Event 2.0: How the event market is transforming due to Covid-19

The event industry was included in the number of industries affected by the coronavirus almost immediately after the introduction of restrictive measures.

Due to the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the global event industry has been on a pause. In 2018, analysts predicted the growth of the global market from $ 1.1 billion to $ 2.3 billion by 2026.

To understand the real losses, it is enough to look at four major exhibitions that did not take place this year in the USA and Spain:

Mobile World Congress, Barcelona: 109,700 visitors in 2019 - $ 480 million in lost profits.

SXSW, Austin, TX: 280,000 visitors in 2019, lost revenue of $ 350 million.

E3, Los Angeles, California: 66,100 visitors in 2019 - $ 75 million in lost profits.

GOOGLE I/O Mountain View, California: 7,000 visitors in 2019 - $ 20 million in lost revenue.

In total, this is about a trillion dollars in lost profits. And this is just the very tip of the iceberg.

Offline to online: events in isolation

With the introduction of the self-isolation regime, the organizers in an emergency mode began to transfer their activities online to stay afloat. Theatres quickly began to adapt their activities to new realities. In addition to simple online broadcasts of performances, fully interactive formats have appeared.

Switching between screens, replacing the background, giving the audience the right to influence the course of productions - all this contributed to the creation of new genres. The line between theatre, game industry and filmmaking began to blur.

One of the striking examples is the Virtual Theater Laboratory project, in which all processes, including rehearsals, take place in videoconference mode. The authors of the show training " I don't want to see this " went further and gave viewers the opportunity to choose the content they are willing to watch.

Music online events were held almost non-stop. These included camera zoom concerts and large-scale festivals such as the eight-hour charity broadcast One World: Together At Home, organized by WHO and Global Citizen.

The April concert of rapper Travis Scott in the online game Fortnite became a sensation. This is not the first such experiment, but before so much attention has not been riveted on them. The performance attracted 12 million viewers, and in the recording on YouTube, it was watched over 60 million times.

New gadgets presentations, fashion shows and even press tours have become available online. You no longer need to fly to the other end of the Earth to get to any event. In this regard, the coronavirus has become a great equalizer.

Online to offline: post-quarantine thaw

The restrictive measures are gradually being removed, and sooner or later the turn will come to the event industry. It is difficult to say how willingly people will go to offline events. Most likely, opinions will be divided - while some will fear the accumulation of large numbers of people, others will enthusiastically return to their usual rhythm.

The organizers will pay a lot of attention to safety issues.

At first, the usual formats will not look like themselves. The distance between the seats in theatres, restrictions on the number of people in the room, sidelong glances during timid handshakes at exhibitions and conferences - all this will remain with us for a while.

Online vs Offline: Who wins?

We can conclude that online events are nothing more than a temporary replacement for offline, which will disappear along with the pandemic, but this is not at all the case. Yes, the isolation has contributed to the increased popularity of the format. But even without this, the time for virtual events would come one way or another. Perhaps not so soon and definitely not so abruptly. It's just that without the influence of additional external factors, the development of this niche was not a priority.

As a result, the development of virtual events did not happen due to some kind of powerful technological leap - all the necessary tools existed even before the pandemic. It was only necessary to add a little courage and imagination, to look at familiar things from a different angle - and now a video game becomes a platform for musicians' performances or conferences, and Zoom turns into an interactive theatre. All of these are amazing creative discoveries that at the same time allow you to actively participate in the process, adjust events for yourself, as well as maintain a comfortable distance, hide behind a virtual avatar and get involved as much as you want. And it is not necessary to deprive them of these opportunities. “Attending” online events is another new habit that will remain after the quarantine, along with shopping with home delivery and subscription to streaming services.

The number of broadcast platforms announced, including from Facebook and Yandex, confirms the relevance and relevance of the tools. And those who will be able to provide not only a convenient, simple, secure service with integration into social networks but also options for creativity and production will win.

Additionally, you can sell access to broadcasts, form closed clubs, increase the number of paid participants. At the same time, the organization is cheaper: there are no costs for the site, food, handouts. And the cost of the content remains the same.

But you will not be able to completely abandon offline. It is much more difficult to organize online networking, which remains one of the main tasks of business events. Corporate events and team building as part of the culture of encouraging and motivating personnel also practically lose their meaning in a remote format. Plus full-time attendance of the event is the opportunity to change the situation and switch. This effect is almost impossible to achieve if all the action takes place at the participants' home.

Transformation of the Event Industry

However, there is no need to choose between online and offline - both formats have a number of undeniable advantages. And when the restrictions disappear, event organizers will be able to operate with an even more complete set of tools than before the pandemic. Then the fun begins.

The future of the event industry lies in the hybrid model, offline to online to offline. It will retain everything that is appreciated in face-to-face events, and the virtual add-on will only expand the audience and add impressions thanks to a rich set of tools. An online mirror of the program with interactive functionality will become an obligatory part of any professional conference. The performances will be supplemented with game elements on virtual platforms.

Event participants should have a choice - be present at the site or join at a distance using the online tools that have become familiar. Not everyone is ready to be equally involved and immersed in the process, especially in the era of social distance. Therefore, the hybrid model will develop and fulfil its main function - to give new experience and emotions, while taking into account the characteristics of different audience segments, their needs and opportunities. What exactly these events will be - time will tell. But we are definitely waiting for unexpected solutions and new genres that expand the understanding of the organization of events.