WHY WE ARE EXCITED TO GET BACK TO LIVE EVENTS

Hello, this is Les Goldberg, and welcome to The Road Ahead. The Road Ahead podcast is dedicated to the future of the live events business, bringing together industry experts. Hello, production world, this is Les Goldberg on The Road Ahead. I have three amazing guests. I have Jeff Goldstein. He is the CEO of Legend Productions. I have Dan Peeples. He's the executive vice president of event operations for Media Loft. And I have Katharyn Pinder, the founder and chief relationship officer for Whistle Communications. Everybody, welcome to the show. Thank you. Thanks, Les. Great to be here. Well, I'm glad you all are here. And we're kind of seeing that COVID is starting to go away. And this show is dedicated to the idea and why we're so excited about the return to live, live meetings. When we're in ballrooms, we can see each other. I even see people in ballrooms without masks right now and living in Florida, primarily in an open state. We're so excited about the fact that conventions are happening again. And I'll tell you, sitting in the warehouse watching them load trucks is actually brought me more happiness than I can describe. So I'm going to bring out the first question. And then the first question is to Dan. Dan, what are you most excited about in the idea of the return of live meetings? Well, you know, it's funny, as we were chatting before this, I think Katharyn actually said it best on the fact that, you know, seeing colleagues and staff actually getting out there, bringing in our freelance teams back to, to doing something more than just creating a, a studio in someone's headquarters, which we've been doing a lot of through the pandemic, but actually just being able to see them get back and and get into a ballroom work, bring all of those things that we used to pre-pandemic back together from the standpoint of staging and and logistics and creative and what goes on to screen and having a late night creative review and, you know, going then afterwards with the team to, you know, I'd say it, but to the bar and have a, have a beer before you go to bed. I mean, you know, it's those are the things that for me as a producer, certainly excited about. But it's also great to see our clients being able to bring their attendees back and put them face to face and give them that experience. I think that everybody's been pining for for the last several months, especially as our landscape continues to quickly evolve as more and more municipalities lessen the rules and take the mask off and allow people more to get together. And as those vaccination numbers continue to climb, that's just getting better and better. And it's such a great impact on our on our industry to be able to do that. So I think it's a multitude it's a long answer to the fact that it's just it's time, it's great. And the the energy I'm seeing around it, especially from colleagues, vendors and clients, etc. about being back in person is just awesome. So, you know, one of the things that you had said was the fact that you get to get the you get the band back together, kind of like your crew and you kind of that's like your road family. And in some, in some instances, if we could go back to 2019, sometimes your road family is as close to you as your real family because you're you're spending so much time with them. I'm throwing the same question to Katharyn. Katharyn, what are you most excited about in return for live events? Well, I you know, Dan said it best. Getting back together with your colleagues is certainly top of mind. It was so impressed what we've accomplished over the last 14 months. And we work with some of the most incredible, smart, inventive people. And to actually see them face to face would be great. But the other thing that's really important is if our clients is to help reestablish that purpose and culture. For the companies that I work with, again, live events really are the best way to bond and reestablish that networking, build that internal culture and to reestablish purpose. And I think we get to do that as event people and production people with a sense of awe and wonder. And that's nothing that you can replicate virtually. And so, you know, working with you less. Over the many years we've done this, we've created some tremendous, tremendous environments that really help promote that meeting. So I'm excited about that. I just want you to know, when you said the word or I just kind of took a deep breath and went, oh my goodness, to think of the things that we have done. But the idea of when the show kicks off and the audience has anticipation of whatever the opening video is and you get, you know, that that little nervousness before that, oh my goodness, I, I miss those moments for sure. Jeff same question. We're going back to live. What are you most excited about? Well, I think I think that Dan and Katharyn, you know, both hit the nail on the head. I try to think of a couple of words to describe my feelings about it. And two words come to mind energy and joy. And I feel that joy is is not just the joy of of all of us working together on a show floor. I think of it as like a feature film. You know, as you say, you're out your own location with with your crew, with your team, you know, it becomes your family. But I think the same can be said for clients. I think clients are missing the joy of live events as well. So we have great times with our clients. Work hard. Play hard is kind of our, you know, motto. When we're out in the field doing a show for clients and they all feel that same desire to get back into that, that environment of camaraderie, despite the stress, despite the, you know, the crazy hours and, you know, the 2 a.m., you