The Return To A New “Normal” For Event Production

On the heels of a pandemic that has taken a toll for two-plus years, and in light of the conflict in Ukraine, those in the world of event production are struggling with how to define “normal.”

For an industry that was steep in tradition pre-pandemic, many of the typical workflows and experiences have been challenged. Now, event producers, meeting planners, conference organizers and the whole event industry in general are trying to navigate a world that has been infused with virtual event production and the introduction of new hybrid event production options.

After two years of behavioral change — the question is what do event productions look like now? Further, additional challenges have arisen not only in regard to how to manage health-related concerns but new issues such as higher gas and travel expenses based on the conflict in Europe which are greatly affecting everyone including the event production industry.

Many event managers and producers are turning to hybrid event productions, but even that has different connotations depending on the application and what the desired experience is for a particular event. With everyone having their own definitions — where some organizations are charging forward with IRL experiences and leveraging live streaming solutions to include remote audiences others are using hybrid production to produce content for a virtual broadcast from a central studio location.

The fact of the matter is the return to a new normal is anything but a normal journey. For event professionals that are producing SKOs, Conferences, Annual Meetings, and the like the path forward will be as unique as each organization. There are no right answers as to how to approach this post-pandemic world of events, which much like the last two years is a potentially once in a career opportunity to rewrite the rules, to experiment, and to try new tactics to engage and build experiences.

Cohen leads the Institute of Virtual; bridging traditional with the virtual; linking meeting planners, and marketers to platforms and interactive technologies. A pioneer in online media, in 2006, as the online space started to grow, Jason Cohen launched CityCast Media, LLC, with the goal of leveraging a then-nascent medium; Podcasting. He previously taught Communications at CUNY and is currently the Executive Director of the Institute of Virtual and Executive Producer of Production Solved.