2020 was a challenging year for the events industry, but thankfully at Story, we love a challenge!
We spent our time upskilling as a team and immersing ourselves in everything virtual. Our knowledge of filming, streaming, and editing expanded. Working alongside the most remarkable suppliers, we discovered new online platforms and how to create bespoke virtual moments to bring companies and communities together. Lastly we launched Story Artisan Gifting. Successfully packaging and delivering 2,000+ unique gift boxes over the festive period.
BRIEF
The brief for this webinar was to explore what happens next, in both virtual and hybrid events, and how we navigate the journey to live events in 2021.
DELIVERY
We covered some top tips for virtual, hybrid, and live events from an organisers perspective and highlighted what to consider when booking a venue in 2021. The Journey To Live Events webinar came live from our Story Studio in London Bridge, hosted by our virtual experts Lauren Murtagh (Head of Events) and Carly Begner (Account Director at Story Bespoke.) We also welcomed Clare Phillips (Senior Account Manager at Venue Search London). She provided some insider knowledge from key London venues who shed light on how to prepare for this next stage. We streamed the webinar via our brilliant and user-friendly platform partner, Venue-IQ. Their involvement allowed us to showcase to guests the possibilities this platform has for conferences, summits, awards, 1-2-1 meetings and so much more.
Joining us for this webinar were some fantastic guests, all of whom gave their own insights and expert opinions on the road to live events. Ash Day (Founder of OpenMind) showcased their incredibly interactive wellbeing workshops. He walked us through the importance of mental and physical health in the workplace and how to engage with this in 2021.
We were delighted to also welcome Charlotte Smart (Head of Sales from Tobacco Dock) and Nick Hoare (COO from ETC Venues). During in-depth panel discussion, they gave a positive and informative look on hybrid and live events from a venue’s perspective. Explaining how they have adapted by training their staff, upgrading their technical capacities and ensuring flexibility in their contracts. This continues to fill us with confidence to run these events safely and effectively in 2021.
Closing the webinar with some creativity, we introduced Andy and Jamie from The Cocktail Service. They gave us a high energy demonstration of how to make a Salted Caramel Espresso Martini. This was a great example of how fun (and funny) a virtual demonstration can be, proving even when things go wrong, it can add to the overall experience!
RESULTS
We had over 180 event buyers register for this webinar. If the festive period passed by in a blur, then you can view the recording here.
It was an immensely positive webinar which generated a real feeling of excitement for the event industry in 2021. We had many clients, in the run up to and after the webinar, animatedly talking about booking in-person events again. Plenty also asked when the best time to start booking is.
When permitted, people are certainly ready to make the leap into live events!
As UK vaccinations roll out, we are looking forward to a busy year for events and seeing an influx of enquiries for Conferences, Awards, Summer and Christmas Parties early this year!
FEEDBACK FROM ATTENDEES
“It was great to attend, always impressed to see how Story are one step ahead. Looking forward to a brighter 2021, and hopefully a bit of normality.” Getty Images
