Now that 2020 is finally behind us, most of us are eager to get back to the old habits and recover their sense of normalcy. However, 2021 won’t look anything like what we’re used to, and the world is still changing rapidly and asking us to adapt to it. If we don’t adapt quickly, we’ll be left behind.
While this sounds a little scary, don’t fret. Think of it this way: 2021 is going to be exciting and if you embrace its fast pace, your business will come out on top and start an upward trajectory. The event industry will need to be particularly creative if it’s to meet client demands and make event planning fun, easy, and exciting.
If you want to give the people what they need, it’s time to look at trends that will mark this year and adjust your business practices accordingly.
Educational events are becoming more important
2020 changed all our goals. Instead of the external, we’re now more focused on the internal and working on our skills and education has become the new trend. This is why educational events are becoming so popular. People are more mindful of how they spend their time, and they’re more likely to attend an event that promises them something in return.
Workshops are a good way to engage your audience, and give them good value. You can also consider other skill-building tools and potential certification that could be earned at the end of a short course. Present your event as an opportunity that’s simply too good to miss and people will come in droves.
Light up the show to celebrate
There have been several instances of in-person shows that worked out remarkably well in this post-pandemic period. Since most companies will be looking to slowly transition from online to in-person events, it’s time to figure out what that will look like.
Our tip? Go big or go home. After more than a year of economic hardship, lockdown stress, and covid-19 scares, people want to celebrate their own survival. Bring in bright decorations and champagne, and hire light up letters to make a statement. Let them spell out whichever words your company sees as victorious. Now’s really not the time for subtlety. Now’s the time to make people feel alive again.
Healthy food menus
Is it any wonder that most of us are more health conscious right now? With so many people getting sick, recovering, or even losing their loved ones, health is at the forefront of everyone’s minds. That’s why menus are starting to change drastically – instead of focusing only on the taste, they now need to be chock-full of nutritious ingredients.
Advertise your menu as something with a ton of immunity-boosting ingredients and plant-based items and make sure they’re all Instagram-worthy. Food that’s pretty to look at will inevitably get photographed, and this basically means free advertising for you.
Use hybrid events for those who are not yet ready
Not every part of the world has had luck with the vaccines, and in certain places the situation is still downright dire. People there might still be looking for quality virtual content, or they might be ready to move a little (but not all the way) towards in-person events.
For these cases, hybrid events can save the day. Allow people to attend it, but leave options for those who wish to join online, and make sure that both get an equally valuable experience. While completely virtual events might become less popular as the time goes by, it’s entirely likely that hybrid events will stick around for a long while, even after the pandemic is completely over because they give us the opportunity to connect regardless of where we live.
Event planning is more important than ever because people are hungry for new content, for celebration, and for spaces that will allow them to connect with people and learn something new. If you approach it the right way, you’ll give your audiences exactly what they need right now.
