It’s time for event agencies and event organisers to put the pandemic behind them.

2021 is the year of resilience, the year in which we have seen the darkness and are seeing the light. Events resume, hotels reopen, brands relaunch campaigns, and bars and restaurants are once again fully booked.

A year of resistance

It is no secret that, during the first part of the year, agencies have had to withstand hard knocks, including the impossibility of holding face-to-face events.

But that has not meant the end of them. We have learned a new way of communicating through digital channels: webinars, online events and even online courses have for some time satiated the need to be connected to the world and still maintain that human essence.

But what now?

Reactivating events from within

It is time to start thinking about getting back to business as usual, and there is a key part of that: secure face-to-face events. Vaccination and testing must be taken into account. The mask is here to stay, and that won’t stop us from creating face-to-face events with the same essence as before.

The best way to manage them is to ensure a safe environment where the possibility of contagion is minimised. . Having attendees who have been provided with antigen testing and PCR testing is the key to creating safe events and restoring normality and attendance.

This is not to say that online or hybrid events will be discontinued, as this new normal has been key for many sectors and has opened up a new world of possibilities. The aim is to find a balance between the two.

A slow but powerful start

Face-to-face events are already underway, and although it seemed that this moment would not come, the truth is that they are growing progressively.

Product launches in pharmaceuticals, new technologies, automotive and food and beverages are leading the revival. With this in mind, it is also necessary to take into account the need for companies to hold these events, as for many of them it is an important source of income.

Moreover, it should be stressed that events take time to organise, and this must be taken into account before talking about this reactivation. You can’t expect to start without first having premeditated and made sure that everything is feasible, safe and ready for the moment of departure.

All in all, this revival is expected to start in 2022. By the end of 2021 the severe restrictions are expected to be lifted, generating confidence for both the consumer and the organising agencies, which is a positive aspect for the reactivation of on-site visits.

Events and their future

Does this mean that in less than a year there will be a boom in face-to-face events? The reality is that we must continue to reckon with a ‘new normal’, where consumers will continue to have doubts and some reluctance, and where security measures will continue to be the order of the day.

Furthermore, it is a fact that consumers have changed the way they consume content, and are now much more demanding, which opens the door to create new and much more innovative types of content; all this without leaving aside the digital era, and the events through digital channels that we talked about before.

Now is the time to start thinking about what kind of events we want to hold when all this revival is coming to a head. Being part of the recovery of the face-to-face is going to be key in the new era.

If you have thought of being one of those event pioneers in this new normal, we at WDi Group help you to come back stronger than ever, with safe and innovative events.