know, revisions and all that. I think I think people get great joy out of that working vibe. Do you know the idea of bringing a sales force together and having the CEO or the chief marketing officer, you know, kind of roll out the message and reveal the plan and the energy of putting all those people in the room together? It kind of goes back to that word you said, energy, and I think you can't create that virtually. I don't believe that is is actually possible, but I'm ready for some of that energy and some of that joy. I'll take both of that in unlimited supplies. Okay. I'm going on to my next question. It's to Dan. Dan, I want you to take me through the last 14 months of your working career and explain to me how that's in, how that's impacted yourself and the anticipation of people trying to get back to the ballroom, because I realize that people are dying to get out, and they're so excited about it because they've been pent up for so long. And that's why, you know, consumer travel has really boomed, especially as the summer is coming. So what are your thoughts on first, reflect on the last 14 months, kind of whatever the adjectives you can describe it. And then the anticipation of of those audience members getting coming back to the ballroom. Well, if I can put one adjective or descriptor to the last 14 months, I'd say it's a roller coaster. I think, you know, you we I mean, 14 months ago, we crashed hard. I mean, I don't care who you are in the industry. I don't care where you were at in the industry or who your client was, etc. When I remember being in Barcelona doing a site inspection for Mobile World Congress, I remember getting on that plane at the end of that. And by the time I landed, Mobile World Congress canceled. Right. So that was the start of it. And then just watching, you know, things happen, I, you know, into March, I think I was in San Diego with another, with a partner of ours, and we were driving from one meeting, heading to another one. And the phone started ringing for both of us. And literally I think by the time we got to the next appointment, we had lost seven events between the two of us that had just canceled with, you know, what we're going to do. As you can imagine, that's a it's insane. It was an insane emotional probably three weeks when it first started. And then at some point you got to roll your sleeves up and say, okay, how are we going to figure this out? How are we going to support our clients? Because they're also going through the same thing that you were going through, right? They didn't want to call you and cancel their event. They didn't want to call and do that. So it was how do we change? How do we. And I think, you know, all of you probably did the same thing last. I know, you and your team, you know, were were instrumental in us figuring out some ways to continue to help, you know, some of our clients in the early going, you know, so just, you know, you start to build back up. And then we got into this world of virtual, and it was great because we were able to replicate some of that and give people the ability to still meet and connect, even though it was virtually. And then now we've been in a fatigue. Right? We, you know, up until things started opening, if anybody says they weren't in a Zoom fatigue or a virtual meeting fatigue or, you know, oh, great. Another another thing, I got to go watch on my computer and then go click around a virtual trade show. It just it the last I would say 4 or 5 months that fatigue was happening. And then you mixing the news and the reports and things opening and not opening and vaccines working and strains and this and that and the other thing. And then all of a sudden Florida opened up Texas, followed by Amen, amen. I live in Florida. All of a sudden Florida opened up, Texas opened up. You know, you went through the winter, all the ski resorts were open with, you know, certain rules. And, and people started getting back on planes. And you watch that kind of, you know, consumer travel will always come back and for work, travel. And so now just the insistence of getting through that entire roller coaster to now where we're actually I mean, I'm going on a site inspection Monday. I'm getting you know, I've already been on a couple of site already and pre-planning for events that are happening, you know, through the end of the year and into next year and the anticipation of actually doing that and we've done one is, is just I mean, it's it's great. So we're we're now climbing that roller coaster again. Right? We're we're now climbing, climbing, climbing, climbing. And I think that the the other side of the drop I think is not a drop. I think it's the rush, you know. So I think this next, you know, when you do hit that type and things are happening and you figure out if it's fully live, you got a hybrid model, you got to do this, it's back to the energy is back to 3 to 4 weeks after the reality set in of where it was going. And you were starting to figure out what was next, and you had to research and get with your teams. And what are the best things that we're going to put out there? I mean, you see various companies putting out catchy names for hybrids and all that sort of stuff now, right? So it's just getting that energy back now to what is next. But the next includes people in seats and that's the best part of it. And then it's now how do you support those that maybe still not want to come, still don't want to take the mask off or still at home, that sort of thing. And I think that's got a year or so of legs in it. And, and we'll, we'll start to settle into what our new normal is. And I think that's the exciting and and sorry this is so long, but that's the anticipation of