LIVECOM 2022 - EXPECTATIONS & CHALLENGES

Some events will continue to be digital and “hybrid” will often play a role. We have already summarised what needs to be considered for digital events in december – see this blog.

At the beginning of the new year, we now venture an outlook on new aspects and the special challenges of face-to-face events:

1. Increase in price for meeting rooms in hotels
   Due to the lost revenues in 2020 and also partly in 2021, we expect an increase in the rental costs for meeting rooms in hotels. However, the shift towards hybrid events also plays a role: in the past, meetings were usually linked to a high number of overnight stays and hotels were therefore able to offer a meeting room quite cheaply as an add-on.

    

   Due to the reduction in the number of rooms booked in combination with  a larger meeting room (in order to maintain distances and set up the additionally required technology), hotels will now increase the prices for room rentals in order to cushion the lack of overnight revenues.

    

2. Finding (good) staff
   Staff shortages have already become apparent in 2021 – especially in the catering and event technology sectors. Many people had to reorient themselves during the pandemic and no longer work in the event industry. This is causing prices to rise further here as well.

    

   We expect the situation to come to a head, especially in the peak months. For autumn 2022, we recommend planning very early and scheduling staff to ensure a successful event.

    

3. Sustainable event management can become a competitive factor
   Climate change is advancing rapidly and the new German government could become the “climate government” that promotes a climate-friendly way of life. Event management has also been rethinking the sustainable organisation of events for some time (e.g. sustainable exhibition stand construction at the IAA MOBILITY 2021). This can become a competitive factor for event organisers in the future. Those who have a mature sustainability concept and implement it consistently could have an advantage in comparison with others. In future, customers will attach importance to how events are organised and pay attention to how the organiser deals with the environment.

4. Lead generation with events | their role in community building
   The organisation of live events must offer the customer added value – we have already described this in our blog post on experiences, learnings and trends.

    

   The goal is to actively build and maintain a group of people around a topic for many years. The networking of people at events plays a major role here. To build a real community for sustainable business growth, you need a strategy that consists of many measures.

   The role events play in lead generation and where the opportunities of community building lie is explained very well in this article on Xing (German language):

    

Part 1: Einführung

Part 2: Chancen des Community Building