An Outlook On The Future Of Events

Wow, what a time to be in the events, travel and hospitality sector. What’s happening and what’s facing us all, right now, is surreal and unprecedented. Day by day, I’m learning that if we try to accept the madness and treat it as a new ‘normality’, then it’s easier to deal with; we are where we are and it’s about staying calm and pragmatic.

Although the past weeks have been tough, and I’m sure the coming weeks/ months will continue to be a test on us all as business owners, bosses, leaders, mentors, and workers across the board, I have an unexpected sense of excitement for what’s next…

Whilst I don’t want to sound remiss, I believe we need to make the most of this time and demonstrate our resilience and commitment to coming out of the current situation stronger than we were before. As a sector, we’re no strangers to a crisis – we’ve dealt with and overcome widescale global disruptions in the past, and we will again. Of course, I don’t possess psychic power, but with optimistic foresight, I have confidence that, when the time is right, in-person events will return with extraordinarily high-demand. Why?

People thrive on the opportunity to come together, and after a long period of social isolation, events will provide the perfect platform for individuals to reunite. Shared experiences are a powerful part of human existence; think back to the 2012 London Olympics, that feeling of community and togetherness; recall the atmosphere of a festival, listening to an anthem and singing your heart out with thousands of others. Life-changing moments happen face-to-face and when people are with people.

Events, of all types and sizes, connect us to the world and to each other; they take us on journeys; influence us; shape us; evoke feelings and create lifelong memories. Now more than ever, we as an industry, with our own expert specialisms, need to exist to continue giving people and businesses the mechanisms to create these impactful physical experiences.

The virtual event offering, although not new, is certainly playing a pivotal role in ensuring the ongoing momentum of events at the moment. When this is all over, there’s likely to be a bigger focus on hybrid event strategies but, as I sit on back-to-back video calls, I’m compelled to ask, can virtual events, even with their evolving sophisticated capabilities, ever have the capacity to send a tingle down your spine, or make the hair on your arms stand up on end? My feeling is no. Engaging the senses successfully relies on live immersive settings, where people can interact, and can’t be replicated within a digitally constructed environment.

There’s no doubt that on the other side of this pandemic, we’ll all have a greater appreciation for our health, our freedom, for the world around us, and for the events that unite us. At this point the question isn’t will the events industry come through this (we hope that’s a given), it’s about when and what the timescales around getting back to a level of ‘normality’ will be.

Many of us will feel the sting of lost revenue from cancelled or postponed events over the next few months, and there will be casualties — it’s a sad unfortunate fact and far from ideal. However, despite this, I’ve noticed a sense of comradery and ingenuity throughout the industry. People are diversifying, joining forces, collaborating more and becoming allies to leverage the most out of the circumstances. This has reaffirmed, for me, the dynamism of our sector and our ability to be responsive to change.

No one could have planned for the scenario that has materialised, but it has given us the chance to take a step back and re-evaluate. As a business we’ve been proactive, taken critical decisions and worked hard to put strategies in place to navigate the challenges that we’ll face collectively as an industry.

Since starting In2Events back in 2006, we’ve grown the agency into a well-established, full-service event business; we’ve been able to do this by taking a strong, independent approach and demonstrating a combination of event management expertise and a personality unique to the In2Events brand.

We’re committed to maintaining a client-centric approach, and with empathy, sensitivity, creativity, and innovative thinking combined, we’ll be here as strategists, creators, storytellers, designers, project managers, producers, builders, installers, and everything in between to carry on delivering AMAZING events and experiences.

So, as a closing message to everyone, keep positive. Reset. And get ready to go again. The return of events is just around the corner…

Stay safe. Stay well.

Gavin Farley, Managing Director