Every year, events represent on average €32 billion in economic spin-offs or 335,000 jobs created or maintained. However, since March 2020, the industry has been seriously threatened by the coronavirus in France.
What is the impact? The consequences? And solutions?
🔔 Your event is at risk during the coronavirus crisis
It is a chain reaction that the events sector has suffered because of the epidemic that is currently affecting us. The cancellations and postponements have had a ripple effect on all the event industry.
Even before containment, several sectors were experiencing a sharp drop in turnover. Caterers lost 60% of their turnover on average, hotels 40%, and the event and business tourism industry even more.
🗯 Internally, these changes require a complete reorganization of the company
- Reconsider the company’s priorities and prioritize the missions to be carried out,
- Reorganize the working environment for all employees who are likely to be required to work remotely,
- To reassure employees in a brutal, unprecedented and unpredictable context, by being transparent about the situation,
- Inform customers of the situation, not only about the company, but also about the situation in general. The information during the period must be known, repeated, and then respected, as it is the duty of the companies to be a vector of this information.
This reorganization involves many risks, both financially, logistically and psychologically. Rethinking a new strategy quickly, setting new objectives, or taking immediate action without forgetting to plan for tomorrow: such is the complexity of the situation for companies, and more particularly for event organizers whose activity has been drastically reduced for several weeks now.
🚀 Reacting and protecting yourself for an impacting event
✔︎ The virtual event, an alternative to study
Cancelling an event completely represents a huge loss for an event organizer. As soon as possible, postpone your event to a later date. It should not be too close to give participants time to recover from this period of crisis, nor too far away so that they don’t forget you.
Unfortunately, in a crisis such as the current one where health is at stake, many people will be reluctant to regroup even after the lockdown is over. Virtual meetings can then be a real opportunity. Although the online experience will not replace a face-to-face meeting, exchanges can be done easily, cheaply and safely.
The challenge with virtual meetings is the lack of physical proximity. It will then be necessary to succeed in convincing and engaging participants to attract them, first of all, and then to make them stay.
Before the event, the challenge is to succeed in convincing them of your content, both in terms of content and form. The engagement of the audience will depend entirely on the experience they will benefit. They need to be informed, then included, and finally entertained. Exchanges are even more important through a screen because the listening capacity is lower.
You will need to engage your audience through reminders, polls, games or chat. It will be necessary to be dynamic and avoid moments of silence or hesitation at the risk of losing your audience.
Want to learn more about how to rethink your events -> see our webinar
✔︎ Rethink the way you design your events
Beyond the virtual tools, take advantage of the time you have to rethink the way you design your events. This pandemic we are facing is proof that it is sometimes necessary to think about other formats, especially to reach all of its stakeholders more effectively. Your events are an integral part of your communication strategy. They should not be neglected, botched or repeated, but on the contrary thought.
The organization of an event is not only about logistics. It must be the result, upstream, of a reflection made with all your collaborators and stakeholders of the event. Unfortunately, this part of the conception of the event is often forgotten (even though it is the most important one) generally due to lack of time. Take advantage of the time that this period of crisis offers you to think about the aftermath and how you can add value to your events.
🔐 Re-inventing our industry in the aftermath of this crisis
More than ever, the event industry needs to reinvent itself and prove its usefulness in the strategy of a company coming out of the crisis! The Covid-19 crisis will certainly profoundly transform our companies and our society. It is likely that it will stimulate certain areas: online purchasing, online education, investments in public health… It is also likely to change the way companies organise their supply chain and push them to depend less on a handful of large suppliers. Companies will have to take into account the changes the crisis has brought and learn from them (Cf Events will be at the heart of the recovery).
“Our jobs bring people together, bring cultures together and generate commitment. They will be indispensable in the aftermath of this crisis, the day after, when we have won, to help French companies return to growth as quickly as possible, both in France and abroad”.
Bertrand BIARD – President of L’EVENEMENT L’Asso
🔍The Event Canvas method: how to change the mentality in the event industry
With the methodology developed by the Event Design Collective, VR Consulting offers introspection at the heart of events. This collective facilitation tool proves to be an efficient method for the emergence of ideas and group consultation.
The #EventCanvas, it’s 14 steps in 3 parts:
- Stakeholder selection and analysis,
- Articulate change,
- Create prototype events.
The objective is then to tell the story of your event in the form of 60-second films.
Relive the testimonies of our formation on February 27th
The next training session will take place on June 12, 2020 at the French Event Booster at Porte de Versailles (Paris 15ème).