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The Events Industry In Wales Right Now

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By Katrina Cinus, Conference & Events Manager, University of South Wales

It’s a very strange time for the event industry, especially here in Wales.  I have no idea when the industry will start to recover, although I have heard the phrase ‘Spring back’ being mentioned, which refers to Spring 2021 as the time when businesses in this sector will see growth again.  We, as an industry, are waiting for Government guidance on when event venues can re-open.  There’s a multitude of industry reports to read offering advice on social distancing at event spaces to ensure safety for clients and staff. Then, off the back of this, there’s a vital planning process to be completed on how to put all this advice into practice.

For those working in this industry, it seems as though our short-term future will see us evolve into health & safety managers, monitoring cleanliness, minimising queues of delegates, and problem solving how to serve all our valuable clients under social distancing limitations.

There has been a massive growth in online events, also know as virtual events.  You’ve all likely been part of a Zoom or Microsoft Teams catch up with your department online or taken part in a social quiz with family and friends during this lockdown period, which could be considered as an event.

But what I mean by virtual event, is a full day conference and exhibition being replicated online.  There are some great examples of software providers and organisations running these in different parts of the world.  I’ve personally been involved in planning for some exciting virtual events coming up later this year and into next year.

EVOLUTION OF EVENTS

To be able to plan, advise, and quote for a virtual event, I firstly had to do a great deal of research into the different platforms available and their capabilities.  There are loads! And I don’t claim to know all of them yet…but I will continue to develop my knowledge every day. I’ve compiled a best practice report on delivering a business event through an online platform.  Here are just a couple of points from this report:

  • Provide all online delegates with detailed instructions of how the online event will work in advance of the event, to manage their expectations. This will include information such as:
  • When you join the session, your audio will automatically be muted so you can only hear the speaker and we can’t hear you.
  • If you have questions – communicate through the chat facility or click on the icon to raise your hand and at a suitable time you will be unmuted and be able to ask a question.
  • Set up a pre-event training session, so all speakers and moderators know the software, are confident on how it will work and the support they will get from the other moderators in the room.
  • Speakers would need to be trained in taking natural breaks in their presentation every five minutes or so, to check if everyone is still engaged. They can check the chat feedback, ask how everyone is feeling via the options available or even set up a quick poll to gather delegate’s understanding of a particular topic.  This would be different to running a live event, where you can gauge audience engagement through delegate’s facial expressions in the audience….it’s a different feeling online and speakers need to be aware of this upfront.
  • The event host would need to be experienced at moderating an online event, since they are very different to live events. Managing people talking over each other and ensuring everyone who has something to say/ask, gets their opportunity, is a bigger task through a virtual event and this role should not be taken lightly.

I don’t think that virtual events will completely disappear when the event industry recovers.  In fact, I believe that they will become a vital part of any event offering, so that delegates have the choice as to whether they wish to take part in an event from the comfort of their homes/workplace or whether they want to attend in person.

Some organisations might not have the budget to send their staff to a conference in a different part of the country, so will instead suggest they log-in online. Equally, others might review a conference agenda and decide that they only want to hear one section of it, so there would be no need to attend in person.  These will be known as Hybrid events, where there is an online and live element to them.

THE BUSINESS WORLD NEEDS LIVE EVENTS

The one thing that has become clear from lockdown is that face-to face networking cannot be easily replicated online.  There is no way to replicate bumping into a business contact at an event and discussing a collaborative opportunity or informally being introduced to a new contact during a conference coffee-break.  Face-to-face networking is a key driver for live events, so even though many organisations will continue to run online events in the future, live events will no doubt have a valuable place in the business world.

In terms of recovery for the event industry, there are three major issues to consider.  The first and most important issue is safety.  Ensuring the venue and the entire event is safe for staff, delegates and event contractors is the number one priority. Social distance planning, new health & safety measures and Covid specific risk assessments are the vital first step to recovery.

The second issue is whether it is economically viable to operate certain events under social distancing measures.  This is a particularly important issue for commercial venues that operate solely as an event space with all profits attributed to event income.

The third issue is confidence.  The industry will only recover when clients, staff, and the local community are confident in events taking place safely.  As a venue, we need to demonstrate that we have safe processes and plans in place to support events and protect our staff, clients, and the local community we are part of.  This is what we, at the University of South Wales, are currently working on. We look forward to updating our stakeholders as soon as we have everything in place.

Business News Wales