us and the excitement of that anticipation going forward for our clients as what we're is, where we're at now. That was a very comprehensive answer, Dan. I was very complete. I want to tell you, I have never seen happier crews in my life than I have going out to a ballroom, to a venue, any venue, doing a show. Right now. People are so happy to be back to work. That and I'm speaking it from the crew perspective. But, you know, it's interesting. So Katharyn, the last 14 months, maybe your perspective, your clients, your experiences and the thought of getting your customer and their their attendees back to a ballroom. Whoa. So many things. I want to go back and say, you know, the word that I really resonated with me for the last 14 months was magic. I know it was a crazy word in a very end, when we pivoted, we we saw the magic of what our crews could do and how we took what we do from a live event and made it virtual, and the thought of new and inspiring ways to make it happen. But that never replaced the fact that they're dying. Everyone's dying to get back to a live meeting. I'm doing, you know, nine regional meetings right now. And my attendees had the they had the choice of going live or virtual, and I would say 85% picked to go in person regionally. And I think that's only going to continue to snowball where everyone wants to get back in that ballroom together. So I think the anticipation is enormous. I think people can't wait there bursting at the seams to go back and either elbow bump or fist bump or even actually shake somebody else's hand and give them a hug. So I think, but what we've done, we should be so proud of how this industry has pivoted and what we've done to get to where we are. Think that complacency did not happen, and I don't think we will be complacent going forward. We'll take the lessons of what we learned from being a part and and only make that that live meeting even better. I don't know if that answers your question. Oh, it absolutely does. And I will tell you if there was ever a time in our lives to get really good at doing something virtual, we've had some time to do that. This was the year to learn virtual, so now we can take that tool and be able to deploy it for future events no matter where, when, how, etc.. Okay, I'm throwing the same question to Jeff. 14 months and clients getting back to ballrooms. What are your thoughts? You know, I, I think the prevailing thought for me going back 14 months ago or more is, is that, you know, what's human nature? You know, how is human nature going to lead us down this path? You know, is human nature going to say to us? Hey, this idea of never going anywhere, working, virtually, conducting business in this model is, is, is does that have staying power? Is that, you know, and I think 14 months ago, you know, that was that was sort of the big question in our industry, you know, is this is this going to become the new norm. And we, you know, and LinkedIn was a good sort of environment to see how people were thinking and feeling about all of this. And, you know, we started to see some clients posting different things. Some of our clients, just some in general about, you know, hey, this is great. You know, we're saving all kinds of money on travel. We're saving all kinds of money on audio visual staging expenses. And that's not something you want to save money on. That's something you really need to invest. I agree, you know, invest heavily. But but these were these this was the noise that was coming out and you know, and so my my reaction to that was, was, was to was 180 that I was extremely positive about this. I never felt that, you know, virtual and you know, to Katharyn's point, you know, the crews, the engineers, everybody figured it out and, you know, express their passion for the industry and solving client problems. And that all was the you know, that was wonderful. And we're all doing that. But I just felt that, you know, nature was going to push us back to ballrooms and being together. And, you know, I'm really I'm happy to see that finally, you know, coming to fruition. So that was, you know, so there was a little bit of fear, you know, but there is a lot of optimism. And, you know, I expressed my optimism throughout the entire 14 months, you know, in my various posts and communications to say we're not settling for virtual as a way of life. So, yeah, I am so excited to hear the word optimism, because if you turn on the news, they tend to be not happy news. It's pretty much unhappy news. And and I think it perpetuates, I think the, the CEOs and the decision makers about having meetings and events are watching the news. And until they feel the coast is clear, I think that's when it's green light. And I think we may not hear an announcement of an event yet, but they're probably planning an event like a lot of the things that you all work on, they don't get announced, but the planning process starts once people start feeling the coast is clear. This is the next question. This is to Dan. Dan, do you think attendees are ready to travel? Are they ready to get on a plane? I mean, participate, would you say out of out of 100 people you surveyed, how many of those attendees are ready to go? How about I just answer with, yes, okay. That's fine. Okay. Real quick. Yeah. Yeah, I think they are. And to answer, you're probably looking at, I would guess 85 right now, maybe maybe 80 to 85, I think out of the hundred are ready. And I think you just see it over the course. I mean I don't know, I mean I the more and more I go to the airport, the more and more crowded it is, the more and more packed it is. Which means that the, the business travelers also starting to return. Right. Got it. Katharyn, do you agree? Disagree. Do you agree with this 85%? Yes yes yes yes. They can't wait. And I think it's only going to go up. The more vaccines happen, the more people are going to attend. So yes okay. All right Jeff, this question is will health and safety still be a big issue, like, you know, in the events we've done in the last 3 or 4 months as they started to come back, masks and social distancing and temperatures and some COVID testing and whether it's crew COVID testing, you know, if you take me to October of this year, will we be doing any of this? We should be. Okay. So you think that'll get retained? That's what I meant. