COVID-19 changed how people interact with one another, but it could not squash the need for in-person connections that engage audiences. In-person events are coming back because people crave face-to-face interactions and experiences. For example, Salesforce’s Dreamforce conference was virtual in 2020 but the company plans on welcoming more than 170,000 attendees to its 2021 event in San Francisco.
As meetings and events continue to evolve in 2021, planners and venues are finding unique and inventive ways to connect during this time.
One trend I anticipate is here to stay is that of hybrid meetings and events. Although nothing can replace in-person connection, the emergence of hybrid events has given planners the opportunity to expand their audience on a global level. Not only do hybrid events provide limitless opportunities to connect with people around the world, they also offer cost-effective meeting options.
While creating true digital engagement has become critical to our success, we find ourselves in 2021 facing real digital fatigue. We see it reflected in our audiences’ faces and in our attendance stats: registrations and dwell times are down and no-shows are up.
I recently hosted a CEMA webinar with Jay Acunzo and Shane Snow, two of my favorite speakers who shared insights and practical, innovative approaches to making virtual presentations, roundtables and webinars more meaningful, engaging and valuable.
Water station, pads, pens, candies.... hand sanitizer? Meeting planner “specs” are looking a whole lot different these days.
I’m honored to have reentered the workforce after being furloughed and laid off for over a year. I am now spearheading the event management department at the DoubleTree by SeaWorld Orlando convention resort. The enthusiasm that our operations team has to push forward with rebuilding and preparing the property to welcome meeting planners and convention attendees back is incredibly contagious. It’s exciting to be a part of the momentum.
As of late May, the U.S. adult population was inching toward herd immunity, with an abundance of vaccines available in all 50 states. However, it’s estimated that roughly 45% of the population is still not vaccinated, and there were 22,500 new COVID-19 cases just before Memorial Day.
With the advent of COVID-19, 2020 was definitely “the year of virtual events.” Not only did it evolve the event industry as a whole, but also opened up options of carrying out events in different ways. Now that people have gotten used to virtual events, 2021 should be spent on making them better.
Last year brought us the COVID Pandemic, but it was also the year that America confronted racism head-on. After the murder of George Floyd, I reached out to my colleague Derrick Johnson, director of diversity programs with Talley Management Group.
In my last blog post, I discussed how several virtual platforms and standalone matchmaking services tout the promise of highly effective matching between attendees to attendees as well as attendees to exhibitors. In reference to the data that is available to any matchmaking system and the subsequent value that’s likely to be output, I dug up that age-old saying “garbage in, garbage out.”
Throughout the last year, the events industry has completely changed from how we knew it. In-person events are happening on a much smaller scale, travel has been restricted and venues closed down, limiting the number of corporate events. Over a year into the pandemic, we are finally starting to see some positive changes happening. Every day, more and more people are being vaccinated against COVID-19 and states are beginning to re-open, showing a promising future for in-person events once again.
Bleisure is combining business travel with leisure activities. Given the 14 months we have been through, there is a pent-up demand for local and regional business travel. And the family has the same need. Bleisure could be your perfect solution!
According to the Global Business Travel Association, 67% of business travelers state it is essential to build extra free time into their trips.
