What a year 2021 was!
We all wish that the pandemic will be gone but data and experts tell us otherwise. As expected, entering 2022 we are again experiencing a surge of Covid cases, and a new variant, Omicron, surfaced.
The Philippines experienced a mild lockdown or halt to some of the activities we enjoyed last November and December to control the surge.
On this backdrop of our economy a see-saw battle with Covid what is in store for the Events Management Industry and the trends to watch.
Here are some of the trends I believe will be happening if not already happening this year.
1. The Rise of Micro Events
Since Covid mutation is ongoing, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and experts agree that health is the priority, but a balance must be made in consideration with the economy.
This paves the way for the rise of Micro Events, IATF allows in Alert Level 3 at a maximum of 30% indoor venue capacity for fully vaccinated individuals only and 50% outdoor venue capacity.
Micro events are smaller or pocket physical events designed to enable organizations to operate and continue their event strategy.
This trend of the government imposing different alert levels depending on the severity makes it hard for the event organizers to create events they use to organize.
This will drive the increase of Micro Events.
Last year, there are a lot of Micro Events that took place across the country.
2. Hybrid Events Becomes Mainstream
Micro Events will be complemented by Hybrid Events.
Hybrid Events is now our new reality as event organizers. The ease and comfort of implementing a physical with a virtual component of the event is a standard requirement.
In one of the hybrid events that we organized last year; the head assigned was ecstatic. He realized the cost-benefit and effectiveness of hybrid events.
As one of his hindsight, you can now have meetings where there will be a small physical meeting while those located in far areas can join online. This saves a huge amount of money which is normally allotted to airfare, hotel accommodation, and transportation.
As an event organizer, I believe this will be the battleground of all players in the business events management industry.
3. Higher Expectations for Virtual Events
Zoom Fatigue?
This is a common complaint that I hear last year.
Some of us must attend numerous meetings in a day that suck the life out of us. It is draining. Our attention span was not to the level that we wanted to have during these meetings.
Still, this cycle remains this year.
The challenge the virtual event attendees are posing to us event organizers is to make the experience rich and make in engaging. It is after all our mission for being in the industry to not just implement a meeting but make it compelling.
Right now, there are sparks of brilliance popping up in some virtual events, but we need to have MORE!
There is a higher expectation that attendees have because we have been doing this for the past two years.
We need to have more creativity and a more fresh approach on how to conduct virtual events.
Ignore this and we perish.
4. Excitement on a Safe Live Events
I vividly remember the emotions of entering a hotel venue during ingress and the frenetic pace that the production people moved to beat the set-up deadline of the physical event for the first time when it was allowed.
There are again, micro-events last year that a lot of people went to. All these events generated the emotional electricity never seen in live events.
Rightfully, the surge of excitement is justified. This year to those that are planning to do live events will have a great edge because we are craving for live events. Still, these live events will generate success if it is bolstered by strict health and safety protocols.
Moving forward, event organizers are under the microscope of the government and the public. They expect that health and safety are the priority rather than an afterthought. Those that ignore the health and safety standards risk losing a lot not only money but reputation which is a premium in the events industry.
5. Metaverse Events is Around the Corner
The race for better technology to provide a better and safe experience in events was always there.
When Facebook announced that it is changing its name to Meta it created the buzz. But the metaverse was already present even before this announcement.
Last year, I was able to attend and see to metaverse event. It was mind-blowing. The alternate universe to physical reality is just indescribable.
This year, I see that more metaverse events will be launched and, in the Philippines, there might be some.
If this happens in our country, the event management industry will have another weapon to engage and effectively serve the clients and attendees.
In summary, the 5 event management trends are:
- The Rise of Micro Events
- Hybrid Events Becomes Mainstream
- Higher Expectations for Virtual Events
- Excitement on a Safe Live Events
- Metaverse Events is Around the Corner
Let us see the development of these trends by December 2022 and will create an update on these.
For now, let us grab life and make things possible for 2022!
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Written by Orly Ballesteros, COO, Exlinkevents