2020 has been a year of shocks, from the pandemic which has swept the globe, to Gemma Collins receiving a nomination for the Nobel peace prize. OK, the second of those was a prank, and the first was a life-changing moment, but still, 2020 keeps throwing punches. It has many business sectors backed into a corner. However, one industry that has felt the shockwaves harder than most is the events sector.
How are we expected to meet and enjoy ourselves if we aren’t allowed to meet? Well, we can’t. It’s as simple as that. But the boffins at the Headquarters of the largest events companies are working incredibly hard to find solutions. After all, we want to have fun, right?
So in this blog, we take a look at how the event industry is picking its punches wisely, and just how the sector is looking to respond to restore some normality into our lives.
Plan, plan and plan again
There has never been a time like the present for building your plans. Due to the catastrophic loss of revenue suffered in the events sector, plans now need to be more flexible than ever. At company headquarters across the globe, directors have rolled out their yoga mats and started stretching. Knowing that flexibility will be crucial to success is 2021. Everyone in the event industry needs to be ready.
Having plans to back up your plans, and backup plans to backup the second plan has become commonplace. We know that’s a tongue and mind twister, but basically plan everything three times over. We are now in an age where we have learnt to expect the worst and all those planning events must cover each possibility. We’ve already seen the Olympic Games and most football matches across the world crumble in the grip of COVID. So what else will follow?
Contracts will be made tighter, and insurance will be provided to those purchasing tickets and venues will have to be more negotiable over booking dates, times etc.
Events and Technology
A match made in heaven. The event industry and technology have always been a pretty formidable partnership. However, given the changes in situations globally, that relationship has been strengthened. Now is the age where attending events remotely is becoming a norm. Whether it’s the little tweaks, like the increase in the number of matches shown live on television, or famous marathons being conducted remotely. We don’t know about you, but we don’t get a view of Tower Bridge from our Garden so doing laps of it isn’t really the same.
Honestly, we like the compromise, and for the sake of normality, we are more than happy to make it. Yes, of course, the visceral excitement has gone missing but, and it’s a massive but, everything has been so peculiar that we just want to feel something familiar again. So when it comes to events in 2021, we suppose they are like the imagination pie at Captain Hooks table, you have to imagine it for it to be there.
The distance
Here is the bump in the road. It seems almost impossible to have fun without human contact. Whether it’s the hug with a complete stranger who smells like cigarettes and the half time sausage roll, after watching your team score the last-minute winner. Or the clumsy bumping of a crowd as they sway to that last Kings of Leon verse. We simply can’t see either of these moments of pure exhilaration being replaced with a fist bump, before drowning your hands in sanitiser.
However, as we see the facilitators put testing into place, the whole situation does look a little brighter for the event industry. Take the socially distanced areas being trialled at concerts. Whereby you and your friends have a small raised platform where you can dance to your heart’s content. The closest platform is a sizeable distance away. Meaning social distancing rules are followed, and you can still have a good time within your area. We don’t know how long this kind of suggestion will be used for, but right now, it’s better than nothing, right?
External to the event itself
Events in any form are much more marketable right now. With plenty of us aching to feel that event buzz, what better time to get your plans tightly formulated and push your event to the awaiting public? In terms of marketing itself, we don’t see selling the event as the problem. This year, you are going to have to market the safety of the event and guarantee this to those attending. Therefore, ticking each of the boxes mentioned above is vital before reaching out to your loving fans. At this point we don’t know what the next month will hold, so why not get planning with the bright side in mind, but make sure you have your backup and backup-backup plans ready.
Having spent a lot of time in the events sector, we know the place like home. From fresh branding, online marketing, a website to sell your tickets on or getting a full set of announcement videos ready for your Instagram story, we are ready to get to work on your next big event plan. If you are building your own event and want to see some of our previous work. Give us a call, we love a conversation and a challenge, so let’s get this event on the road.
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