Insight: Issue 130 | Wed 5 April

What’s been cooking this week?

We’re back – and true to form, we’re serving all you lovely people up a bounteous banquet of downright delicious live events gossip. On the menu? Appetising anecdotes, mouth-watering memorandum and seriously succulent stories. Bon appetite.

Up at the pass this week: EPS In Focus: How to attract the fan of the future; All Party Parliamentary Group for Events re-elects Theresa Villers as chair; Convention Edinburgh creates Advisory Group to attract business; At MPI EMEC Brighton, experts discussed key event industry trends and learnings for 2023 and beyond; and how the cost-of-living crisis is hitting the UK live events business.

How to attract the fan of the future

Gen-to-the-eneration Z.

At the Event Production Show 2023, a panel of young event promoters and marketing professionals – including Metropolis Music live music promoter Alexandra Ampofo and S&C Productions head of partnerships Chris Jammer – talked ways to better engage with the Gen Z audience. The panel talked about the importance of mimetic desire through platforms like TikTok and the significance of ‘perfection fatigue’ in engaging young people. They noted that the lo-fi, human touch is often preferred over studio-shot content. The panel discussed how younger festival-goers are more inclined to use community platforms such as Discord and WhatsApp and the ways in which instant gratification was key in engaging with younger audiences.

Speaking on Reading & Leeds fest’s ‘No Music on a Dead Planet’ campaign, former Festival Republic head of marketing Jack Walsh highlighted the importance of sustainability in keeping the Gen Z cohort engaged and said working with big name artists and influencers to promote these campaigns goes a long way.

All Party Parliamentary Group for Events re-elects Theresa Villers as chair

Guess who’s back…

The Rt Hon Theresa Villiers MP has returned for another stint as the chair of The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Events (APPG).

Re-elected at this year’s AGM on the 28 March at Portcullis House, the APPG also made their decision on the 5 new vice-chairs for the group.

Alex Sobel MP Member of Parliament for Leeds North West
Greg Smith MP Member of Parliament for Buckingham
Chris Green MP Member of Parliament for Bolton West
Rachel Hopkins MP Member of Parliament for Luton South
Mark Menzies MP Member of Parliament for Fylde

Talking on her re-election Villers said,

“I welcome the work of the recently launched Business of Events policy unit and look forward to working with them to develop new policy initiatives that can unlock the huge potential that exists within the UK’s world-leading events sector. I will continue to support this vital industry and represent it in Parliament and seek to ensure that its significance is recognised by my parliamentary colleagues and Ministers.”

Convention Edinburgh creates Advisory Group to attract business

Meet the crew of Convention Edinburgh’s new Advisory Group.

The EICC managed convention bureau that relaunched last June have appointed a cohort of representatives working in Edinburgh’s events and hospitality industry including (but not limited to) Amanda Ferguson, University of Edinburgh Hospitality and Events Collection; Shona Clelland, Cultural Venues, City of Edinburgh Council and Elaine Elder, National Museums of Scotland Enterprises.

Marshall Dallas, CEO of the EICC, gives us the lowdown on the new Advisory Group,

“The enactment of the Advisory Group is all about collaboration, pulling together resources, skills, and experience from multiple city and national partners with the overall aim of attracting more events to Edinburgh. We want to grow the city’s profile as a world-class destination for business events, and we’ve now got an incredible collective of advisors to help make this happen.”

At MPI EMEC Brighton, experts discussed key event industry trends and learnings for 2023 and beyond

Last week, industry profs gathered in Brighton for 2023’s MPI European Meeting and Events Conference (EMEC) to discuss trends and learnings for this year and beyond. Experts of the biz in attendance included Carina Bauer, CEO of IMEX; Alison Burns, Co-Founder of The Ethical Futurists and Jamie Vaughan, VP of European Sales at Cvent, where they took to the stage to discuss industry growth, change, audience understanding, sustainability, data, and technology.

We’ll hit you up with the speakers key takes on a few of these issues:

1. GROWTH

Kim Myhre, chair of the Monday plenary session comments, “Our industry is undergoing a period of change. We can let those changes happen by accident or we can design a better future and better opportunities for our future.”

2. CHANGE

Carina Bauer, CEO of IMEX comments, “The fundamental of an event is the same. People have come for thousands of years to marketplaces to do business. That’s not going to change. What has changed is how people expect their experiences to be like, or how they interact with your event, year-round.”

3. AUDIENCE UNDERSTANDING

Chloe Richardson, VP Senior Corporate Relations at Explori and Managing Director of Event Leaders Exchange (ELX), believes event marketing teams should be “not just focusing on NPS – that’s not relevant to everyone. Do audiences feel it’s beneficial enough to attend? Is the event enjoyable? Is the content relevant enough?” And somewhat crucially “Did I meet my objectives?”

4. SUSTAINABILITY

Discussing how switching up the food we offer at events can make an impact, Alison Burns, Co-Founder of The Ethical Futurists says, “One-quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions come from food and in particular, the meat and dairy industries and its percentage are double that of aviation.”

“We all know that food is an incredibly important part of putting on an event, but by taking meat, fish, and dairy off the menu, we’ll be taking immediate action to instantly reduce our carbon footprint. With that fairly simple act, we are building more sustainable events.”

Now, there’s some food for thought.

How the cost-of-living crisis is hitting the UK live events business

The cost of living crisis is impacting the live events industry, which is facing multiple challenges such as inflation, Brexit, and Covid-19. Unfortunately The O2 in London, one of the world’s busiest entertainment venues, is feeling the strain. The rising costs of production, transportation, and staffing have forced the venue to hike up ticket prices, which could price out some of its regular customers.

Inflation is a massive concern for the industry, affecting everything from the cost of raw materials to the price of fuel. Brexit has also created uncertainty for the sector, with new regulations and customs procedures adding to the costs of importing and exporting equipment.

Although showing signs of recovery, Covid-19 has had a profound impact on the live events industry, causing cancellations and postponements of events and putting a financial strain on venues and promoters. The O2 had to adapt to the changing circumstances by introducing safety measures and reducing capacity, which has also affected its revenue.

Despite the challenges, the live events industry remains resilient, and venues like the London’s O2 are finding ways to adapt and stay competitive. Commercial director at The O2, Adam Pearson, holds a positive outlook for the future,

“We are cognisant of that cost-of-living crisis and all of the macro factors,” says Pearson. “But based on what we’ve seen over the last 12 months and what we can see looking ahead, we feel really positive. When you look at our ticket sales, people are prioritising buying tickets even though it’s 12, 18 months ahead in some cases.

“There’s a bit of a short-term dip that people talk about, but it will bounce back. You look at post Covid, you look at post the 2008 financial crisis, our industry bounced back with a vengeance when we came back from some of those tricky times.

“So our long-term view is definitely positive for our industry.”

That just about wraps up your feastful of features for this week…

Dine with us next time for some more tasty events updates. See you then!