The remixed event industry will help the emerging players and newly skilled event workers. The budget will plummet. Physical and virtual set-up are both important.

Everyone has been forced to the digital adoption. It will already be a part of the event ecosystem. The price will go down. More events will go cheaper. Some of the requirements will become free. The suppliers with an expanded (not necessarily big) inventory will have an advantage. The event agencies with lower talent fees and newly skilled production people will be able to sustain in the long run.

Injecting the digital or virtual set-up leads to the creation of the new players. The hype is obvious at the moment. The new set-up will eventually lessen or eliminate the chunks of the physical steel, aluminum and wood. As the new intermediaries, event technology groups will share the pie. Clients will look more for technology-driven factors than the traditional creatives.

Those confident agency marketing heads and creatives who said that clients do not want to use digital and social media because it is not measurable as compared to the mainstream TV, radio and print will remain silent. Some will still not admit it yet pretentious. It delays the company’s potential to grab the knob and open the door of the next Narnia. However, they will eventually consider giving birth to a new digital marketing department. What they may not be aware of is that it requires technical skills and technology partnership. Spinning off into a new realm with the old mindset will not help.

The budget will never be the same as it used to be. Obvious budget cuts usually happen every five to ten years, as per my business experience. However, moving sideways will help introduce new services where the budget may be reallocated. Example is when we hatched from producing client-sponsored concerts to organizing corporate events and on-ground activations.

The early adoption of the freelancers during the pandemic is beneficial to the event agencies who will hire them. The demand for 3D and virtual set-up capability will be recognized more. Hence, the industry will need more new talents. Equipment is easier to purchase than producing newly skilled production-technical people. How many are currently exploring the Unreal Engine app? The DOP becomes more relevant in a studio lighting set-up to make sure that it complies with the balance in both livestream and video recording. Those who invested in studio and video lighting have been given new hope that after the projects in doing TV commercials or films have been limited.

If the clients or event agencies want to advance in the industry race, gather and use the data. Who controls it, wins, as the global industry experts say. On the supplier side, the events during the pandemic favor the livestream groups who have track records. Globally, the event technology groups appear to be the most articulate overall.

The industry has already been departmentalized and democratized even before the pandemic. However, the big old time suppliers need to do the same. New niches will emerge. Reinventing the business is the way to do. Remember, you will not be talking to the same clients or people three to five years from now. The future clients can already shoot and edit their own videos, can write a script and copy, and can produce exciting and radical stories. In the end, it is still the clients who will win.

The event industry will not die. Instead, it will help the emerging players. Newly skilled event workers will become more updated in the beyond-the-digital scene, and probably with cheaper talent fees. Four years ago, I noticed the capability of my corporate clients’ in-house event organizing committee. They are very good and I am impressed. Collaborating with them gives me a different kind of lenses. The best part is, we listen to each other. They may not be a part of the current big league but they may define the new need or future requirements.

Meanwhile, everyone in the event industry is important. Physical and virtual set-up are both important. Regardless of the size or scope, the opportunities are much needed. Anybody who wants to be a part of the next chapter is surely doing his or her homework, and that includes more experimentation, discussions, failings, and advancing.

Note: My thoughts and ideas are based on our current industry status with the inspiration I got from reading different articles, studying the white paper provided by the event industry news in the U.S. and in the U.K., and attending the webinars spearheaded by global event and marketing experts. Credit to Rafat Ali of Skift who shared the lessons based on his experience on how he sees the multifarious in the multimedia industry. His piece is the last thing I have read while composing my insights. As an event agency entrepreneur, a technical supplier, a producer, and an event technology startup owner, I had to translate those thoughts and ideas to the local scenario and how our current status is still quiet and experimental.

Email me at ronald@rope.com.ph.

Instagram/Twitter/LinkedIn: @ronaldlucero