corona crisis when we were strong,” Altman says. “The situation is difficult, but when I look at the sequence of my doing and what I have done to date, getting into companies in an economic crisis and bringing them to a handsome profit, it keeps me optimistic.”
Since last March, with the outbreak of the corona crisis, the shelter has descended on the world of conferences and events, and the industry is still looking for the right way to reinvent itself. Altman, who has always managed to see ahead, returned people sick and commissioned vigorously for setting up a virtual stage where already on Sukkot there were shows, conferences and even the exams of the accounting firms and lawyers in a special outline.
“It may be my restlessness, or the entrepreneurial nature that is constantly looking to create out of nothing,” she says. “But I told myself that it could not be that nothing was done. We built a virtual stage and a broadcast studio, and basically everything we did not have. Until the second closure broke, we transferred all our activities virtually. We had panels, lectures, performances by Yishai Ribo, Amir “Dadon and Natan Goshen. We found ourselves looking for the next good news all the time.”
The last two years have been the golden age of the nation’s buildings, with 25 international conventions being counted in 2019 alone. “The problem is that this crisis today encounters us in a situation where not only Jerusalem is affected as in 2001, but the entire industry and the entire Israeli economy,” she says. “Today we feel the current crisis throughout the country, and with great intensity especially after the second closure.”
At the end of October, the 38th Zionist Congress was held on the renewed digital platform of the nation’s buildings, or in its official name – the International Congress Center: “Suddenly I said to myself, how did I not think of that before? Even at regular times, when I can not travel or attend conferences due to budget constraints And others, this platform is an amazing platform, which allows you to continue working and raise sponsorships. “
At the beginning of the Corona crisis, Altman tried to build with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy an outline for opening conferences and exhibitions that was almost approved, but as with all the “almost”, this plan did not materialize. Conduct with government ministries is no stranger to her, Altman served as director general of the Ministry of Tourism during Rehavam Zeevi’s tenure.
“When I was the director general of the Ministry of Tourism, the intifada was in full swing,” she says. “I remember the talks and negotiations with the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of Tourism then was very dominant. Unfortunately, especially now in the Corona crisis, where the Ministry of Tourism needs to be strong and dominant, it is not noticeable at all. At the time, we managed to set up a special compensation fund for the hotel industry, not to mention Jerusalem, which suffered one of the most severe injuries. “
As mentioned, Altman does not spare criticism of the current conduct of the Ministry of Tourism, which it claims is not doing enough to save the industry: “I have no doubt he was the leader.”
“This office, the Ministry of Tourism, should be a leader, it should be the locomotive that leads innovation and opens doors, so when we travel – and we will travel – to conferences and exhibitions we know there is an address. Today it is less there unfortunately. My perception as Director General of Tourism was before All I sit there as someone who has to work for the citizens, are my clients. “Citizens and industry, I have to give them the solutions, I have to work for them, and that is a different perception from what is happening today.”
What do you think about the current conduct and the decision-making system?
“Obviously we all need to take care of health first, which is the top value, and keep the guidelines. But the situation is difficult. Everyone understands that throughout this crisis the decisions are decisions around politics, most of them unprofessional, and ultimately we are all hurt by it.”
Mira Altman and Barack Obama (Photo: Private)She was born in Kibbutz Ma’ale Hahamisha, began her professional career in the field of education, was one of the founders of the “Alon” regional elementary school in the kibbutz, and served as an educator. In parallel with her work at the school, Altman began providing consulting services to collective education systems, until she decided to make a professional change and move into the field of tourism.
In 1991, again a year of crisis, with the outbreak of the Gulf War – an unattractive year for the world of tourism – she began running the guest house in Kiryat Anavim and managed to pull it out of many losses against all odds. Starting in 1997, she began serving as the CEO of the “Kibbutz Guest Network” and was one of the first to initiate a digital booking platform.
“You could say that I predicted the booking site even before it was created,” she says. “We have established a business connection with AVIAREPS, which is a very large group of company and tourism representatives that has served as a digital marketing platform for travel agents, for booking airline tickets.”
The ability to see ahead a decade or more is part of Altman’s managerial strategy: “For me, one and another is definitely worth three. I believe in thinking outside the box and in a strategy that always sees the day after.”
We are undoubtedly in one of the great crises we have known, what would you advise businesses and companies that fail to see the horizon?
“I think everyone should look at the half full glass, stay optimistic and alongside specific goals that will help us get through the current era we must not give up the vision. When you are within an organization, within a company, the ability to look ahead beyond crisis is ultimately one of milestones for success. “We are not only in the past, there is also a future, and our job as managers is to look to the future with a sober but optimistic view. Understand that this is a difficult situation that should not be taken lightly, but good managers face difficulties and know how to deal with them.”
