Written on 5^th November 2020

Five lockdown lessons for event life

As we start another period of restricted existence in England and are in the midst of a firebreak in the rest of the UK, I’ve been reflecting on what I learned from the first lockdown way back in March, which seems like another lifetime, and how this could be applied to what is left of the events industry.

1. Appreciate hidden contributions

So often under appreciated until we really depend on them, the hard work of staff in the care industry was a revelation during lockdown 1.0. The care sector is essential to the infrastructure of our society as is the unseen, but vital, contribution to every event from venue, travel, local agencies and production staff. Let’s appreciate, acknowledge and reward them.

2. Recycle, reduce and reuse

The desire to protect our planet became more important as nature fought back and some of us had extra time to recycle, repurpose and so buying less stuff. Sustainability is essential to the future of our industry and we must not let it drop off the agenda.

3. Black lives matter

The death of George Floyd and the shocking personal stories that followed should give fresh impetus to scrutinise your company’s inclusivity policies, consider how we can support diversity in both in employment and procurement and reflect on our own attitudes and behaviour.

4. Use experts

If you were one of the millions of parents’ home schooling your children, you may not need to be reminded that some jobs, like creative and complex event management, are best undertaken by experienced and trained professionals.

5. You can’t replace human contact

We have all stepped up to embrace (sort of) digital technology to communicate and our meetings, conferences and friends and family get togethers have moved online with varying degrees of success. And we’ve also learned nothing replaces the power of face to face connection and using all your senses to immerse yourself in a new experience.

The events industry will be very different when we emerge in 2021, containing fewer of our colleagues and partners, but let’s remember the lessons of the last lockdown and guide the new events world into a more compassionate and sustainable future.