Rethinking events

It has been a year to forget within the MICE sector. Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events have been put aside from the agendas of all enterprises. The first setback came with the cancellation of the Mobile World Congress of Barcelona and thereby, cancellations became massive. Social distancing rules and confinement prompted OPCs (Professional Congress Organizers) to rapidly adopt, the virtual meeting platforms that were available in the market, even if they were not exclusive tools to host corporate events.
For a sector like the MICE, traditionally not digitized and in which the human factor has considerable importance, the networking and product experimentation, this change meant a breakdown not only in the core business of many companies but also in their workforce of meeting planners.
Meeting planners  who always mistrusted virtual events platforms were forced to use these tech tools from night to day. Many skeptical thought hosting a virtual event with the same quality and same engagement level than a face-to-face one was not possible. However, these months have turned into a “Learning Lab” to improve traditional events.

A new era of innovation and creativity is coming for the sector

We are about to witness a change in the Events business model that will intensify in the forthcoming months. Previously, there was a clear tendency to celebrate events that included a strong communication message and a small dose of digital creativity. Now, in the post-covid era, those meeting organizers who use in their marketing strategy a strong message and also add digitalization technology on it would be the champions. The content and we express the message in the different digital channels is what the COVID crisis has emphasized even more. 

These are the 3 principles that will set the trend in the renewed MICE industry:  

1. Creativity in digital events
Even if it is a conference call, a webinar, a congress or a shareholder meeting, the differentiation is made applying high doses creativity. The attendees, as if they were inside a video game, will be joining a unique space, made on an ad-hoc basis, were they will have access to training and networking activities throughout their Avatar.

2. Realism in its maximum degree 
The realism in the digital events, through graphic design, virtual environment customization, image creation and design of logotypes according to the company it is already a reality, but still there is a lack of professionalization. Virtual settings need to be added, special film effects like in the Cinema created and an outstading presenter incorporated to guarantee the surprise factor among the attendees.

3. Micro digital event with Macro Results
A small group of people who have been strategically invited, offers optimal results. In the post-covid era these type of events will become widely used as they will be the most suitable options right to keep face-to-face contact after digital meetings. These kind of micro-events would be in-person and they will offer the opportunity of clarifying doubts beforehand of the celebration of the virtual meeting. 

A new path for the future

Events professionals of many disciplines such as organizers, producers, marketing, audiovisuals, sound specialists, venue planners, caterings, hostesses, freelance professionals and many more have now an uncertain future. It might be possible that the Events as we used to know them do not come back in a certain time. Even though this generates fear it also creates a unique opportunity, never seen before, to engage our audience. Events professionals, experts of the industry like no other, need to learn to move between the face-to-face and the digital side and, also need to offer show create emotions in the audience. The time has come for Rethinking Events, now it is the time to show our most creative side.