Altman, who during her tenure as CEO of a kibbutz guest chain ran in the election for vice president of the Hotels Association and was in fact the first (and only to date) woman elected to the position, was careful to put the gender issue aside, but now presents a slightly different approach.
“In almost all the positions I applied for, I faced a large group of men and I succeeded thanks to my skills,” she says. “I have not thought about the difference in the form of female management over the years but I understand it more and more today. We bring something more that is added value to a managerial role. The down to details, the ability to feel the other, see the different and integrate all the above.” .
Is part of your ability to take out companies in crisis related to the type of female management?
“I manage to take failing companies in crisis and bring them to success, but it’s not something I do alone. It’s totally teamwork. I do not think there is anyone who can work alone. I have an amazing team that works with me for years and goes with me to all the places I have been. This team we bring these companies to places I can only be proud of. “
Mira Altman with George and Laura Bush (Photo: Private)The Center for Nation Buildings was established in 1956, and soon became an integral part of the history of the State of Israel. The Bible Quiz, the Demjanjuk Trial, the Zionist Congresses, the Israel Prize, the Eurovision Song Contest. He is the star of the Pale Tracker. The historic Ussishkin Hall hosted Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Tony Blair, George W. Bush and the memorable birthday party of The late Shimon Peres. Barbara Streisand, Frank Sinatra and even Yehudit Ravitz performed there, in a premiere that everyone remembers.
These days, the mega-project for the development and construction of the nation’s buildings, which Altman has been working on and which she has been leading since 2007 with Adv. David Shimron, continues to grow. This is a project she feels very satisfied with and needs to take the stage and move on. The name of former President Peres, with a financial investment of nearly NIS 800 million. The development plan includes the construction of an international congress center with an area of 55,000 square meters, which includes exhibition spaces and showrooms, three 4 and 5 star hotels, two towers Offices, commercial and leisure areas and more.
“It is a tremendous engine of economic growth for the State of Israel as well,” she says. “Everyone should support this industry that leaves millions. An international four-day conference held in the nation’s buildings, whose participants sleep three or four nights in Jerusalem, leaves the city eight million shekels. Think what a growth engine it is for the city and the country itself, every guest here later becomes an ambassador “.
Despite the major renovation and construction program that has already begun and winked at the younger generation (anime conferences held last year and discovery events, including parties for young people), Altman believes in preserving the old to the new, so she decided to preserve the mythical Ussishkin Hall: “When I come to the organization, I always believe The new plan is destroying some of the halls and the building is not a building for preservation, but I thought that if anyone had such a huge vision to build an auditorium in the 1950s that would house all the Jewish communities and not only, I would not destroy it. It is not an easy plan to talk about, but the past is very important to me and part of the success. “
What happens behind the scenes when the President of the United States arrives?
“This is usually a production of almost half a year. In the case of Obama, it was a very special event that we picked up in just one month. There is a deal with the Secret Service, the State Department and the US Embassy. Although we are used to hosting high-ranking people, Of the President of the United States you are definitely stepping up, the demands are very high.In honor of Obama we built especially from one of the halls a VIP room, which is used by us to this day.It was so successful that Obama did not leave it and held the meetings from there.Once he stayed, of course none of us I did not move or breathe, but it was a great experience. “
And of course the eyes of the whole world are on you.
“Absolutely. We are already studying the establishment of international media centers, we have the right infrastructure, we have the equipment to do that. And in the end, both Clinton, Obama and Bush are people who attend hundreds of conferences, but something about the Israeli visit, warmly, was very personal, very It’s warm and very special. “
And yet the big plans are only a future thing, at least until the world returns to normal. Altman believes that with all due respect to virtual progress, there is no substitute for human touch: “I think people will want to meet, there is a desire to travel and see, hug and kiss and even if it takes some time, one should always think ahead. It will come back.”
Mira Altman and Bill Clinton (Photo: Private)Altman leaves the company in excellent condition with an almost clear future and with what will hover over one of the most invested projects in the city. When I ask her what’s next and whether she’s back in politics, Altman does not deny but is in no hurry to decide: “I do not rule anything out and I am also exploring all sorts of options, and I am completely exploring these channels. Fortunately I am in a place where I can take time to linger And think about what’s next. “
You do not seem to me a type who takes too much time.
“That’s right. I’m a person who’s in the making all the time, and I definitely see myself continuing to engage in third sector projects as well as private companies to give from my experience and knowledge, and yes, maybe a situation will arise where I will return to politics.”