After the Covid Fog
Dan Cantor – Chairman, Hamilton
dcantor@hamilton-exhibits.com
The good news is that the convention business is beginning to wake up, with events coming back on the calendar with some regularity. We expect to see a steady increase in show participation by exhibitors in the coming months once the short-term impact of the Covid Delta Variant has subsided. Some events have already restricted attendance to vaccinated persons — this trend is likely to continue.
In addition to the ordeal of rebuilding and re-energizing our internal teams, event marketing solution providers are encountering some new challenges that are not unexpected but are worthy of mention.
Client company personnel — our client contacts — are changing at a rapid rate. This is not a new phenomenon, but the pace has accelerated dramatically. We will need to be in ‘education mode’ like never before, orienting these new client contacts to the nuances of the North American trade show model. (Translation: ‘We can predict but cannot control many of these costs, are here is why.’)
Transportation providers are very challenged with labor shortages, new training needs, and accelerating operating costs, making schedules more unpredictable and shipments more expensive.
General contractors and installation and dismantle companies are also facing labor shortages, creating both labor quality and labor quantity issues. Wait times for freight unloading are very long and unpredictable. Set-up times are longer and also harder to predict. Post-Covid, field supervision and project management roles will be more demanding.
Other venue services which require labor with specific skills and credentials were challenged beforeCovid. We can expect this condition to worsen, at least for the short-term. Fortunately, the ‘trades’ as a career path seem to be getting more attention in the US, but it will take some time before our industry benefits from this trend.
All this means that we will need to spend a lot more time explaining to our (new) clients why they are facing higher costs. Their budgets, which are already limited and in the process of getting rebuilt for this fall and 2022, will be under more stress. This will mean that our ability to provide effective solutions will be more constrained at a time when performance measurement is getting more attention. There will be more of desire to measure outcomes without adequate investment in the tactics that create good outcomes. Not a good scenario.
One positive outcome of these times is that our uncompetitive trade show pricing model will be ripe for adjustment. High-cost events will be under competitive pressure from new shows, operated by organizers and contractors who are more customer-focused and efficient. Pre-Covid, our shows were three times the cost of events in Europe and five times the cost of shows in Asia. The planet is smaller now and global price disparities will not be sustainable.
The Covid fog is lifting, and our industry is coming back to life. Prosperity at all levels will be determined by how we cope with these challenges and morph them into new opportunities.