PCMA COLUMN
REAL-LIFE EXAMPLES SHOW THE IMPORTANCE OF IN-PERSON EVENTS By Michelle Russell, editor in chief Convene, PCMA
“We interrupt this regularly scheduled virtual auto show
At the same time, we have seen over the past year the power
with breaking news: There are people attending the 2021
of digital events to create communities, share knowledge, and
Shanghai Auto Show in person!”
make important connections. Our stories on the following pages don’t discount the value and benefits of online events,
That was the breathless opening line to a story capturing
nor is it a call to action to return to physical events the way
the highlights of the show on Driving, a website for auto
they were, no matter what, and simply view our past year of
enthusiasts. Not only was the mid-April Shanghai Auto Show
digital experimentation and success as a stop-gap measure.
notable because it was one of the first large in-person shows
We know theyare now part of the fabric of business events
held in China in 2021 — there were around 1,000 Chineseand
going forward.
international companies participating — it was a chance to actually look under the hood at an industry and touch, feel,
What you find going to the links on this page simply
and see its future.
demonstrate — via case-study examples — what we all know to be true: “Gathering is an essential part of being human,”
But the show in Shanghai also made headlines for another
as the hotelier and former Airbnb executive Chip Conley
reason. A disgruntled Tesla car owner seized the spotlight
told Convene — and an essential part of our society’s
on Day 1 by climbing onto the roof of a red display Model 3,
progress. We can’t wait for the live events industry to rev
repeatedly yelling, “Tesla’s brakes don’t work!” The protester
up its engines — to quote what has become an industry
captured the attention of the media, which then scrutinized
refrain among CVBs — when the time is right.
Tesla’s lackluster public response in addressing concerns about malfunctioning brakes.
Perhaps we once took for granted the larger role that face-to-face events play in our society, but the past year
Leaving aside the question of whether or not the protester had
has shown us that they are far more than economic engines.
reasonable grounds for her actions, the publicity she created
PCMA has gathered 4 case studies to show how physical
underscores an essential truth: Things happen at IRL events
events have given fledgling industries a foot-hold and path
that can’t be replicated in URL. It would be hard to imagine
to success. Access all case studies on the PCMA website.
a complaint in the chat box of a virtual platform generating similar attention.
| July 2021
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