ou spoke about the industry facing a ‘ reinvention ’ moment when you first took up the reins at Freeman last November . Is it evolution or , with the extra challenges provided by Covid , has a more radical approach been called for ? While this has been one of the most difficult times for our industry , one of the bright spots for me has been the resilience of our customers and our Freeman team . In the past 10 months , we have had to adapt our business to meet the current demands of our customers based on a constantly changing environment .

Through this experience , we are redefining the future of live events . No matter the method , our focus is on creating a great customer experience . Right now , that is virtual in most markets , while in other markets we are moving to hybrid models . Moving forward , we expect to see event strategies evolve , leveraging all that we have learned from virtual events combined with the unparalleled strength of in-person events .

Freeman ’ s experience managing virtual , hybrid , and physical events

across different geographies has given us a unique POV on the path forward . As we get back to in-person events , Freeman will be introducing new ways to create moments that matter .

You also mentioned redefining live and working with partners and customers to reach their goals - with strategy , digital , data , and design being priority tasks . How are you approaching that ? The world as we knew it changed , and so has our approach . We are experimenting , growing , and challenging the way we ’ ve always done things to find the right solutions .

Insights gained over the past year ’ s challenges help us to reimagine the future . For example , we know education can be a really great online experience , which now allows us to rethink if / how education happens at face-to-face events . Networking and engagement online have not come close to the experience you get when you are at a live event . So instead of just replicating those things to an online environment , we are experimenting with new approaches like broadcast and gamification .

At Freeman , we can do this because

Left : Broadcast and gamification are being introduced by Freeman to fill the networking and education gap

we have built out areas of expertise in digital , strategy , marketing , and design to complement our depth of knowledge in event operations and production . Combined , we can take the best learnings to craft and execute events and expos across any media format .

Is it difficult to launch new strategies at a time when the events industry has been losing staff and retrenching ? While it was very difficult to furlough team members and reduce our operating model , it was necessary based on current market dynamics and forced us to focus on those things that mattered most . Internally , it became an organising principle so that everyone was aligned and working towards the same thing – transforming our business and evolving the operating model to redefine events for our industry , our customers , and our employees .

Looking back , it is staggering what we ’ ve been able to do as a team :

• Regionalise and standardise our North America operations and adjust the ‘ in-house general service contract ’ model to meet the needs of our customers going forward

• Introduce industry-leading cancellation policies

• Create digital tools to share best practices , products , and services for Health & Safety

• Conduct ongoing sentiment surveys to provide our customers with insights on how to navigate the current environment and safely prepare to return to live events

• Launch an advocacy group through Go LIVE Together to help the event industry recover from the impact of Covid-19 and protect events as a vital