The effect of the Covid pandemic has had far reaching effects on our lives, from the way we travel, work and even interact with people. The process of digitalisation has been sped up out of necessity and we are seeing a big switch in the number of cashless transactions compared to just over a year ago. This was always going to be inevitable but the effects of the pandemic have certainly brought it forward.
Conventions are part of the events industry; one of the industries that took the biggest hits during the pandemic and they are bound to take more time to recover too. For now, gone are the days of fitting tens of thousands of people into an exhibition centre of business, sports or leisure events, however like many other industries, they have been working to adapt. We will take a look at how the conventions will work once the major effects of the pandemic begin to die down.
Many of them will be virtual
Very few industries will come out benefitting from the pandemic and therefore for many, their pursestrings will be tight. Virtual conferences will be the norm for the foreseeable future as costs are lower, travelling (which is very restricted at the moment) is not required, and there is no face-to-face contact required. To be honest, it is difficult to see such physical conventions ever reaching the same heights as pre-pandemic, but there are still many industries that would be fighting to go back to these times.
They will be smaller and more frequent
The issue with bigger conventions is the time and effort required to organise them and make them as successful as possible. With lower budgets, we are likely going to see events occur more frequently on a smaller scale, but around more areas. Renting huge venues twice a year will be less attractive than a smaller venue for each month in a different city, which would certainly attract a more diverse group of businesses.
Physical conventions will be more selective
We’re used to having to book tickets in advance and paying extra to see specific seminars, but the future conventions will be more stricter, in part to allow for better contact tracing. Conference room schedules will be organised digitally to keep track of attendees and their movements around the venue. This will likely be done all through our smartphones.
It will be more accessible to smaller businesses
With lower participation costs, smaller businesses will be less likely put off if they feel they could have a more level playing field and exposure. Whilst obviously not having the financial clout of bigger, more established companies, small businesses are more nimble and therefore can react more quickly to changing events and trends. This could help many survive environments that would be deadly for bigger, slower businesses.