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't know how it will ultimately play out, but I think that it is a positive to to do. So. I think, you know, I think audience perception is an important factor. I don't think people are ready to sort of, you know, I think about going on to an aircraft cabin, you know, that, you know, some airlines, you know, you get a sense everything's been cleaned and disinfected and it's an environment you're comfortable in. I don't think anybody wants to pull back from that. On the in an airline situation. I think the same can be said in a hospital situation, whether it's a convention center or a hotel ballroom or a special event space. Let the clients know that we care and that this is an important factor going forward. And it's not I don't think it's just about COVID. At some point, it's not going to be about COVID. I think it's just going to be a general, you know, this is going to fall into the flu and cold category down the road. So why not address all of that going forward? I think one of the good things that if there's any good thing that could have ever come out of this pandemic was the fact that the cleanliness has become an important thing. And, Katharyn, do you think that the cleaning that we experienced so far, whether it's your hotel room or things they're doing for excessive cleaning, you think that will be retained? I do, I think until it becomes an economic ability, I think there are probably costs that are associated with that additional amount of cleaning. I think it's I think you're right. I think people are much more concerned about cleanliness and health and safety. And I think that that's just in the psyche of people in general. That'll be participant. But again, how long hotels will continue on with hypervigilance certainly for like hotel rooms and things like that. Well made services only come once a week etc.. We'll see. We'll see where that nets out. But for right now, I think it's important for people to keep that top of mind again, because the flu is still the flu. I got you, the flu is coming. Ready or not, I get my flu shot every year. So this question to Dan. Dan, will crews need to be vaccinated? We'll we'll will you be getting the call from the producer and saying, hi Dan, I just need to make sure my client said all the crew members have to be vaccinated and you have to validate that. Is that is that going to happen to slippery slope? Right. It's definitely a slippery slope. We are in conversations with our legal departments now or our legal counsel now around that this very issue. We do have some clients that are asking for full, fully vaccinated staff, but there's also HIPAA rules and things that we are bound to that we can or cannot ask those, as you you know, as all all of you well know, is running a business. There's there's certain things you can ask for and certain things that are volunteered for. But at the end of the day, the client also can decide to hire you or not. So and I think that's the that's the tightrope we're going to walk around fully vaccinated cruise a request for for fully vaccinated cruise until there is some, you know, legal direction out there. It's going to it's going to be a it you my my opinion is and what I would tell anybody in our industry, no matter what side of the aisle you lean or think about or whatever, you know, get vaccinated, period. Like, don't even make this an issue. You know, I'm, I'm fully vaccinated. My, my wife's fully vaccinated. Those, those type of things and people I think are willing to tell you that they are just like I've obviously told however many of your listeners that I'm vaccinated, which is fine to me. It's not a private thing, but to me it's a necessary thing for people working in our industry. It just really is. And I've, you know, I've sat on the back of a truck recently with a couple of guys before we were in Arizona about two months ago, doing a pop up studio at a hotel that we did, and I was sitting on the back of the truck, and one of the guys who was just adamant about not getting vaccinated and this, that, the other thing and, and I shared with him my thoughts on it. You know, you're in this industry. We fight it. At this point. You probably put worse stuff for sure. Yeah. As I said, you probably put worse stuff in your body than what this vaccine could possibly do to it at this point. I mean, so it's just to me, the smart move is just get vaccinated and not make this an issue for sure. Okay, I've got two more questions. So this one is to Katharyn. Katharyn, what is the CEO thinking when they have to make a decision about holding an event? Take me through the eyes of the CEO that you're dealing with for the pharmaceutical company. And they're like, we need to hold an event. What has to happen in your mind for them to to get to go? I think if you're the CEO and again, I'm not the CEO of a major corporation, but my company, I think you're thinking culture and purpose drive the success of my business, along with a team that trusts each other. And I think there's no better way to build that trust than