Compass now projects continued sluggish demand for face-to-face business events through 2021, with 39% of survey respondents expecting a 50% or greater decline in their 2021 face-to-face business event participation compared to 2019 levels. Pent-up demand will manifest, particularly in some key industry sectors such as health care, in the form of increases in internal and local face-to-face event participation in 2021.
Business events participants, event professionals, and Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs) are finding that their recent short-term pivots to omnichannel and digital events have had unexpected and positive consequences – specifically, such pivots are paving the way for long-term innovations in how events are marketed, executed and monetized.
Compass now projects continued sluggish demand for face-to-face business events through 2021, with 39% of survey respondents expecting a 50% or greater decline in their 2021 face-to-face business event participation compared to 2019 levels. Pent-up demand will manifest, particularly in some key industry sectors such as health care, in the form of increases in internal and local face-to-face event participation in 2021.
Business events participants, event professionals, and Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs) are finding that their recent short-term pivots to omnichannel and digital events have had unexpected and positive consequences – specifically, such pivots are paving the way for long-term innovations in how events are marketed, executed and monetized.
Multichannel and digital events present organizations with such opportunities as:
– Varying event length – for example, a previously three-day event can now be spread over three weeks for improved engagement and memory retention.
– Global reach – organizations can cost-effectively draw audience members from around the world.
– Leveraging artificial intelligence to assess user-profiles and customize participants’ experience in a way that directly drives relevant information to them.
– Providing participants with a polished, well-produced broadcast that is as engaging as watching a television program.
Comprehensive Global Methodology
Supported by a PCMA Foundation investment, PCMA Insights – PCMA’s global consulting practice – undertook an unprecedented assembly of global data and perspectives to inform the development of the insights and strategies in Compass. This included six PCMA Think Tanks with over 130 global business event leaders, business sentiment surveys from thousands of PCMA members and global stakeholders, surveys of frequent business event participants, surveys with chief human resource officers, and interviews with global brand and association leaders. Learnings were supplemented with reviews of regional pandemic health policies and analysis of global econometric recovery models. The Oct. 2020 report features global business event participant survey insights obtained in July and September 2020 that represent more than 1,700 business event experiences. In addition, industry leaders contributed best-in-class examples of business event experimentation, new business models, and reskilling.