Event teams are reporting a rise in the value businesses are putting on their roles.
According to a report by ICE (In-house Corporate Events),ย despite the massive disruptions to event programmes, events will enter 2021 valued higher by businesses.
The findings all form part of the ICE Report 2020, created in partnership with Cvent, which also demonstrated that, compared to 2019, event planners have seen stakeholder perception on the value of event professionals increase by 18%.
The report also found that events are establishing their place within business, again adding to the growing perception of value. The research showed that teams are increasingly (7%) reporting to marketing departments, ensuring โa more strategic approach to events.โ
Further good news is that this continued shift has led to a generally โsignificantโ increase in budgets, and the ability of corporate event planners to demonstrate the returns on the investment.
Anita Howard, Founder, ICE, said: โThe majority of event organisers who contributed towards the survey have been undergoing a massive learning curve over the last nine months, and itโs not been easy. It has been successful though, and their value has been shown not just from a project management and logistical level, but in terms of their ability to find solutions, go from live to digital and keep events creative, productive and effective.โ
While the report covers trends such as increase budgets for events and better metrics for evaluation, it also reported that the top three challenges facing event organisers were; Delivering more virtual/hybrid events (74%); Ensuring the sustainability of their events (70%); and Using technology to enhance the teamโs way of working (64%).
Respondents within the report also spoke about the importance of evaluation metrics in events, but again reported a rise in effective evaluation. This was consistent regardless of whether it is physical or virtual.ย However, the data shows that event professionals are less likely to be measuring their virtual events compared to face-to-face events.
Felicia Asiedu, Manager Event Cloud Marketing Europe, Cvent, added: โIn-house Corporate planners have often struggled getting stakeholders to recognise the true value of events. So, it is veryย encouragingย that this yearโs research reveals aย shift in positive perception and an increase in budgets for 2021.ย ย With restrictions for in-person events still in place, virtual and hybrid events are likely to remain popular throughout next year โ going digital actually provides even more opportunity to evaluate ROI so planners could benefit hugely at looking at what metric measures can be put in place.โ
Anita Howard, concluded: โItโs been a horrible year for so many within the industry and the very future of events has been questions. ICE Report 2020 has shown that now, more than ever weโre valued and understood as an integral and profitable business tool.โ
