What's Next?

Generative content, community, and commerce have been the undeniable domains of the global business events industry.

As a proud, powerful, and significant industry, we rightfully believe we deliver on those domains better than any other industry on the planet.

That said, what we believe does not matter as much as what our stakeholders believe. 

Every organization and individual in the world now knows what it feels like to run their businesses and personal lives without events. We reside in a first ever zero-based budget environment as it relates to business events.

On the other side of this crisis, organizations and individuals will increase, decrease, and/or eliminate investment in physical events, based on the environment they are experiencing right now and near term, with data to support their decisions. Every organization and individual will have a different answer. Those answers will roll up to define the future of our industry.

While this process is underway. the events industry will take one of two remarkably distinct paths:

Path One: We will embrace a broader more responsible delivery model, and redefine the scope of the business events industry as we do. We will finally and fully utilize digital platforms in concert with physical events to amplify the power and efficiency of our industry. In doing so, we will significantly grow the pie of the business events industry sustainably, much like broadcast TV did for sports over a half century ago.

Path Two: We will struggle back, reverting to our historic delivery model, as we did after the financial crisis of 2008-2009.

This time, the world will not give the business events industry the latitude to snap back on Path Two. 

If we put our energy into path two the market will speak, and our value and power as an industry will likely shift to other adjacencies to some degree, and never return.

I like our chances in embracing Path One. 

So many examples are emerging from remarkably different organizations, Two are highlighted below, both of which will deliver fully integrated physical and digital events after this crisis.

Institute of Internal Auditors expanded their utilization of digital and likely saved their business as they did.

Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund made quick adjustments to support their objectives in a necessarily digital forum.

Today, thousands of other organizations are doing whatever they can to keep content, community, and commerce alive through digital platforms in this extraordinary environment, and they know how that feels, and those feelings run the gamut.

For now, stay safe and focus on what matters most.

And hold belief in our industry - its power, resiliency, and with the right next critical steps, our ability to again create significant positive economic and social change.