No Matter the Reason, Event Cancellations Are Bad News for Everyone

Between an incredibly harsh winter (by most  standards), budget pressures, and the government shut down, the government event industry has seen more than its fair share of event cancellations over the past 12 months. A number of reports have come out detailing the impact of dwindling face-to-face networking on both event planners, attendees, and the economy in general.

First, to put the event industry in context, a report from PriceWaterhouseCoopers looked to define the "economic significance of meetings to the U.S. economy." The report found that overall the meetings industry was growing in response to increased demand. In 2012, there were nearly 225 million participants at meetings. That's approximately 20 million more than 2009. These meetings and attendee spending contributed $115 billion to the U.S. GDP and $28 billion to federal, state and local taxes. With that context, it is clear that meetings have an impact on the overall economy. If the rate of in-person events drops, even in just one sector like government, there will be an economic impact.

Next, a study from Market Connections showed that 72% of federal employees surveyed said they would attend fewer events this year. In turn, contractors are cutting back their exhibit and attendance plans. This lack of in-person collaboration is thought to have an impact on innovation, a word and trait that has picked up some buzz in the federal IT press.

Similarly, a Washington Technology report on trends in government procurement showed that a high percentage of survey respondents "face limits on speaking opportunities, attendance at conferences and trade shows, and industry and charity events." The government buyers in the survey agreed that limitations on interacting with industry are impacting their ability to learn about emerging trends and discover new products that can help them meet their agencies' challenges.

From these reports, we can see there are three factors at work:

1. Events are an economic contributor to federal, state, and local bottom lines
2. Participation in government-focused events is decreasing
3. There is agreement that this lack of collaboration hurts innovation (at a time when innovation is what is most needed in government)

So what can we as a community do? We need to get creative in how we cultivate collaboration opportunities to keep both the economic and innovation engines running. A couple ideas:

• More virtual events that go beyond just a flat slide sharing and voice over using more interactive technologies. At GovEvents, we've seen a 35% increase in webcasts/webinars listed on out site in the past year. From what we can tell, only a handful of these online events have been truly dynamic virtual events.
• Tying in social media applications and channels for ongoing information sharing beyond the event.
• Smaller, more intimate events really tailored to a specific audience or challenge.

What are your thoughts and ideas to harness the collaborative nature of events when the events we used to know and love are seemingly less feasible?