COVID-19’s impact has been felt by everyone around the world.

The events industry has been devastated by the pandemic. 1 in 10 people work in the events and hospitality industry globally!

As we moved through the summer months, many were hopeful that things were improving, especially event professionals. When polled in the spring of 2020, over 75% of event professionals expected a return to in-person events by the first quarter of 2021.

This has now been pushed to the end of 2021, with optimism, due to slow vaccine roll-outs, quarantine fatigue, and more contagious strains of the virus coming forward.

Many event professionals have had to seek other employment outside of the industry. The ones that remain are struggling to keep their businesses alive and relevant. For those of us hanging in there, we see how the importance of human interaction in a face to face environment is crucial to everyone’s lives and well-being, and not quite the same digitally.

How will we survive?

We will continue to pivot, study, experiment, and learn.

We will stay in touch with partners and colleagues.

We will educate organizations on the benefits of virtually gathering online, even though it’s not the normal we crave.

We will create content, communities, and experiences that will continue to keep our clients in front of their audiences.

And in the end, the events industry will recover and come back stronger. The pandemic has highlighted the huge role that events of all kinds play in our society. Innovation, new skills, new thinking, and new ideas are happening. Event professionals are well known for their adaptability, resilience, and rising to the challenge.

Because, the show must go on(line).