t ’ s too easy ( and boring !) to talk about the negatives of the situation we find ourselves in , much better to look forward . Moreover , organisers around the world are very much doing just that .

While our industry is still at the mercy of erratic government policies in many countries and faces serious challenges of exhibitor and visitor confidence , every passing pandemic day is a step nearer recovery – whether that is rapid testing , a vaccine , herd immunity or a mix of all three .

This pandemic has merely accelerated , at warp speed , the same process that the publishing industry has gone through over the last decade or two . It reminds me that , as a recruiter , I used to get countless calls from those who had lost their roles in publishing houses .

The call would start : “ Hello , I ’ m a publisher ”. My response would be that I couldn ’ t help unless their language changed to , “ I ’ m a media

player ...”. The same is now already true of the Event Director who must be something much broader . There is already a stronger emphasis on the commerciality of finding different means of serving our customers . Digital is a given , data and content is where it ’ s at and job titles , roles responsibilities and more are changing .

As I write this piece , I am in active consultative discussions with a number of organiser businesses shaping the functions and the new job specifications . It means that we will be bringing a swathe of people into the industry who have no event experience and have done what we now need to achieve in a range of other sectors . I ’ ll not say any more about those titles and functions here because it gives me a competitive advantage (!), however , I can say what it means for existing industry players .

Some traditional Event Directors will have the natural ability to adopt the new modus operandi and some will be able to learn it through some of the enlightened trainers who are

Right : Trevor Foley

tfconnect / ESP is seeking donations for its New Model Army initiatives from organisers , venues and contractors wishing to support it . Contact : foley @ tfconnect . co . uk for more information .

putting together the right kind of training courses . Those ED ’ s who are not in the right place will need to adopt a more commercial or marketing-led approach in the near future .

There are some other dynamics going on , too . As a head-hunter in the events industry , I expected to be among the last to be coming out of this Covid-induced recession . I ’ m pleased to say that this has not proved to be the case and this can give hope to all those wanting to stay in the industry but who do not currently have a role .

We are seeing early retirements at the more senior level among those who have recognised that they are not up for the New World fight . We are also seeing a number of roles being created where others have made the decision to make their living in other sectors . This is , of course , easy for those in central functions such as Finance and HR . However , we are also seeing it in sales and marketing among those who feel more sector agnostic than those of us who wouldn ’ t dream of switching-out .

Whether you are working or not right now , stay positive and more importantly , keep learning . There ’ s some great industry training content out there so I urge you to take full advantage – I am !