5
Editor’s Letter
Great
Expectations
itting down to thrash out the editor’s letter usually
offers time for reflection. The mania of putting
together the magazine is nearly over, and one can
look back to compartmentalise where we are.
This month, though, it just doesn’t seem possible. So much
has happened over the last month I can barely remember it
without spooling back through the Conference News
website. And even what I write today – five days before you
read it – is soon to be hopelessly out of date.
Still, let’s give it a go.
It is becoming clear that when events return, they will be
rather different. Not with regards to things like social
distancing, as that will not be around for the long haul, but
rather events will be ‘smarter’.
What do I mean by this? The forced need to go digital
during Covid-19 will have had lots of businesses asking
themselves if they need to spend money on live experiences
when we emerge. The answer is yes, they will, but not just for
the sake it. As you will read on p50 – or watch in full on Mash
TV – Dom Garner of Ten Thousand Hours makes the point
that a business’s objectives in line with its strategy should be
the deciding factor. If that is a digital-only event, then so be it.
If, though, it is a live experience which is needed to meet
those objectives, then the client is going to want to know what
digital element will expand the reach. One could argue that
this should have been happening anyway. Agencies are going
to need to work smarter to deliver these digital events, but
don’t think it can be done on the cheap, to any meaningful
standard of course.
Our cover story this month, p18, looks at how one
full-service creative agency has gone the extra mile to ensure
the quality of the digital event concept. The foresight to evolve
in line with the upcoming demand not only helped them
achieve a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan but has
fired the starting gun on a new era of client expectation.
Of course, this means eventprofs will need the right digital
skills, too. We have that covered on p23.
Client expectations are going to be far greater after
this, but budgets will likely be cut still. Work smart, and
enjoy the issue.
Martin Fullard
Editor
Conference News
www.conference-news.co.uk