Dear #Eventprofs

The year the Earth stood still… You’ll be trying to forget 2020 ever happened for many years to come. But the world won’t let you, for this was the year everything changed. ‘Going back to normal’ is a platitude that simply ignores the fact that even without COVID, a lasting transformation was already in full swing and accelerating. 

It just so happens we really got it rubbed in our faces this year.

You’ll hear lots of futurism and technology-oriented types (myself included) exclaim that this year we’ve witnessed within the space of 6 months a transformation that would have otherwise taken 5 years or more. But that seems to suggest there was ever a linear progression from some unspecified ‘old’ system to a narrowly defined new paradigm where tech alone rules supreme; that there is an inevitable shift taking place where the analog - the physical realm - is completely replaced by the digital domain.

I’m here to tell you as a dyed in the wool technologist that nothing could be further from the truth. Yet it is this misconception, the notion that an onslaught of digital innovations is going to somehow render good old human-to-human events meaningless that is causing a very large segment of eventprofs to recoil in fear and sometimes outright hostility towards digital transformation. 

“Zoom will never replace real-life events!”

“Virtual events are never as good as real events!”

Linkedin these days is plastered with such interjections from eventprofs understandably defending their industry as a palpable existential dread lingers over a profession now under siege for the better part of 6 months with no clear end in sight.

The danger ahead is not that digital will overwhelm real events but that a significant number of eventprofs are antagonizing anything digital to such an extent that their adoption of it is reluctant at best, openly hostile at worst. This reaction is causing profoundly capable people to adopt a ‘wait and see’ attitude where the pace of the problem’s resolution is correlated with the disappearance of a virus. We’ll get the vaccine and everything will be normal again.

No chance.

It won’t be normal again. It will be a whole lot better. Your jobs will take on dimensions and a scope you couldn’t have imagined before. Mindful of the very real tragedy and profound consequences endured by too many, you’ll start appreciating what 2020 did for your future and your industry. 

Over? You're just getting started.

But only if you open yourself up to the possibility and the promise (mine, for what that’s worth) that embracing digital transformation now rather than wait on the sidelines for the storm to pass is the pathway to a profoundly transformed industry where the deeply human, emotion-driven nature of meetings and events is not only preserved but unrecognizably augmented. 

And that last word is perhaps the most defining concept of the next decennium. I know of no entrepreneurs or futurists who believe their purpose is to replace human connections with digital ones. Instead, most efforts in crafting state-of-the-art technology are squarely aimed at augmenting our capabilities, our senses, and yes, our emotions. Cars have not replaced our desire for nature hikes, they’ve just augmented our ability to get to the mountains quickly and safely. Spotify hasn’t removed our enthusiasm for live concerts, it has just augmented our ability to enjoy music in any environment and at any time.

As naturally born connectors and social facilitators, you, gregarious, hardworking and boisterous eventprofs, are the ones who will have to wield these magic wands to create unforgettable moments for your fellow human beings.

Digital innovation will no more replace you than a brush replaces a painter. But you need to embrace these tools, learn them, leverage them. To label yourself 'non-techie' a priori as so many seem to do is to sideline yourself in the mid to long term, or as this year has shown, even in the short term.

Don’t resist this unstoppable wave of innovation, don’t close yourself off to the endless possibilities available to your future multifaceted self. There's magic to be woven, physical and digital, as two sides of the same coin.

The next ten years will likely see more sudden upheaval, even as and when we get past Covid. Climate change is lurking in the shadows and will undoubtedly impact the events industry. Other political and societal disruptions will wax and wane. Yes, another pandemic is far from unlikely.

The events world will learn to sway and move around this turbulence without suffering the cardiac arrest experienced in 2020. Technology will play a pivotal role in this dance.

Open yourself up, be like water, as Bruce Lee famously urged. 

We, digital innovators and technologists, need you. 

You matter a lot. ??

Marc Mekki is the co-founder of Bond: designers and builders of virtual communities and events. Bond was created to foster relationships and engagement between real people in a virtual world. Marc previously built a successful tourism business in China where he lived for 14 years. He is a frequent advisor to organizations and companies in need of a future-oriented audit of their technological capabilities and needs. Marc has been a keynote speaker for brands like Amadeus, The Dorchester Collection, Barcelona Tourism Authority, Connections, ...