Insight: Issue 125 | Wed 1 March

The Events News Cruise

Ahoy – it’s time to embark on a voyage on the big beautiful sea of event based enlightenment. So hop onboard, grab a pina colada and let’s see what’s been making waves.

This week we’ll be making port at; Live Group launches AudienceDNA; Scottish Government U-turns on funding cut to Creative Scotland; Live Music Industry Calls on Rishi Sunak to Unleash Sector’s Potential in Spring Budget; FIXR’s Event Industry Trends Report 2023; and a Video-Gaming School Stumbles on a Way to Get Dropouts Back in Class.

Live Group launches AudienceDNA

Been holding out for an industry based audience-profiling tool? The wait is over.

Global events agency Live Group are hitting the sector up with a new tool that allows organisations to tailor content to every attendee by giving detailed insight into their audience. ‘AudienceDNA’ works by asking audiences to answer a short series of questions, the results of which are then analysed by Live Group themselves to determine the personality make-up of the audience. Effectively, this lets companies customise their event to the people attending it.

Live Group’s head of audience (and leading the development of AudienceDNA) Bruce Rose comments:

“For too long, the events industry has ignored the diversity of its audiences to deliver ‘one-size-fits-most’ experiences. But people have changed. Everyone now expects personalised, engaging experiences at work and play-thanks to entertainment apps, they are acutely aware of what technology can do and they expect the same instant access, easy to use, personalised experiences. With AudienceDNA, this is now possible in the events space.”

Scottish Government U-turns on funding cut to Creative Scotland

In a recent U-turn, Deputy First Minister John Swinney announced that the Scottish Government is abandoning its plans to cut a vast £6.6M from Creative Scotland’s budget.

The near 10% reduction in the Grant-in-Aid budget was proposed way back in December, a plan which would have been a harsh blow to the arts and culture organisations across Scotland that rely on it.

The government backtracking follows a 15,000 signature strong petition by Campaign for the Arts, part of an emergency campaign to safeguard the livelihoods of up to 8,500 arts workers that includes actors, musicians, visual artists, writers, crew and technicians.

Jack Gamble, Director of the Campaign for the Arts, expresses optimism following the result,

“The Scottish Government has listened, and it has done the right thing. It’s proof that change is possible when we come together to make it happen,”.

Live Music Industry Calls on Rishi Sunak to Unleash Sector’s Potential in Spring Budget

LIVE (a federation of key industry names including Association of Independent Festivals, Concert Promoters Association and National Arenas Association) is urging Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to reinstate a lower rate of VAT and make good on his promise to cut business rates at the next Budget.

CEO Jon Collins stresses the importance of the amendments to the upcoming budget in enabling the music industry to return to pre-pandemic levels; creating jobs, generating investment and putting on more live shows throughout the UK.

Collins states:

“The live music sector is a catalyst for economic activity right across the UK but many businesses are still reeling from the pandemic. Combined with rising costs, an uncompetitive tax system is holding back a sector-wide resurgence. The Government has a golden opportunity to turbo boost the industry by reintroducing the 5% rate of VAT on ticket sales in the upcoming Spring Budget. This change would help return live music to full strength, protect much loved grassroots venues and mean even more amazing festivals, concerts, and gigs in towns and cities across the country.”

At this week’s Event Production Show conference at ExCel London, Collins will join with other speakers to discuss how the industry can join forces to get the government to recognise the significance of the industry’s impact on the economy and the public’s wellbeing.

FIXR’s Event Industry Trends Report 2023

In a survey of over 2,000 event organisers and attendees, FIXR have identified four major trends in their participants’ experience of 2022 and predictions for 2023.

In a precarious few years for the industry, it goes without saying that the sector has shown its unwavering resilience in the face of adversity – and it seems this sense of staying power is reflected in the survey.

Data shows that organisers are indeed concerned about the challenges that 2023 may bring, however it also reveals that they are no less confident in their ability to stage ambitious and engaging live events. On the other side of the coin, FIXR’s survey reveals that event-goers will be prioritising costs and being more discerning when it comes to expenditure.

It seems Business Intelligence tools will also be a critical part of the planning game in 2023. As the industry recovers, it’s more important now than ever that organisers make use of analytics to understand their audience, their behaviours and marketing effectiveness.

A Video-Gaming School Stumbles on a Way to Get Dropouts Back in Class

Last year, Tokyo launched the first ever E-sports high school. The first of it’s kind academy mixes tradition schoolwork with intense hours of video-game training. With a growing demand for gaming profs, the institution features classroom based instruction on popular games like Fortnite, Valorant and Street fighter.

Somewhat by accident, the inaugural E-sports high school has stumbled on something valuable. “School refusal” or chronic absenteeism has been an issue in Japan since the early 1990s, a problem unfortunately caused by of the likes of anxiety or bullying. It was then that educators noticed that school drop-out numbers were sitting at about 1% – this is a figure which has now more than doubled.

The E-sports school offers an unlikely opportunity. It has opened up a world of engaging study for those who feel, in the words of pupil Wataru Yoshida, are “getting nothing from school”.

Have a swatch at Wataru’s story to see what it’s all about.

That’s your lot for this week folks.

Check in with us next time for more industry eye-openers.