With working from home now firmly established as the norm
for many, how has this mega-trend affected event planners and their events?
New research from Leicester events venue Athena has revealed three key insights into how working from home has affected the appetite for events, how organisers have changed their approach - and whether events have become more important than ever to
foster community among a fragmented and remote workforce.
Incentivising delegates is now crucial
Event planners may need to offer more incentives to
encourage delegates to leave their home offices, particularly as they encounter
higher travel and accommodation costs.
The Land Registry has embraced subsidised travel and tickets
at events. Paul Hayden, secretary of LR Leisure, the Land Registry's sports and
social organiser, has found that the rise in remote working has led to a
greater need to foster a sense of community.
He said: “To get people to move, we need to think about
incentives at events. There was pent-up demand for in-person events post-Covid,
but this only happened for a short time.
“As a solution, many of our offices have been hosting events
within offices to get people back socialising and into the office, which
importantly acts as a springboard for other events.”
Personalising awards is key, too, addd Hayden. “At our
recent awards event, there was a people's award where one person from each
office is nominated. This award is voted for by staff, which drives both
engagement and attendance.”
Greater demand for awards and recognition events
The rise in remote working and fragmented workforces has led
to a greater demand for fun and celebratory awards that recognise and reward
people and products, and unite teams.
Leanna Ellis, events director of FMC, organised The
Dentistry Awards at Athena in November. She said: “The want to recognise or have
recognition, has increased. Fragmented workforces have driven this trend for
some industries. Social media has also driven demand. Traditionally, the
typical British thing to do is to not boast about your achievements – social
media has changed that – it is now ok to talk about your success.
“The dentistry industry now recognises the power of social
media as a free marketing tool to shout about your achievements, and this is
boosting the power and demand for awards and recognition events.”
High drop-out rates renew focus on strategy and quality
Working from home has made people more selective about which
events they attend. Event planners have also had to be more mindful of
employees’ personal time and work-life balance, which has led to some events
being organised within working hours.
Abi Reed, events manager of Gateley said: “Dropouts on the
day have increased since hybrid working has become much more widespread.
Sometimes plans change and people end up working from home, or have childcare
issues, so last-minute dropouts have become a huge challenge for event
planners.
“With this in mind, we have changed our strategy and given
greater attention to what our target audience wants, why we are hosting the
event, whom we want there, and what we want to achieve. This is to ensure we
are creating events our target audience wants to leave their homes to attend.”
A desire to travel led Holly Patrick to the business meetings and events world and she’s never looked back. Holly takes a particular interest in event sustainability and creating a diverse and inclusive industry. When she’s not working, she can be found rolling skating along Brighton seafront listening to an eclectic playlist, featuring the likes of Patti Smith, Sean Paul, and Arooj Aftab.
