Events and Community

In recent years, the concept of "community" has become a buzzword in the tech industry. The rise of social media has brought people together like never before, and companies are starting to realize the importance of building communities around their products and services. This is especially true for software companies, which rely heavily on developers and other key industry partners to help them build and improve their products. That's where the concept of "Community as a Service" (CaaS) comes in.

For three years leading up to the Great Recession I had the privilege of working alongside a master of business. His name is Gary Wollerman, known as the architect behind Ruth's Chris' explosive international growth throughout the 1990s.

In 2001 Gary had ventured out on his own and opened New Orleans' best restaurant, GW Fins with fellow Ruth's Chris alum Chef Tenney Flynn. Over the next few years the seafood house racked up nearly every exclusive award imaginable, including Esquire's highly coveted top ranking.

From day one on the job Gary communicated his single key to success: create raving fans. For him, every person who walked through the doors -- from the dish porter to the postal carrier to the guests -- was to be welcomed, treated, and accommodated with preemptive service at every turn. This lesson stuck with me because the end results were always undeniable. It's become the very fabric of my work ethic and how I manage my professional life.

A recent PULSE Survey of event planners around the globe by Northstar Meetings Group reports that 81% of meeting and event planners are ready to host live in-person events in 2021 despite COVID challenges.

Nearly 25% of the 1,000 planners who responded to the survey also confirmed they're eager to host their first in-person event by the end of 2021's second quarter.

Yet at no point in the survey were respondents asked if they should host events or whether agreeing to do so for their clients was ethical. This seems to be the current state of our industry: eager to get back to work at any cost, innovation be damned.

Ah, 2020. The year that began with a tumultuous first quarter for the events industry wrapped up its final quarter with multiple vectors and opportunities for sustainable growth. But is the industry even aware?

Virtual events and hybrid events have uncovered layers of data and evolving trends that, when plugged into solid sales and marketing automation pipelines, will yield future events that can withstand the most unthinkable circumstances.

Increasing audience engagement to enhance traditional events sales and marketing strategy can best be achieved by the pivot to live-virtual hybrid events, says global events logistics leader Freeman Co. in a recent blog post. Traditional standalone events which may make a comeback in the latter half of 2021 will be most competitive when a virtual component is included to exceed marketing objectives.