The events industry is no doubt one of hardest hit sectors from COVID19, with social distancing measures restricting the physical gathering of large groups of people.
Between 2017 to 2018, the Exhibition and Conference Centres sector in Australia was estimated to have generated revenue to the value of $11.34 billion. This figure doesn’t include internal company and corporate events which make up a large majority of the events held in Australia.
Businesses are also facing unprecedented times as many of their teams are working remotely and communicating online, which can be extremely challenging, especially for large organisations.
Management are being challenged to keep their teams motivated, inspired, and productive during this time. In response to these changes, some event companies have acted fast in transforming their offering to meet the needs of their corporate clients and help them during this pandemic.
One speaker management business, Encore Speakers, has created a brand-new offering called Virtually Live Events.
“In the conversations I was having with our clients in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it became apparent they needed the expertise of our speakers more than ever. Firstly, to help their teams stay productive and mentally healthy during this period of uncertainty. Secondly, to add variety to virtual meetings set up by management to keep the lines of communication open while everyone is working from home,” said Encore Speakers CEO Michael Arnot.
The Virtually Live Events website was launched last week and offers world class speakers to deliver lunch and learn style virtual sessions or keynote presentation for virtual events. Topics on offer include leadership, future focused sessions, employee engagement and wellness, communication, sales and presenting online.
“Since launching the website we’ve had great interest in our resilience and wellbeing speakers. This topic used to be seen as a ‘nice to have’ whereas now they are being given high priority,” Arnot continued.
Association of Consulting Surveyors CEO Michelle Blicavs said: “We have been searching for content and speakers willing to come to our virtual events and help motivate and inspire our members during what has been a very difficult time for their businesses. Virtually Live Events has come at just the right time for us to help plan and prepare for these events.”
StandUpComedians.com.au CEO Mark David, a business that been producing public and corporate comedy shows for the last 20 years, has also transformed his offering with the creation of ‘Corona Comedy’ to help his corporate clients keep their teams laughing, staying positive and boost the remote work experience.
“Our clients recognise that laughter is the best medicine, especially in times of high stress. Comedy is a wonderful mechanism to Improve and maintain mental health. We are offering some of Australia’s top comedians to keep teams entertained including ‘This Meetings a Joke!’, a 10-minute session to kick start any meeting, ‘The Monday Morning Warm Up’, a comedy warm up by a world class comedian to start the week or ‘The Friday Afternoon Wrap’, a hilarious wrap up of the working week,” David said.
