PCMA today released an executive summary of the December 2020 update to Business Events Compass, an actionable framework of insights and strategies for business event professionals and their business partners for the pandemic and beyond. Takeaways from the updated research include:
- Recovery is coming: Twenty-eight percent of business event survey respondents now expect a greater than ten percent increase in their 2021 face-to-face business event participation, relative to 2019 levels. This compares to ten percent in October. In Asia-Pacific, thirty-nine percent of participants expect a ten percent or greater increase in 2021 face-to-face participation. Comparables for the Americas and EMEA are twenty-three percent and twenty-four percent respectively.
- Digital event preferences are growing: As the pandemic continues, participants are becoming more comfortable with digital platforms as a viable option. Thirty percent of participants reported that a key reason for their expected change in face-to-face participation was that they “prefer digital events.” This compares to 18 percent in October and likely reflects continued improvements in digital event technology and available provider partners.
“Compass now points to a light at the end of the tunnel,” said PCMA president and CEO Sherrif Karamat, CAE. “And business events will be a vital part of the restoration of economic and social well-being in a post-pandemic world. It won’t be easy, and it won’t be the same, but our role in bringing people and ideas together to create opportunities will be foundational.”
PCMA is holding Convening Leaders 2021 this week January 11-15. Launching from PCMA’s global broadcast center at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, Convening Leaders 2021 will offer a combination of streaming broadcast TV (with a live studio audience in some locations), digital community-building and face-to-face experiences through PCMA’s Official Network Partners.
When and How to Get More Information on the Full Report
The new Executive Summary of the of the PCMA Foundation funded report — Business Events Compass 3.0 — is available free of charge on the PCMA website to all members ($49 USD to non-members) as well as to all participants at Convening Leaders 2021. The full report will be available next week.
Author: Adam Parry
Adam is the co-founder and editor of www.eventindustrynews.com Adam, a technology evangelist also organises Event Tech Live, Europe’s only show dedicated to event technology and the Event Technology Awards. Both events take place in November, London.
