Wow, 2020 is finally over and we’re all anxious to get back to “walking down the aisle”…..of a plane or an event! I recently attended the CEIR Webinar: Outlook for the US B2B Exhibition Industry – How Close Are We to the Light at the End of the Tunnel? (view the webinar: https://register.gotowebinar.com/recording/3253006718459193868). While I found this webinar to be both informative and devastating, there were beacons of encouragement discussed for the upcoming future of face to face events. Let’s face it, the events industry was one of the hardest hit by this pandemic and will likely continue to experience the impact for years to come. That being said, this hiatus has helped many marketers to quantify that face to face events are an irreplaceable marketing tool, especially for demand-gen, and our industry will be back!
Here are my top 3 takeaways:
- 65% of events envision moving forward with a hybrid model in 2022
- Large scale events are forecasted to return in Q3 of 2021
- If your event is planned for 2021 in Q1 or early Q2 – consider postponing. If your event is planned for 2021 in late Q2, Q3 or Q4 – stay the course!
See the full list of CEIR webinars at (https://www.ceir.org/webinars/).