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Chairman's Blog

In this my first Eventia blog I would like to draw your attention to our recently published White Paper, ‘Green Shoots Forecast By Britain’s Live Events Sector’ which pulls together in one document all the key industry research and data relevant to all our members’ activities and the industry as a whole.

Encouragingly, in compiling this, we found it is evident that the value of face-to-face communications and live events is consistently confirmed by research and  backed up by return on investment.  For example, in a global survey of 2,300 Harvard Business Review Subscribers (conducted by Harvard Business Review Analysis Services in 2009), virtually all survey participants (95%) said that face-to-face meetings are a key factor in successfully building and maintaining long-term business relationships. This reflects what many executives call the “high impact” of in-person communications.

This is all great news as now we have the means to prove what we in the industry have known all along, but this does not mean that we as an industry can now rest on our laurels. A new study by Cornell Center for Hospitality Research, entitled ‘The Future of Meetings: The Case for Face-to-Face’, examines the complex issues surrounding the format of group meetings and events against a backcloth of an explosion in virtual meeting technology. The study notes that meetings can be completely virtual, completely face-to-face, or a hybrid of the two, with leading companies using all three formats. The challenge for meeting planners is to decide which format is most effective for the outcome they require. This study further underscores the fact that as an industry we are moving more and more into the communications arena in the role of consultant.

So, rather than rely on personal preference or currently popular approaches, the study recommends that the decision in respect of meeting type is a strategic one that should rest on specific, scientific criteria. These science-based criteria help executives determine when face-to-face is the most effective approach for large group meetings and events. This decision is important because face-to-face meetings require the greatest investment of all meeting types, and thus carry the greatest expectations for a strong return on investment. The study concludes that face-to-face is most likely to be the best format in the following three business situations:

1. To capture attention, particularly when you want to initiate something new or different

2. To inspire a positive emotional climate, as a way to catalyse collaboration,innovation, and performance; and

3. To build human networks and relationships, realising that information can

increasingly be shared virtually whereas the greater value is in people networks and relationships. 

There is no doubt that virtual technology will overcome many hurdles that currently exist and is set to become a greater force in the future.  On one level we must embrace it and recognize that on a hybrid basis (live and virtual) it is a tool to reach a wider audience and therefore leverage the expenditure on the live event, but on another, it could be seen as a threat.  We must continue to shout about live events and make the case for face-to-face.  There is no doubt that we have a strong case, but the more research we have to prove the point and the more we can introduce the ‘science’ the more convincing we will be.  To download the whitepaper click here.

Regards

Mark