Conference & Events – Change Is Uncomfortable

The conference and events industry was continually growing and felt untouchable since the recession in 2008.

Six and a half years ago, I started at a company that sells conference ID and swag products to event planners and conference organizers around the World. I remember thinking to myself that nothing could ever hurt the conference and events industry – concerts, weddings, conferences, meetings were untouchable in my mind.

I started at a point where conference season picks up – February 2014 – and I hit the ground running, and learning as I was going. All event planners I was working with were so understanding and I knew I had found my place. This is where and what I wanted to be doing for the rest of my life. I never would have thought that Fall 2019 would be the last busy season I would endure and that I’d attend my last in-person conference in January 2020.

Conference & Event Season

Conference season is typically from end of February through beginning of May and then from mid to end August, until the end of October. Only those that work within the industry can comprehend what that means. Event planners are working around the clock, and there’s hardly time to breathe during the workday as we rush to get things designed and into production, to ensure deadlines were met, and with factories in different time zones, sometimes the crunch needed a miracle. While these were some of the busiest and most difficult times of the year, they were also some of the most fun.

Bantering back and forth with event planners and working on designs were the glimmers that got us all through each day. I’d come home and some days, I’d work on the marketing side of role, as opposed to the sales side, just to help tread water on the work that was piling up. Never a complaint, because when you’re doing something you love, it doesn’t feel like work. The low seasons were for trying to get ahead, and cramming in everyone’s holidays before the next cycle was upon us.

Days flew by, and before we knew it, it was nearly the end of 2019. The new website was close to being launched, and we had plans in motion for the annual GO WEST conference that was happening in January.

We were feeling good about where the company was going to be as we set to start a new decade, but little did we know what we were in for.

Our experiential booth at the GO WEST 2020 Conference Exhibition Hall

The new decade brings …chaos?

In January 2020, all my focus was on getting ready for the GO WEST conference, and starting my second term on the MPI Canadian Advisory Council. And my best friends wedding, because I wasn’t busy enough 😉 There was a cold snap in mid-January, right before the GO WEST conference in Edmonton, AB. Don’t worry, it warmed up in time for my arrival; only a mere -35 degrees celsius! It had been close to -50 celsius so I count myself lucky. We in Vancouver are not made for that kind of weather! The conference was full of education, networking and fun and everything that Brent and Arlene want for their event.

After 3 days, I flew back late at night with a colleague, and back into the office for a day. I recall seeing a notice that Chinese New Year festivities were on hold, and China was shutting down to get a grasp on the COVID outbreak, so the country could stop the spread of the virus. After one busy day in the office, I was off to tend to my wedding party duties, and everything work escaped me for five days. The Winter/Spring season was picking up, and we were bracing for the season of chaos. Orders were being switched to domestic production, as China was still shut down, and we had deadlines to meet. I headed to Mexico near the end of February and little did I know this was the last time I’d see my parents indefinitely.

Enter COVID19

Canada had their first cases of COVID19 in January, but those with the virus had been returning from China, and the risk was still considered low. Those who had travelled were suggested to monitor for symptoms, and self-isolate. Upon coming back from Mexico at the end of February, the mood in the industry was anxious, and a few conferences and events were beginning to be postponed.

Cases were exploding in Europe, and more and more were popping up in Canada – mainly in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. We started to see conferences postponing until the fall, or cancelling this year’s conference, and focusing on 2021. This is the first time I realized that we as an industry were headed for uncertainty.

I went to a local PCMA event the second week of March, and it was a sombre mood. Those that worked for hotels were bracing for furlough notices, and event planners were worrying about the status of their events.

A week after that, our Province Chief Medical Officer suggested that we all self-isolate, to help stop the spread of the COVID virus. Everything seemed to shut down, and furlough and lay-off notices were rampant, my sister included. Restaurants adapted to having minimal staff and doing take-out/delivery orders only to tread water and hopefully make it to the other side.

We’re going to get through this

Most of our office worked from home, to keep the spacing in the office widespread and this was life until June. In June, lots of people went back to work, and most in our company went back to the office, but as someone who takes transit most of the time, I chose to continue mainly work remotely. In September, the company needed to restructure, and two of us were laid off.

It’s unfortunate that I chose to believe that all conversations I had with my boss at the time were full of lies, so the layoff was shocking, but not, all rolled into one. We were in uncharted territory, so everyone was flying by the seat of their pants.

I know lots of event industry professionals that were furloughed and now permanently laid off, and there is no end in sight for the devastation to the events, tourism, and hospitality industries as a whole. There are so many bright and hard-working people out of work but that’s just what we have been dealt right now.

With this, I have chosen to break out on my own. I hope to still be able to work with those in the events, tourism, and hospitality industries as a freelancer, but anything is on the table right now. I am still here for everyone in the industry, to give support when and where I can.

This industry will be the last to return to work and is a huge driver for our economic restart.

2020 has absolutely taught me that no industry is safe from a global pandemic. Unless you’re Zoom of course.