Cover Feature
Kimberley-Jane Barnes, event
director, Clarion:
“The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted
in uncertainty for the event industry
and has significantly impacted the
way we need to work moving forward.
Learning how to navigate a new remote
world, keeping energy up within our
teams when things are changing daily
and trying to maintain the office culture
Nancy Baughen, Director, freelance
sponsorship:
“I’ve spent most of my career working
directly for companies as PAYE, but in
2020, I decided to go freelance. I felt
Jamie Vaughan, head of European
sales, Cvent:
“Cvent’s ethos has always been about
working together and uniting with all
our customers to find the right solutions
for their business, through the good,
the not so good and particularly now in
these unprecedented times.
“What this has meant in our day to
day activity is that we’re taking the time
to listen to our clients’ predicaments.
“At Cvent, we’re working hand-in-
hand with our clients and remaining
agile in our approach. No two situations
are like and we’re not taking a “one size
fits all” approach.
Even before the pandemic, Cvent
had a comprehensive ecosystem of
technology partners, which we are now
working even closer with, to provide
our clients with the solutions they
need in this “new normal” that we find
ourselves in – at least for the time
being –especially for maximizing the
impact of virtual events.
“I think it’s important to balance
optimism with realism. The lockdown
as we know it isn’t going to last forever.
We can look ahead in the hopes that
events will eventually resume. I think
we will see a surge like we never have
before. When that happens, it’s going to
be a celebratory time for the industry.
“Whilst we are navigating and
readjusting to this ‘new normal,’ I think
theperiod provides a good opportunity
to take stock, invest our energy and
time positively to prepare and plan
ahead for bigger and better events post-
pandemic.”
of clarity and communication are a few
of the challenges we face in our day
to day. Live events, especially those
that are international, have a lot of
uncertainty surrounding them for 2020
which is why we are looking at digital
alternatives and reshaping our business
models to protect events where we can.
“These are scenarios at this point
as we still need to review the market
over the coming months. On a positive
note, we are seeing that teams/people
are becoming more resilient and this
will have a long-lasting impact to how
we approach future situations both at
work and home. Collaboration is key
and we should be working together as
an industry to navigate our way through
these difficult times.”
Peter Jones, CEO, Nineteen Group:
“Never have I felt a more important
‘calling’ than I do now. To lead.
Never have I felt more privileged to
be surrounded by the best minds in the
business including Phil Soar, Alison
Jackson, Jon Lacey and the Phoenix
Equity team who are truly delivering on
their mission statement, partners for
growth. Well, also turns out, partners
in a crisis!
We have a board meeting tomorrow
(25 March) and reading my last month’s
CEO report of growth run rates,
acquisitions, staffing up, now feels like it
was written on a different planet!
“However, I take solace at the
reminder of where we got to, like many
others, that up to that point we were
building an incredible platform, people,
infrastructure, core assets, and sales
graphs to make even the hardiest of a
chairman, Phil Soar, smile!”
“And you know what, it will all still be
there. Never have I felt more solitude
with what I presented at a recent PE
conference about why live events are
so powerful. Contact is not a desire
it’s instinctive. Never illustrated more
profoundly than social distancing.
“I believe that C-19 and the hundreds
of video calls that follow, simply
underpin the power of face to face
events. I believe events will not only
come back, but after a period of
recovery, come back stronger than
ever. All of the above great work is not
undone. Even if we have to sit on ‘pause’
for a period, the one thing certain, is the
world will, at some point, come out the
other side of coronavirus, and as it does,
we turn the volume knob up to ‘10’ and
hit ‘play’.
“My tip to navigating this is to stay
as close and open with your team as
possible. Be optimistic but realistic. Be
kind, look after your people’s wellbeing,
be there for them, even if it’s just for a
chat. We’re all in this together.”
the success of entrepreneurs, so
maintaining this mindset whilst
focusing on content output will be
critical.”
April — 21