Last year was the most challenging one for the event industry in decades. As unsettling it was, it taught us some valuable lessons. It tested our resilience at home and our inventiveness at work. While the trials and tribulations of the pandemic continue, it is now as good a time to pause and reflect on lessons learned. As we eagerly await to adapt to the new normal, the industry can look inward to spot rays of hope in leadership that would take us to a brighter future.
While many cried foul as businesses ground to halt, others rolled up their figurative sleeves and stepped up to lead during these turbulent times. In our industry, we quickly learned that we could not turn to the government for solutions to our biggest problems. Many governments across the globe--and here at home--resorted to obfuscation and finger-pointing rather than showing leadership in the search for solutions. Similarly, both academia and the non-profit sector were equally hampered by the enormity of the challenge—and therefore, unable to exhibit leadership in this particular industry.
During these dark days, the leadership seems to have mostly come from visionary companies in the this and a few other industries. These benevolent industry leaders became bridges for those in dire need to get the needed life support to make it past the pandemic. Covid-19 only magnified the leadership qualities of these farsighted companies.
At this critical juncture, it is once again leadership that will guide the industry out of the predicaments in which it finds itself. The industry is in grave need of preemptive leadership to sail out of these turbulent waters. Simply waiting till the pandemic has subsided is a recipe for regression. The event industry needs to reinvent itself to be in a better position by the end of the pandemic than it found itself in early 2020. Those that will survive must display leadership in both action and in philosophy to pull themselves and the larger industry out of the pandemic-induced crisis.
As we emerge from this global calamity, those industry leaders that displayed vision and resolute will have to be praised for their decisive actions that will likely lead to a new sense of normalcy. Others must learn the valuable lessons and take a more active part in helping pave the way for the industry to rebound in a healthy and robust manner. At this juncture, let’s take our proverbial hats off to those with the great sense of vision and leadership that became beacons of hope and future prosperity for all in this magnificent industry.
Hanson Ansary is President and CEO of the Maxxus Group and Global Management Services.