Top Event Planning Skills You Need in a Post Covid-19 World
Change in the events industry is nothing new. It’s something event planners have been dealing with in every aspect of their job. But 2020, they saw some truly significant changes due to the dramatic impact of Covid-19. Event design has changed, venue operations have changed and how attendees interact has changed. It is a lot to deal with for event professionals. But as we take a step into 2021, it’s important that organizers step back, evaluate and prepare to ensure success in going back to face-to-face events. Here are 4 things events planners will need to focus on as events are coming to the forefront again.
1) Data-Led Decision Making
As the events sector has been dramatically impacted by Covid-19 any old assumptions that were relied on to make business decisions are now of no value. Everything has changed and continues to change. Therefore, it is more crucial than ever that organizations study their data. Not their old data but the new data. The data that will give them clues and insights about what their customers actually want and how they are interacting at the event.
Analyzing data will become even more important and that analysis needs to be deeper than before. It cannot simply be a cursory glance at some analytics. It needs to get to the root of understanding what is going on in different sectors and in different regions across the globe. People that understand how to analyze data and bring it to life in a way that the C-Suite understands are going to be in big demand.
2) Sales, Persuasion and Negotiation
The ability to sell is within each one of us. It’s not just for the people that have the job title of Sales. We are all persuading and negotiating with each other throughout our day to day activities. Most of the time we don’t realize we are doing it.
And it’s a good thing, because whatever your role is, you are going to need your inherent ‘sales’ skills more than ever before. With clients, with stakeholders, with delegates. Selling, negotiating and persuading skills are crucial in a world where the events landscape has changed beyond recognition. Even selling in-person events will be different. For attendees to want to come to your event, it really needs to stand out, meet hygiene standards and focus on in-person experiences.
3) Social Distancing Design and Management
Social distancing and its importance in helping to reduce the spread of Covid-19 has been uppermost in the minds of venue managers and event planners for many months now. Even when a vaccine to combat the virus has been rolled out across the globe there will be a need for social distancing to continue.
Therefore, at least in 2021 social distancing management needs to be in place. And in-person events have to be more carefully and creatively designed with safety and sanitation measures in place. Event design is about to become more complex for planners. But, it also provides an opportunity for savvy event professionals to make a bigger impact..
4) Risk Taking
In 2021 more risk taking will definitely be required. We are not talking about big make or break risks, but experimentation is needed. No longer is there any set approach for events. Yes, the principles remain similar but making in-person events become real successes will involve trying new approaches, testing what works and learning as you go. In many ways, risk taking can be quite refreshing. And as the events sector is known for its creativity, problem solving and entrepreneurial spirit there will be many people that embrace it. To succeed you will have to take risks. How else will you stand out from your competition?
The Time for Action is Now
Event professionals had to deal with a lot of change and disruption in 2020. The events that we have come to know and love have been impacted. The reverberations of the changes can still be heard and felt. But, while it is hard for those professionals that wish for the sector to remain as it was, those times are gone.
Covid-19 pressed the pause button on many industries and allowed time for reflection. As we lean into 2021 that time is over. Now it is time to move forward and get as many of the new post pandemic skills as possible. It’s time to embrace the change and come up with new event formats for clients. After all, one thing is for sure they will be looking to you for new initiatives and new developments to help their business succeed. How much you help by becoming their go-to resource will in large part be down to how you adapt and develop.
Here are Proxfinity, we pride ourselves in having developed an out of the box solution to help with all of these skills. Contact us today to see how a smart badge can help get you back to in-person.