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or take any risks . Therefore , until the end of the year we are working from home , business travel is suspended , unless business critical , and no live events are taking place in 2020 .”
But what does 2021 hold in store ? “ We will be running a series of regional conferences across the academic year , which consist mainly of school business professionals , CEOs and CFOs . These range from 80-150 delegates with an exhibition of approximately 15 exhibitors at each . These are hosted throughout the UK ,” says Kass .
However , the energy sector event organiser is less positive : “ I don ’ t anticipate that my sector will deliver any live events in the first half of 2021 , unless there is a vaccine . And even then , I anticipate there will be strict health and safety procedures in place : social distancing , PPE , tracing etc . If live events do take place next year , contract cancellation terms will need to be heavily flexible in case of spikes nationally or internationally ,” they say .
The corporate event manager adds : “ Travel regulations also have a big impact , the complications for event planners to coordinate different delegates from multiple
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countries and what that means for isolation regulations pre and post event could get quite complicated .”
What about the audiences , are they keen to return to live events ? “ Yes and no ,” says Kass . “ Some are keen to get back to face-to-face engagement in a physical setting and others are concerned about contracting the disease and transmitting to family members and their schools . Attendees are still registering for our national conference as physical event , we have not made an official announcement yet , so yes , appetite is still there .
“ Right this moment , no , they are not keen to return , but once things settle , absolutely 100 % yes ,” commented the energy sector event prof . “ I think if anything , 2020 will increase the demand for live experiences as everyone has been cooped up indoors starved of human interaction . I anticipate that mid-late 2021 and 2022 will be very busy as brands pick up where they left off and try to catch up on what ’ s been postponed .”
Our event strategy is an area that will need further discussion within our organisation . Businesses are going be very cautious about what events their staff attend and will
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Illustration by Anna Golde from Icons8 |
likely be
Event planning building this into their budgets . The same with schools , if headteachers see there is a benefit to their senior leadership teams attending virtual events , this is going to be a preferred method for their staff to obtain and maintain CPD and we have to be ready for that shift .
Both of our corporate event managers are confident that live events will return : “ I personally don ’ t think our audience will move to virtual completely ,” says Kass . “ Face-to-face is still high on their list of reasons why they attend our events and networking is really important for them in order to share best practice , knowledge and ideas . We just have to make sure that we are ready for those conversations and to ensure our content matches expectations .”
The energy sector event organiser adds : “ I truly believe that nothing can replace the impact of live experience . Switching to virtual this year has been out of necessity and I believe it ’ s a temporary fix not a permanent one . The engagement levels are not the same and the objectives solved by events cannot be fully achieved virtually . I anticipate 2021 will see many brands slowly switch to hybrid or live activations , and then return to normal in 2022 , or once there is a vaccine .”
“ Some are keen to get back to face-to-face engagement in a physical setting and others are concerned about contracting the disease and transmitting to family members and their schools ."
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