As we approach the end of our ninth financial year and have just returned from our own annual off-site, Story’s CEO, Sam Gill, reflects on the evolving trends in the UK events industry.
It is hard to remember now, that just 12 months ago we were still in the grips of uncertainty as the industry worked its way out of Covid, facing huge challenges in recruiting back staff to service the resurgent demand for events.
Whilst the industry has returned to 2019 levels, there are a few changes to the way events are delivered that have changed for good (in both senses of the phrase!).
Increased ROI on social events and gatherings
Whilst the desire to measure event ROI is as old as my 36-year career (with no real solution in sight!), there is no doubt that hybrid and remote working recruitment challenges and the desire to enhance company loyalty, have all increased the importance and value of regular social gatherings. This was shown with more summer parties and companywide offsites than ever in 2022 and a bounce back in demand for Christmas celebrations following hot on their heels.
We feel it is more important than ever to set clear goals for these events, however informal, so that we can design events and content to help deliver these objectives.
Connectivity is king!
Whilst the days of online conferences are largely behind us now, the huge improvements in online technology have created a significant and beneficial legacy, allowing those unable to attend through distance, travel costs or illness to “be in the room” virtually.
This increases the reach of conferences, exhibitions, and product launches, with live and recorded video content increasing the ROI of live events through social and online sharing.
Also, it is worth noting that, with the increased cost of travel and many more travelling directly to events from home, choosing a venue that is well connected to the rail and local travel networks will deliver higher attendance levels.
Great awareness of sustainable event delivery
Whilst we know that fully remote events in Covid dramatically reduced the carbon footprint of events, as noted above, the value of in-person events had risen in the last 12 months. This put greater responsibility on clients, agencies, venues and suppliers to “walk the walk” on delivering sustainable events.
To some, sustainable events could be perceived as increasing the costs of the event in order to deliver these goals. In most cases there is not a huge cost issue here, so we welcome more focus from our clients in this ever more important area of our industry.
Pressure on budgets vs client expectation
And finally, we are all aware of the spiralling costs of catering, travel, energy and the many other elements required to deliver a great event. And it is no surprise that these costs are being passed on to clients as they try to return to post-Covid profitability.
The challenge that we face is that clients’ budgets are not increasing in line with inflation (again, for understandable reasons!). In many ways this mismatch is healthy, since it helps cut out wasteful elements that can creep in to higher-budgeted events and encourages a healthy element of negotiation with suppliers and venues.
With our many years’ experience, great supplier relationships and venue knowledge, Story are well-placed to get great value for our clients and we continue to welcome the challenge of designing events to deliver the best ROI for most budgets!
So, however you are buying your events, we hope that what is produced is well conceived, with clear objectives and delivered as sustainably as possible. All of these elements will, in turn, help to secure the future of our world-leading events industry.
Here’s to a great and eventful 2023…
