While COVID-19 took a toll on all industries, most can agree the events industry took one of the hardest hits. I had switched jobs one month prior to the pandemic hitting and while transitioning to an internal marketing role wasn’t ideal at the time, little did I know how quickly the world was changing. As businesses closed, people sought safety in the comfort of their homes. I watched, bewildered, as the industry I just left decimated and past colleagues lost their jobs.
Fast forward two and a half years; I’ve transitioned back to a post-COVID event world. While many aspects seem unchanged due to the overwhelming desire of the public to return to normal, an entirely different mindset among industry workers has gone into effect. Past objectives aimed at getting as much foot traffic are met with stricter capacity restrictions. The focus of being health conscious to provide the comfort of guests comes in new forms of mask requirements and proof of vaccination. While this provides comfort to some event goers, others grow in frustration at the mandates and precautions brands and venues often implement. Shortages in the workforce have prolonged lead time and caused scarcity in supplies.
Though some may argue that COVID-19 has changed the event industry for the negative, others would argue the opposite. The health consciousness and precautions that go into events now compared to that of events pre-2020 are recognizable. The pandemic has also led to a wider reach of those that otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend by increasing engagement through virtual options from the comfort of one’s home.
It’s been a whirlwind jumping back into a different world of events through changes in restrictions, tighter timelines, and frankly just being a bit rusty, but couldn’t be more excited to be back.