Fact: The COVID-19 pandemic claimed the lives of thousands.
Fact: It shut down businesses and entire nations, affecting the survival of multiple industries.
Prediction: This will not end any business in the future, it will only alter it.
The event industry saw a massive number of cancellations across the globe, resulting in a huge step back for event organizers. But once your back is against the wall, there’s only one way forward. The industry adapted to virtual hosting and streaming.
Forced by necessity, we saw a rise in virtual events recently. It’s not going to be a one-hit-wonder for sure. The future will see more changes that are exciting and seamless.
Improvement in Digital Infrastructure
While every country is bound to open for business and commerce soon, digital infrastructure will be further strengthened. The pandemic caused people to work from home, and people who were sick worked in isolation. In the past few months, people have realized that you do not need or it is not essential to travel to a different continent to attend a meeting or an event.
Though we all love events, we must point out that the digital solutions people found to keep training, meetings, and more going in the comfort of their homes, allowed them to see possibilities of continuing these in a post-COVID world.
Whether you are in the event industry or your business utilizes events for building its brand and for marketing, we can expect events to look and feel different.
What After the Pandemic is Over?
In a few months, the pandemic will dissipate. But according to estimates, the economic effect may last for some time. Everything may not return to normal soon. Though there will be a huge appetite to conduct offline events in the coming months, it will drive up insurance costs which will also jack up the cost of logistics, transportation, and other event management costs.
For those who depend on events, a physical event may not be as profitable as it was once, at least for a little while. After the economies reopen, there will be a period of financial rebuilding for most businesses. The continuous cash flow which they depended on for survival did not happen during the pandemic. If you are conducting an event, you cannot charge your attendees with the pre-2020 prices.
Virtual events may be the answer for those who wish to keep prices low. However, virtual events will not be a replacement for in-person events. The increased costs of conducting events in a physical location will drive organizers to move the entire event online or conduct a hybrid event.
There will be a steep rise in hybrid events where parts of the event will take place in a physical space and others that do not need a physical presence will be delivered digitally.
We Will See an Influx of Hybrid Events
It may not be entirely safe or a smart move to book a physical space for your next event. The problem is, after months in isolation, some people may feel strange being in a crowd. People may take time to get used to non-social distancing.
How do event managers and marketers conduct a better event when attendees may find it hard to show up to a tightly packed event location? Consider lowering the number of people that can come to the physical location. For the rest, you may video stream it. We will get back to full rooms in the future.
We mean, in the future, online events will complement in-person events where some attendees can log in from around the world while others attend it on location, or some parts of the event can be made available to people in a physical location while some parts of the event are made available only online.
Hosting the Future
Managing events online will be a new challenge. Event managers can use technology to enhance events. Social media can be used to broadcast event happenings and opinions of the event. SpeakerEngage is an event planning and managing platform. Be it offline or online, you can manage speakers and sponsors, make communication easier, and reach people. Sign up for the 30-day free trial today.
