Business-As-Usual - A Missed Opportunity

The current Global Pandemic has revealed more than ever that we as humans are truly interlinked and part of a single ecosystem; given viruses do not respect boundaries and affects all. The commitment and international innovation in science to bring vaccines to the masses in such a short span of time is a victory to science and human collaborations. I have been speaking to peers in the Trade Exhibitions and Business Events industry in US, Europe, India, China, ASEAN and find that the single most important conversion among industry players, given the roll out of vaccines, is the hope to go back to “business-as-usual” post pandemic. I wish to share my thought that this mindset is a missed opportunity for the business events industry. I believe that the last 10 months has given a rare opportunity for the industry to reinvent itself by incorporating technology to its business model, thus improving the value proposition to our customers; may it be attendees or exhibitors. I propose that we look back at the NPS (Net Promoters Score) and Satisfaction scores of the events we were conducting before the Pandemic, and make efforts to introduce technology or other measures to improve. One of the limitations of conducting trade exhibitions is the venues we operate in. The event could only grow to the maximum size of the venue. Whenever there is a “wall-bound” situation, the innovation we would introduce is to improve the space utilization of the venue, keep lobbying that the venue is expanded or split the event to allow new growth. However with the concept of hybrid events; there is an opportunity to break the barrier of the venue size and also increase attendees and exhibitors, thus increasing the value proposition for our customers and improving the satisfaction scores. There are also opportunities to improve the efficiency for buyers and sellers to meet and conduct business at Business Events; and other innovations. I am convinced that, unless the Business Events sector comes out of this Pandemic with true innovation and an enhanced business model; it is a Missed Opportunity. Stay safe and stay together.