Insight: Issue 25 (16th December)

Announcement: Christmas has come early!

Because today’s insight has a FREE trend report for 2021, plus: a new company improving diversity in the workplace; an explanation of what a vaccine *actually* means for the events industry; a new website helping event profs evaluate COVID risk; an end-of-year wellness round-up; and, if you’re brave enough, a look back at the ups and downs of event marketing in 2020. Deep breaths, everyone…

Diversity Ally: diversity in the workplace

First up for today, a new company—Diversity Ally—are working with event profs to create more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces.

Founders Gabrielle Austen Browne and Ashanti Bentil Dhue launched the initiative in response to the astonishing lack of diversity across the events, meetings, and hospitality sectors. As event profs themselves, with diversity and inclusion expertise, they are well-placed to drive meaningful change in the industry.

Since launching in June 2020, Diversity Ally have worked with events agencies, exhibition companies, and venues to provide educational workshops, diversity and inclusion consultancy, and organisational assessments rooted in their 5 unique industry benchmark pledges. If you’re interested in these bespoke workshops and training opportunities, take a look at their website or contact: [email protected] for more info.

What does a vaccine really mean for events?

With the Pfizer COVID vaccine making its way around the UK, you may be wondering—now what? Is ‘normal’ life right around the corner? Do events and conferences have the green light? Not to be the bearer of bad news or anything…but, um, no. The vaccine is a hugely positive step forward, but it’s just the beginning. So, in reality, what does the vaccine mean for the events industry? Smart Meetings has walked us through it:

• Vaccine adoption indicators—How fast we get to ‘herd immunity’ will depend on how quickly people are immunised. Some 40% of 1,200 Americans surveyed in November said they would wait at least a few months before rolling up their sleeves to get the shots. And nearly 1 in 10 said they would not get the vaccine at all. Yikes.
• Slight increase in travel appeal—41% of respondents from the same survey are planning to take a domestic leisure trip in the next 6 months, with 38% planning a domestic trip for business in that time. The figures are lower for international travel.
• Marginal increase in perceptions of safety—The MMGY Global Travel Safety Barometer also measures American travellers’ perceptions on a scale of 0 (extremely unsafe) to 100 (extremely safe). In all 7 areas measured (domestic travel, international travel, business travel, lodging, cruising, transportation, and dining & entertainment) scores remained level or increased marginally from the previous month. Slightly worrying, since US infection rates are at their highest since the pandemic began…

Basically, don’t throw away your face mask just yet.

To book, or not to book. . .that is the question

Whether the thought of planning an event right now fills you with dread, desperation, or a confusing mix of both—there’s a new website that’ll help you decide what to do. Using the COVID-19 Indoor Safety Guideline developed at MIT, event profs can plug in 14 event variables to get a quantitative estimate of the COVID risk involved with their unique event circumstances. It considers:

• Room specifications—including square footage, ceiling height, the type of air ventilation & filtration systems, the air-recirculation rate, and the humidity of the space.
• And attendee behaviour—including exertion level (whether they’re sitting, standing, moving around, etc.), respiratory activity (normal breathing, talking over music, singing, etc.), the quality of attendees’ masks (e.g. a one-layer cotton mask is 50% efficient, whereas a disposable surgical mask is 90% efficient), and mask compliance (will people actually wear them?).

Based on your variables, the site will then suggest how many people can occupy your chosen venue safely, and for how long. Pretty cool, right?

What did we learn about wellness in 2020?

Prepare for an incredibly obvious statement…It’s been a stressful year.

So, with the end of 2020 finally in sight, what have we learned about managing our mental health in the midst of a global pandemic? Here’s a round-up:

• How to feng shui your desk—Our home offices, desks, and dining tables have become the fine line between work and home life. We’ll take all the feng shui we can get, thank you very much.
• Find your ikigai—The concept of ikigai, a sort of Japanese version of raison d’etre (reason for being), is a mix of passion, talent, and being of service to the world. We feel at peace just thinking about it.
• Wellness from home—We’ve established lots of new routines, from cooking more and meditating, to smashing fitness goals and even increasing our strength with daily push-ups (we’ll admit it…we didn’t do that last one).
• Zen tech—Mindfulness is one of the best ways to mitigate stress and keep your immune system in prime condition, and there are lots of apps out there to help guide you through it.

For a mindfulness refresher, read the full article here.

Year in review: how COVID-19 shaped events

Through all of 2020’s twists and turns, highs and lows (and oh boy, there were lows…), the events industry has proven itself to be remarkably resilient. If you can bring yourself to look back over the events (or lack thereof…*sigh*) of this year, Event Marketer has summarised each month—‘from panic to pivot’.

• January—‘Just a bad flu’
• February—Conferences collapse
• March—‘The Great Pivot’
• April—Total transition
• May—Beacon of hope
• June—The great outdoors
• July—Drive-in everything
• August—Return of the pop-up
• September—Elevated networking
• October—Building confidence
• November—Culinary cues
• December—Looking ahead

If nothing else, it’s a reminder of just how much we’ve overcome. Take a deep breath, and click here.

Looking ahead: 10 event trends for 2021

If you’re more of a ‘the past is in the past’ sort of event prof, we get it. And so does Event Manager Blog. To help you plan for the future, the EMB team has combed through all of their research from 2020—all of the industry experts interviewed, and all of the events attended—to bring you the must-know trends that will shape the events industry in 2021. It covers:

• 10 event trends to watch in 2021.
• 7 industry leaders’ insights on how event profs can facilitate recovery.
• Actionable advice to help you plan for the year head.

And the best part? You can download it for FREE.

Merry Christmas from #TeamCameron!