RUDI BUCHNER

CORPORATE EVENTS IN 2022: WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?

3MONKEYS’ RUDI BUCHNER SPECULATES ON THE FUTURE OF CORPORATE EVENTS.

“In 2020, we saw a new event type rise out of the ashes caused by COVID-19 – the new, fast-growing market of virtual events. In 2021, hybrid events were added to cater for a mix of in-person and remote speakers and audiences, continuing the growth albeit at a slightly slower pace. However, what will happen in the years to come?

A July 2021 market research study from Grand View Research (GVR), Next Generation Technologies: Global Virtual Events Market Size & Share Report, sheds some light on the topic. The study quotes a global market size for virtual events of $94.04bn in 2020, with an expected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.7% from 2021 to 2028.

For the MEA, this research paper values the market at $6.74bn in 2020, with a CAGR of 24.8% from 2021 to 2028. The research includes virtual as well as hybrid events. “The everyday events segment is anticipated to witness the fastest growth from 2021 to 2028,” the report says. “Virtual platforms are used for everyday events such as regular team meetings, discussions, recruitment processes, target/sales meetings, and informal talk sessions.”

GVR also examines different applications for virtual and hybrid events, segmenting the market into exhibitions/tradeshows, conferences, summits, and other applications.

“The ‘exhibitions/tradeshows’ segment captured the largest revenue share of over 30% in 2020 and is expected to maintain its dominance over the forecast period,” the report states.

“The ‘others’ segment, which includes virtual events such as job fairs, concerts, meetups, webinars, and keynotes, is anticipated to witness the highest CAGR of over 25% from 2021 to 2028.” The study also forecasts that the conferences segment will “grow substantially, owing to the various advantages offered by virtual platforms, such as instant scalability and control, easy data collection and measuring of results, global reach, and reduced costs”.

All of this seems to be in line with the industry’s sentiment that virtual and hybrid events are here to stay. From my own conversations with clients throughout 2021, I heard many pro virtual/hybrid arguments – the most important ones being that they are more cost effective, reach more people, are more sustainable, and can cover regions that are still suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of course, all of this is mere theory and has little to do with the actual decision-making processes in agencies and corporations when it comes to hosting their next event.

The US market is extremely eager to produce virtual and hybrid events, even when in-person events are possible with few restrictions. The market has accepted that remote components are a valuable extension of the event portfolio. The acquisition and distribution strategies are becoming more and more elaborate, utilising combinations of (multiple) in-person venues with remote components (studios and remote callers) and adding an increasing number of distribution channels and program variations for remote audiences – gaining reach and traction with specific content for specific target groups, adding value to in-person and remote audiences.

The Middle East market is acting significantly differently. The tendency here is to ‘get back to the ballroom as quickly as we can’ and, honestly, it is fun to be back on site and to be in the same room with the audience, speakers, talent, and colleagues from different departments. After all, the only remainder of the COVID-19 era are often half-hearted webcasts.

It is natural that the focus shifts once you are back on site. The in-person production must take precedence in terms of organisation, production, and cost, but what do we lose by producing in-person only? What damage do we do to our event by broadcasting poorly executed webcasts? Ultimately, emotion gets the better of us all – we want to be back at in-person events no matter if we are supplier, agency, or end client. However, emotion alone is not necessarily the right driver to make decisions about corporate events.

Back to the market research, GVR says that everyday events are a massively growing segment. In the Middle East, the industry created outstanding virtual events throughout the pandemic. Now it is about finding the right balance for in-person and remote WOW.

For virtual events, this is about a solid, interesting, targeted and capturing way of production and programming. This must include a reduced complexity of the technical production as well as a fast and easy availability of resources for the execution.

For hybrid events, it is about integrating their production with the in-person production at a reasonable price without jeopardising the quality and thus creating a second-class remote audience. Photo: 3Monkeys www.3monkeys.net