Have corporate events changed forever ?
CHARLEE GOUGH , DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR FOR CORPORATE AT MCI , A GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT AND MARKETING AGENCY , TALKS TO CMW ABOUT CORPORATE EVENTS , RECRUITMENT CHALLENGES AND SUSTAINABILITY WITHIN THE INDUSTRY
H ow far has the international events industry recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic ? The word ‘ recovered ’ seems to suggest that everything will go back to the way it was , but I don ’ t think the industry will look the same as it did before . So , I don ’ t believe it can recover in the same way .
People are getting braver and are starting to look at how they can potentially bring face-to-face back . There is certainly a lot of excitement about coming back together , but there still seems to be quite a lot of nervousness from a client perspective .
In recent experience , organisations are leaving these decisions to the last minute . As an industry we ’ re getting a lot of last-minute requests from clients who seem nervous to commit .
“ Recovery also suggests we ’ ll return to the same point again , I don ’ t think we will .”
There isn ’ t long term planning going on . Whereas before brands would plan out their activations , meetings and engagement strategies throughout the year and into the next . Currently , things seem to be very immediate because of uncertainty around corporate budgets , stakeholder buy in and the disruption of Covid-19 .
With this lack of long-term planning and shortening of lead times from clients , teams are forced into a reaction mode . Therefore , instead of ‘ recovery ’ for the international events industry , it ’ s reaction .
Recovery also suggests we ’ ll return to the same point again , I don ’ t think we will . You could say that the industry is showing signs of growth again , but I don ’ t think you could say it ’ s recovering or recovered .
ISSUE 118 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / 23