First things first: Our team’s collective New Year’s resolution (or at least our genuine hope) is to make this the last of the “COVID’s Impact on Events” blogs! But as the tumultuous journey persists and our network continues to ask us what we’re seeing and hearing, we wanted to share a few thoughts and insights as we head into 2022.
- From our perspective, event activity and demand are sky-high. We’re not surprised by this, as those companies who have embraced virtual continue to do so, and most of those who had been biding their time for in-person experiences have already begun planning for 2022. At Sequence we have never been busier, and that seems to be general industry sentiment as well. So, yay!
- Coinciding with this demand, there continues to be significant supply chain and labor shortages. These shortages are due to a number of factors and are ultimately creating two challenges. The first is widespread cost increases on everything from materials and personnel to venues and vendors. Put simply, events are just more expensive to produce right now. The second obstacle is that due to the shortages, short-term planning windows — which were very much a Covid staple — currently are not as feasible.
- More generally, when it comes to the impact of Omicron on early 2022 in-person events, Sequence is seeing a variety of reactions:
- Most clients are moving forward with their events as planned, and we are of course incorporating a variety of safety precautions. This is most commonly proof of vaccination (and in some cases, booster shots), proof of a negative test, or both. A lot of this depends on the organization and type of event, as well as the host city/state’s existing mandates.
- A few clients with events in the coming weeks are considering transitioning to virtual, but none have made a final decision yet. A complicating factor is that most venues are not offering the same flexible rescheduling policies that we saw at the beginning of the pandemic (Omicron as it currently stands is not triggering force majeure). This less accommodating response is understandable due to the business strain on hotels and event spaces over the past two years, but adding a potential financial loss to the equation makes the decision to postpone or cancel much less straightforward.
- None of our clients with in-person events scheduled past February are currently looking to change, cancel or reschedule their in-person events. As always, we are in constant communication with our clients and partners and are ready to navigate these ever-changing factors alongside them.
- Most clients are moving forward with their events as planned, and we are of course incorporating a variety of safety precautions. This is most commonly proof of vaccination (and in some cases, booster shots), proof of a negative test, or both. A lot of this depends on the organization and type of event, as well as the host city/state’s existing mandates.
- Between the demand for on-site testing and the shortage of available tests, we anticipate availability from those service providers — especially through Q1 — to be limited. The same limited resources may also come into play for digital vaccination, booster and test verification companies, though likely not to the same extent since those services are less labor intensive.
The equation of Covid + events continues to give us all quite a bit to navigate, but Sequence is here to help! We can assist with any safe in-person, hybrid or virtual experiences as we move into potentially another uncertain year. In the meantime we’re looking forward to welcoming 2022 and hopefully saying an overdue goodbye to all things Covid!