ARE VIRTUAL EVENTS THE FUTURE OR CAN THE TRADE SHOW INDUSTRY BOUNCE BACK?

I don’t need to tell you about the global pandemic that has shut down most countries. You, like many others, have probably felt the effects in your own home. Every day I check LinkedIn to see more redundancies. More business closures. More people asking their network for support.

And support is exactly what they are getting.

It is heart-warming to see the #redundancy posts that communities have made blow up. If we’ve learnt anything throughout this pandemic, it’s the lengths that we will go to help another person. Even a total stranger. It’s incredible in every sense of the word.

However.

One industry has been forgotten. This industry once boasted over 700,000 full-time employees. They employee a larger variety of niche talents and skills than any other industry. And, they contribute up to £70bn a year to the UK’s economy. The industry I am referring to is the events industry. My industry.

FIRST TO CLOSE

The events industry was the first to close its doors back in March 2020. The effect was immediate. My company, Quadrant2Design, supplies exhibition stands to businesses attending trade shows. With no trade shows, we had no business.

It wasn’t just us. Event organisers, venues, and millions of suppliers were left with no work. And even then, with nothing to do other than twiddle our thumbs, we stuck to the ‘behind the scenes’ role that we are so used to playing.

I have tried hard to find evidence that anyone from the events industry complained when we closed. There isn’t any. Unlike hospitality and tourism, we didn’t stomp our feet at the government guidelines. In fact, we did quite the opposite.

It was the events industry who gave the NHS the venues for five additional hospitals. It was event suppliers who were drafted in to build these hospitals using their shell scheme framing. Suppliers began making PPE, freelancers took volunteer delivery positions and organisers pivoted a years’ worth of planning to offer virtual events.

LAST TO REOPEN

We spent months on the edge of our seat waiting for a restart date. And finally, the announcement came.

Events of up to 30 people to begin on August 1st, larger events to recommence on October 1st.

That day, that announcement, saved a lot of peoples jobs.

We didn’t care that we were the last to reopen. We’ve been having a great time watching the daily press conferences hoping to hear the word ‘events’ come out of Boris’s mouth. We have three months to plan events that usually take a year. But we built a hospital in nine days remember? This is possible.

Unfortunately, the optimism didn’t last long. We had prepared ourselves for a late restart date. Public health is more important than events. We hadn’t prepared ourselves for the plummet it attendee confidence.

A restart date was not the green light for us. This realisation led to the loss of leading events companies such as MCL Create and Blitz. 126,000 jobs are gone. £2.4 million has been lost per venue.

Where is our “eat out to help out” scheme? Where is our support?

MORE JOB LOSSES IN OCTOBER

The furlough scheme came at the right time and I do not doubt that it has protected many jobs. Now, the government are encouraging employers to reopen and get their staff back to work.

Without this scheme, many industries would likely have suffered – particularly hospitality and tourism. They’ve reopened, and while they may still need financial support to aid recovery, they’re able to do business.

Events are not. The furlough scheme ends in October. That is when large events can go ahead but we are already seeing November 2020, December 2020 and January 2021 events postponing. With no consumer confidence, nobody wants to invest in events.

PLASA, an umbrella group for events business, has warned up to 600,000 jobs will be lost without government intervention. That is over three-quarters of the events industry. These might be people that you don’t know. But they are the reason that you have festivals, sporting events, charity runs, trade shows, gigs, weddings, conferences. You might not see them. But they build the events that you look forward to every year.

#WEMAKEEVENTS

Over the past few weeks, you may have seen this hashtag going around. The events industry decided enough was enough.

After keeping us waiting for a restart date, Boris Johnson did a U-turn on his small events restart date. Venues had been taking bookings. Organisers had been busy. Then they had to deal with take two of the cancellation and refund requests.

As I have mentioned, exhibitions that were scheduled to go ahead in November and December are moving to Q4 2021. Unfortunately, the government have not given my industry or the public enough clarity. Despite a restart date, people don’t know whether attending or investing in events is worthwhile. With no confidence, there is no events industry.

Across the UK, our venues have been lighting up red. This is to show that the events industry are now on red alert. On August 10th, the events industry rallied together to raise awareness of their situation and plead for government support.

A march that took place in Manchester saw hundreds of event professionals pushing heavy flight cases through the streets, holding signs that read “Without us there are no events” and “First industry to stop - last to return”.

GIVE US A LINE

The main #WeMakeEvents protest took place in London, where event professionals were invited to take a spot along the Thames. Each individual had a string of red LED lights. These strips were to represent a line – exactly what we need to keep the events industry alive.

We invited MP’s and the press on a boat trip to sail down the River Thames. We intended to raise awareness of the size and scope of the industry that has fallen through so many cracks. As of right now, we have yet to receive further support or advice from government officials.

We are on red alert. We are asking for a line. To ensure its survival, the events industry needs:

• Grants made available to businesses in the events supply chain

• Furlough scheme extension until our industry is back to work

• Extension of the self-employment scheme, tailored to the events industry

You miss concerts. You miss socialising with your friends. You miss weddings, new business opportunities and live music. We miss our jobs. We miss our livelihood. We miss our income.

One person can make a difference. Use your voice to highlight the danger that the events industry is facing. On behalf of my friends, colleagues and industry-peers – please give us a line.