Top 10 Takeaways from the Bash Creative Events Rebound Survey
Bash Creative conducted a survey for Bay Area Event Planners in March 2021 to get a pulse on the rebound of the corporate event industry. This project provided a special opportunity for us to gain valuable insights from various companies across several industries, here are the ‘Top 10 Takeaways’!
Swag bags and an abundance of grazing tables are no longer highlighted features at an event. When attending an event, clients are finding most value in content delivery & speaker line-up. There is also a craving for purposeful connections with multiple, interactive touch points whether it is a virtual or in-person experience. For example, the “choose your own adventure” format, which can be applied to any theme allowing for a personalized agenda and an opportunity to stimulate all five senses.
While we have seen a major uptick in internal and company culture events over the last year, the data shows that many companies are now reserving their event budgets for both Customer User Conferences & Team Holiday Parties.
Corporate planners have certainly adapted to “pivoting” quickly and making VERY short lead times somehow work out. The data shows that planning timelines primarily range between 1-2 months. These shorter timelines do lead to some additional hurdles, but also allow planners to be very on-trend and relevant in these perpetually changing times.
Important areas of focus for corporate planners as they prepare for future events include DEI initiatives & flexible participation. Learning, listening and sharing is the new cornerstone for both company culture initiatives and consumer-facing events. Flexible participation for all event formats has allowed for an increase in reach and global participation, and there is a strong desire to keep on-demand content as we return to live events.
Currently, the top 2 challenges companies are facing are WFH lifestyle balance & lack of company culture. Providing meaningful experiences in a bite-sized format is the key to catering to both of these needs. Valuing attendees’ time and maximizing their work day so that they can balance their personal and professional lives, is more important than ever - especially in a semi-permanent WFH environment.
Although there are a plethora of virtual event platforms available with a wide range of costs, features & capabilities, corporate planners ultimately prefer to stick with what they know when it comes to this area of technology. The top two “favorites” are Zoom & Hopin.
Most corporate planners surveyed are planning to continue with virtual events through 2021. However, almost half are itching to include hybrid or live events sooner rather than later. We have all seen the benefits that virtual events bring to reach and accessibility. Therefore, corporate planners are looking to hold on to these gains as they return to the high demand of in-person gatherings. The opportunity to reach a significantly larger audience with rich content and engagement opportunities allows for continually increasing brand loyalty and overall heightened exposure.
When communicating with our clients, Google Workspace and Microsoft Teams seem to be the most popular “intranet” for companies these days. However, the majority of planners specifically prefer communicating via Google Workspace & Slack for internal communications.
Not only have protocols changed significantly and planning checklists become increasingly more complex, but the cost of returning to in-person or hybrid events is almost triple the typical pre-pandemic spend. Understandably, corporate planners are primarily feeling unprepared when it comes to hybrid event integration and COVID safety & security as we move forward in this transition.
More than half of corporate planners are looking for “all of the above” in their search for an event planning partner. As we return to in-person events and hold on to the virtual strides over the last year, corporate planners are looking to lean on their event production partners even more. The key criteria include the following, in order from most important to least:
Bold creativity & scalable solutions
Project Management
Tech & Production Support
Budget Management
Smooth Integration
Specific Experience
Aligned in Values & Structure
At Bash Creative, we continue to develop original and engaging concepts & solutions for the hybrid world that provide inclusive and meaningful experiences for both live and virtual audiences. We are working to be an industry leader to bring more of our colleagues on board with these changes to launch the event planning industry into the future.
If you would like to contribute to our data collection, please feel free to participate in our open Events Rebound Survey, or contact us directly to continue the conversation. We would love to hear from you!
Stay tuned, we have more to come!
Bash Creative is an event planning company that specializes in incredible gatherings that go beyond just great design. We’re known for teasing out smart goals for your event and serve up a stylish execution that will keep your guests buzzing. Located in San Francisco, but often found in New York, Austin, Chicago, Seattle, and beyond.