3 Crucial Challenges for Onsite Events in 2022

Staff Shortages

Worldwide, particularly within the service industry, the hardest hit being services such as hotel management, baggage handlers at airports, and restaurant staff, are causing insurmountable delays.  Recently, London Heathrow was forced to cancel 10% of its flights, impacting 5,000 travelers as they struggled with staff shortages at baggage claim.  Flights are being canceled, which means attendees and event speakers are getting delayed arriving onsite to venues, often without their belongings.

Recommendations

• Suggest that speakers and attendees choose direct flights. Many of the flights being canceled are connecting flights from international hubs.
• Encourage people to pack a second set of clothing in their carry-on bags, especially for international travel so that if they are impacted by baggage claim issues, a plan B will at least assuage some of the stress and frustration.

Fuel Prices

Rising fuel costs are impacting all modes of transportation, air, land & sea.  Using this global gas pricing calculator, we can see that while we are facing excessive costs in the United States, globally, prices are even higher.  Within the US, the average cost of a flight has increased 18.6% from March to April 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the most significant one-month jump in recorded history. Compared to this time last year, airfare is up 33%. That means, on average, Americans are paying a third more for flights than they did a year ago.

Recommendations

• Leveraging a hybrid event model or a “watch party” model, where groups gather in regional and global locations, as an option, is an effective way to enable networking and give access to speakers at mini conferences, throughout your attendee base.
• Consider delivering a parallel event to provide content and a unique experience tailored for those who could not attend in-person.

Rising Event Costs

As a result of points one and two above, event venues are increasing costs and passing them to event organizers.  Last week, a client shared with us that their food and beverage costs for their event had risen by 40%. The shipping and handling of equipment had increased by an average of four to six percent,  and hotel charges increased by 25%. In fact, Bloomberg recently shared that in New York, hotel prices have skyrocketed.

Recommendations

• Contracts negotiated with venues in 2020 rolled over to 2022 and may have legal terms limiting them from up charging these items. Consult your legal team or a reputable event agency to negotiate 2022 rates and terms on your behalf.
• Look at your monetization strategy for your event and find additional ways you can increase sponsorship for your event.

If the challenges we face continue to drive the United States into a recession, just like in 2008, leveraging virtual events and creating unique monetization opportunities enabled BTB, BTC, and DTC events to continue to thrive.  Having a digital strategy and option in place, whether you must use it or not, is one action to take as you plan your in-person events.

Interested in learning more about how beedance can assist with your hybrid, digital or parallel event strategy?

Contact us today to speak to one of our expert humans!