Insight: Issue 59 (25th August)

Dancing shoes on as we talk festivals!

Yes indeed Event Profs, with the last remnants of UK Summertime still swirling around the unusually azure skies, and temperatures on the rise again, we pop our collective heads into the world of outdoor festivals, concerts and large scale events to see what’s cooking. This week’s line up also includes the 7 biggest live streaming challenges and how lockdown drove UK tech adoption to the fastest growth in a decade. So shades on, shoulders up and let’s dive in…..

Live Nation require double vax or negative test

Live Nation have placed their flag firmly in the sand and will require all artists, crew and attendees to show evidence of full vaccination or a negative Covid test at their venues and events in the UK. This quickly follows on from the same policy being rolled out in the US. Festivals such as Reading & Leeds, Download and Creamfields will all be affected.

Since England’s so-called ‘Freedom Day’ on July 19, events at live music venues and clubs have taken place at full capacity once more. Our take if you’re asking? We think a wee jab in the arm or a swab up the nose is a small price to pay for the sheer thrill and joy of watching and enjoying live music once again. After all, what’s the alternative – clubs closing once again and restrictions on all the things we love to enjoy? C’mon all you revellers, get with the programme.

Gov.uk urge caution (and jabs)

As we all proceed with cautious optimism, data from NHS Test & Trace has shown that mass participation events can be conducted safely, but caution must still be taken.

Data compiled from 37 trial events that have formed the Events Research Programme have shown that case numbers were largely in line with or below community infection rates for the duration of the programme. However, particular caution has been highlighted for unstructured events where mixing is indoors and for long period of time. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said:

“We’ve shown that we can reintroduce mass sports and cultural events safely but it is important that people remain cautious when mixing in very crowded settings. So that we can keep the football season, theatres and gigs safe with full crowds this winter, I urge sport, music and culture fans to get the vaccine as this is the safest way we can get big events firing on all cylinders once more.”

So to recap – get the jab peeps!

Music Venue Trust share their data

We love data – who doesn’t? Great for proving things work and all that. Music Venue Trust have conducted a series of surveys and data collection exercises during the first month of the full capacity reopening of grassroots music venues. This involved 1891 people who normally attended live music events prior to Covid and 100 specially selected grassroots music venues around the UK.

Results are, as always, fascinating. In summary:

• 82.1% of live music fans have already attended, or shortly plan to attend, a grassroots live music event
• 76.3% of people attending live music events are double vaccinated, substantially higher than the double vaccination rate for the general population (61.3%)
• 61.7% of grassroots music venues report that their turn up on the night (advanced sales and walk up) is down compared to their pre-COVID-19 turn up on the night
• In the local areas around a representative sample of 100 grassroots music venues, Covid case rates declined by 39%.

A full rundown of the stats and data findings can be found here.

Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust said,

“The response from venues, artists and audiences to the Covid threat has been incredible. These survey results clearly demonstrate a will by the live music community to create safe spaces, to take personal responsibility for ourselves and each other, and to act to Reopen Every Venue Safely. It is particularly striking that local case and transmission rates around grassroots music venues, far from exponentially increasing as was predicted, have, in reality, exceeded the decline in rates witnessed nationally.”

7 biggest livestreaming challenges

When it comes to livestreaming, we know our onions. As we all know, the last 18 months have proved to be a new dawn for livestreaming and virtual events in particular. But hefty challenges and cavernous pitfalls still remain when livestreaming an event. So here’s the 7 biggest livestreaming challenges, and best solutions, as brought to you by smartmeetings.com.

Of course, the best solution of them all is to give our fabulous Cameron livestreaming and virtual event team a buzz and we’ll take the stress and hassle out of everything. A weekly bulletin’s just not the same without a gratuitous plug….

Lockdown drives UK tech adoption

For so many businesses (including our own), lockdown was a huge challenge. However, out of the ashes always come phoenixes of all shapes and sizes. Indeed, UK tech seems to be one of these very beneficiaries. Business advisory firm Deloitte has detailed how the UK’s digital device ownership and media consumption habits were accelerated last year, seeing a decade-high rise in adoption. From wearables to handhelds, a record 19.2m devices were bought by UK customers in the year to July 2021. Deliotte expands by saying:

“Lockdowns left many households with more time to devote to devices and more savings to buy new technology,” said Paul Lee, global head of technology, media and telecommunications research at Deloitte.

“However, this is likely to have been a one-off surge in device acquisition. Device ownership is unlikely to grow as fast over the next year. While technology acquisition rates may slow, consumer dependence on technology will continue to deepen, along with demand for new functionalities and designs, which is likely to continue driving device ownership across the UK.”

That’s all for this week folks – catch y’all on the flipside!