to have face to face meetings, live meetings and events. And again, that's what drives culture, what drives collaboration. It drives that sense of trust between people. And I think that's what they're thinking. I think we have to do this. We have to maintain a culture that has been dissipated from a virtual perspective. So so I completely agree with you, and I hope that, you know, some some companies have let's just say one company does an event. I feel there's an intense pressure for the competitor of that company to also hold an event. So if you're a big, you know, soda manufacturer and there's a competitor, you know, that one does it, then the other one feels they have to. What you just said was so important because that's what we saw in the beginning of the pandemic, right? One show canceled, the next show canceled, the next show canceled, the next show, the IT industry. You watch the IT industry, they probably right now are probably the slowest ones in returns coming back because of their global reach and their global and employee identification, and especially within India and, you know, Asia and some of those markets that they have huge employee bases in. But as you watch, even some of those like you watched Microsoft cancel their events, then Facebook cancel their events, then once Facebook cancel their events, Google canceled their events. And then you had and I think now you're going to see the exact opposite, you're going to see them starting to come back, and then the next one is going to come back and the next one's going to come back. And I think it's healthy in the industry. But I definitely think some of this, some of it, as we get back to life two, is going to be a perception in industry perception across these clients and what the CEO is thinking about, whether they do the event or not. So anyway, just duly noted. That was good stuff. Dan okay, this is my last question. We're going to start with Jeff. Jeff, predict what 2022 will look like for the event business. Take your crystal ball and look at it and share with the world. Will you know, what will it look like? Will it be massively? It will grow. Will a shrink? Will will it come back? What are your thoughts? I think there is extraordinary pent up demand to get back into in-person events. And I think we're going to see that. I really think it's going to be a strong 2022. I don't think it's going to be to the exclusion of some of the techniques and approaches that we've been taking. I think Dan said this earlier, that the tools we've learned in the virtual space are going to be applied going forward. I do think that there's always there's going to be a number of audience members and participants that are going to, you know, come in through broadband or satellite or what have you over the course of 2022. But I think that there's going to be an extraordinary desire to, to, to get going. And, you know, I think we're all going to be staying quite busy and look forward to that immensely. I hope your words go directly to a higher power and someone pushes the go button on that. Dan, do you agree with Jeff? Thousand percent agree. I think 2022 is going to be busy. We're already starting to see it. I think you're going to see a lot of people have the desire to get back out, to reengage their audience, to reengage, you know, either their sales teams or whatever that audience makeup is. And I do think that through 2022, there will be a requirement on most events that are live to have some sort of virtual feature to them, whether it's, again, whether it's trying to create what you're never going to do, but try to create a equal experience for either virtual or in person, I shouldn't say you're never going to do, but it is extremely tough to do that. But I think you're going to have a virtual component to all of this stuff at least through 2022. And I would and I would say that it probably continues, you know, beyond 2022 and however it's going to morph into. But, you know, I think that 2022 is going to be extremely busy, extremely. Just read energizing those audiences and doing it in a live sort of way is going to be it's going to be great. Before I go to Katharyn, I just want to throw one thought in that during this 14 months, we've had these virtual audiences that have increased from the live audience. We've had more viewers because of the worldwide footprint, and I don't think a lot of people that have gained those viewers are ready to give them up. So I agree with you that while we're doing a live event, there's going to be a virtual version. I think the question is, what's the longevity of that version? And, and, and are we are we gaining something from that. And that might be part of the, the future? Katharyn, would you opine and as we end this session today, would you opine 2020 to take me there? It's only 6 or 7, five, five and a half months away. What is it going to look like? It's going to look like fireworks. Fireworks. I love it, I love it. It's going to be just like Orlando. I think it's going to be fire. I think we're going to be busy. I think people are going to be getting back. I'm excited. I think we're going to see a fireworks economy and I think we're all better start getting ready to start working a lot. You know, I'm going to fasten my seat belt with what Katharyn just said and get ready for like a Disney. They used to call it an e-ticket ride, or we're going to go on an musk rocket and fly around a little bit. Anyway, I really, really appreciate all three of you, Jeff and Katharyn and Dan for joining me today. You all are amazing people and you have such great insight. And this is Les Goldberg and The Road Ahead everybody. Great job. Thanks, Les. It's great to be here. Thank you.