The Future of Events
The Future of Events
It is a real joy to hear so much positive discussion from the events industry right now, especially after the year the sector has had! With lots of exciting ideas and projects developing I am intrigued how the future of the events industry is going to look. With Covid-19 forcing investment into the creation of new digital event formats, it’s thrown a curve ball into the product suite for many organisers, with a number of these digital events proving to be a successful addition to portfolios, but are they here to stay?
Kicking off with a massive success story and one of the most successful digital events in my opinion, ‘The Global Boardroom’ an award winning event created by the FT Live which received incredibly positive feedback. The FT Live team confirmed if delivered well, the digital format certainly deserves a place in the market. The 2nd Edition (Shaping the Recovery) headlined with Justin Trudeau (plus another 149 top level speakers) it was 3 days of well presented, informative content which could be watched from any location and at any time. Like many other event organisers have discovered the Digital format is currently working well as for a lots of us, the virus has disrupted our routines and this high tech digital event format fits well into our new way of living. The format allows people to continue learning, networking and developing new business from anywhere in the world.
Obviously, not all digital events have been successful, I am sure I’m not alone in turning off the occasional event as the quality is terrible or the content doesn’t hit the spot! I also question whether virtual fatigue has set in or if the market place is already overcrowded with digital offerings – with varying quality.
I understand the demand for the return of in-person events is rising but these exhibitions, conferences, summits are likely to be very different experiences in comparison to pre pandemic events. However, I like change, I like new and I certainly the like the buzz and excitement you feel when you attend (physically or virtually) a truly great event. The future presents plenty of opportunity for growth in the events sector. With new ideas for creative & inclusive agendas being developed, innovative tech leading the way to remove barriers to entry and opening up an affordable globally reach will allow new audiences to grow. I love the idea of a 3 day digital conference I can dip in and out of whilst I work, perhaps supported by an annual physical event where I can utilise my time & budget wisely to meet clients, grow my network PLUS benefit from exceptional content.
The hybrid event model is the star of the show right now, so much talk around the value of combining the live in-person events & virtual experience to reach a wider audience. With the digital event tech companies confirming their long term place in the market discussion around how hybrid will genuinely work from a commercial perspective is high on the agenda. So how is the hybrid model working?
I wanted to find out more from an event professional who was actually creating & delivering the hybrid model so I contacted a fabulous Portfolio Director based in Sydney to find out how they were delivering successful hybrid events and was amazed to discover they have actually run 4 successful physical events since September!
Stacey Goater, Portfolio Director at Ashton Media and her team have been extremely busy getting back to in person & virtual events and prove the demand exists. “We were fortunate in that our event model – fairly intimate, experience-led Symposiums in the Hunter Valley wine region for 2 days and 2 nights – meant that we were in a good position to adapt and deliver events to suit this new normal as restrictions began to ease”. This hasn’t been an easy task, with concerns around safety, logistics and tech being top on the agenda……..I asked Stacey to share a couple of key considerations when creating a hybrid event.
- Be creative with hybrid event formats
Delivering as equal an experience for those tuning in virtually as those attending in person.
Ashton Media worked with a home-grown event platform which created an aesthetically appealing but also fully immersive and intuitive event experience for those virtual attendees joining the event. As a retreat style event model, wine-tasting in the vineyards of the Hunter Valley are a staple component of the event programme. For the delegates who joined virtually, most of whom were in lockdown in Victoria, Stacey wanted to bring them a little slice of the Hunter Valley, so they delivered a wine and cheese hamper to their homes and ran a virtual tasting experience.
- Go above and beyond to communicate and execute Covid-safe measures and practices:
To ensure our community felt safe coming together at a 120 person physical event, we went above and beyond to communicate the ways in which we were both meeting Government restrictions and regulations on distancing onsite, as well as the additional measure we were implementing to ensure delegates felt safe onsite.
One of the well-received initiatives Ashton Media undertook was to implement a colour-coded lanyard system to indicate each delegate’s preferred level of social distancing:
- Green signalled that they were comfortable with elbow bumps and conversation
- Orange meant that they were happy to chat but wanted to refrain from any contact at all
- Red indicated that they would like to keep their distance completely.
This not only ensure every delegate felt comfortable in approaching another delegate and vice versa, and that their preferences would be respected, but it also proved to be a great talking point among the attendees.
Stacey and the team certainly didn’t go ahead with the events without considering the risk, and given the uncertainty around going ahead with the delivery of 4 physical events between September and November, particularly as Victoria was still in lockdown and most other events businesses were sticking with virtual events, and the situation changes on a daily basis, it was a risk that paid off and earnt the company kudos from the industries that they serve.
Stacey was elated with the feedback from their community “We had so many people thanking us onsite for powering through, surviving the year, taking the risk and bringing the community together, and it went a long way in bolstering our already established and well-respected reputation in the market.”
Hybrid, digital, virtual and live in-person events all look set to remain viable event formats moving forward, all offer the opportunity to bring communities together but in different ways. Roll on 2021, I think it is going to be an even more innovative year for events.