'Event Professionals As The New Corporate Communicators' was the fourth session at Hire Space's virtual event, 'Business And Events In A Post-Pandemic World - Part 1', held in partnership with Swapcard and London Filmed.
We welcomed Valerija Slavina, Events and Outreach Manager at Moody's Analytics, Abigail Wilkes, Marketing & Business Development Manager at Eversheds Sutherland offering unique insight into the new role event professionals play as we emerge from lockdown.
You can watch the video below, or read on for our key takeaways of the session.
Table of Contents
1. The evolving value of events teams
2. Multi-skilling is key
3. What skills should an event professional possess?
4. Q&A
5. The Speakers
6. Safer Events Resources
Key Takeaways
The evolving value of events teams
Events teams in a corporate environment are key in driving business. Valerija states that they provide the platform to meet with clients, develop relationships and seek new opportunities through marketing campaigns. In-house events teams are also key in terms of being able to field questions that clients or the wider industry may have, in turn responding by putting on events that address those concerns or questions by bringing in internal and external experts.
However, in these unprecedented times, events teams have also started to play a bigger role in delivering key messages to customers. Due to the current times, it's becoming more challenging to reach existing customers and to reach out to new ones. Valerija explains that in order to to 'break the ice', events teams are now being used as a key stakeholder to build connections between the market and customers. This has been proven to engage potential customers and gain trust.
By providing more personalised experiences, perhaps tailored to a specific market or even country, this demonstrates that the company is staying up-to-date and can assist during difficult times. To read more about how you can move forward and begin creating safer events, download our Safer Events White Paper.
Multi-skilling is key
Abigail notes that a key requirement for events teams right now is that they can multi-skill. Events teams are often thought of as a 'nice to have' service, however more and more, they're proving to be essential strategic advisors to internal stakeholders. Event planners are task driven and invaluable in enabling business to think ahead and consider objectives, therefore through these times where teams are at reduced capacity, this has forced event planners to think about how they can support and add value in the same way that they did before.
She also notes that event planners must take on a shift in mindset. It's a time to look at which areas in the business have the most need, and where opportunities could develop over the next 6 months. This in turn, will encourage event profs to upskill, multi-skill and juggle what they can offer their businesses, adapting to what it needs at that time.
What skills should an event professional possess?
Valerija sheds some light on what skills event professionals should be able to offer in order to thrive in this industry. By nature event professionals are flexible. But the current situation has also proven that they need to be reactive in the short term, as well as strategic and innovative in the long term. They need to adapt to a change in circumstances and serve as a key communicator between the company and the market.
She goes onto say that it would also be extremely valuable for event planners to possess good research skills, so they can keep up to date with trends, especially in technology, and be willing to try something new. She states that we need these skills in order to come back stronger and show how united we are as an industry.
It is also essential for event planners to stay up to date on the latest guidance, to ensure events are as safe as they can be moving forward. If you're interested in more information on how to make your events safer, you can read about our Safer Events Accreditation.
Q&A
What do you want to see from your event production suppliers right now?
Valerija believes that it will be great to see how the event production suppliers have adapted/or adapting to the current situation. We are always interested in seeing what new products they have come up with or how they have managed to update the existing range of products or services to suit the demand. Another important aspect is flexibility from these suppliers. Since the entire industry has been impacted by the situation it will be great to be able to have flexibility when signing contracts or discussing timeline of delivery. Being reactive and able to support clients immediately is what is being valued right now.
The Speakers
Valerija Slavina, Events and Outreach Manager, Moody's Analytics
Valerija is an experienced events specialist with in-depth B2B background having worked for start-up, venue and corporate environments. Throughout the last 8 years Valerija has organised different types of events in the UK and internationally. Her responsibilities include exceptional client service, content development, recruitment of speakers, development of new events formats, management of suppliers. Sectors and clients include finance, education, urban innovation, technology, pharmaceutical and transportation.
Eliot Sargeant, Client Relations, Hire Space
Eliot is an experienced events professional currently leading the charge on Hire Space Professional, the new online platform designed with the modern day event planner in mind. Working with clients from all industries, Eliot and Hire Space's exciting tool are helping transform the way we book and manage our events.
Abigail Wilkes, Marketing & Business Development Manager, Eversheds Sutherland
Abigail is a Marketing and Business Development Manager (US) at Eversheds Sutherland, a global top 15 law practice. Abigail has over 8 years’ experience in running large scale global client events, whilst more recently focused on US markets, Abigail has previously delivered projects in the UK, Spain, France, Brussels and Hong Kong amongst others.
Safer Events Resources
We know navigating this 'new normal' is unknown territory for all, so we've compiled some resources and guidance to help you organise safer events as we start to plan in-person events again.
We've released a whitepaper on Safer Events, our industry accreditation scheme for venues & events organisers. You can read about the measures to make an event safe, see the research behind it & find out how to certify your event or venue.
- Understand Delegate Confidence (Infographic)
As part of our new safer events programme, we conducted a survey of delegates to understand an individuals confidence in attending events that adhere to our safer events framework. Here are all the results.
Give your clients the confidence to hold events at your venue with our independent safety accreditation.
Give delegates the peace of mind to attend your in-person events through our independent safety accreditation.
Everything you need to run safer events from face masks to floor markings. Save £5 off your first order with this link.
We hope you loved the fourth session of 'Business And Events In A Post-Pandemic World' (Part 1). If you want to check out the other sessions, you can find them here.
If you want to stay updated with the latest coronavirus news and industry responses, visit our coronavirus live updates platform.
If you're interested in holding a virtual event of your own, why not book a free consultation with our Virtual Event Experts below? We can help make your vision into a reality.
Author
Izzie Lachecki
Izzie brings a deep understanding of the events world to Hire Space, and keeps busy by writing lots of Hire Space and EventLAB content and managing the Hire Space social media presence.
