How do you see the meetings and events market in 2021?
Arnaud Katz - The market Meetings & Events will undoubtedly gradually regain its strength, as the need to find oneself will be paramount after the year we have just lived through. There is a real desire in the market to get back on track, both on the part of suppliers who are finding solutions, as is the case with Bird Office, and on the part of customers who tell us that they are only too eager to get back to business as usual by returning to the office, resuming meetings and seminars, meeting up with colleagues and so on. The year 2021 will be organised around three pillars: the virtual meetings and events to respond to the context and to the fact that some companies are in the process of considering and structuring teleworking; meetings and physical events in small groups, the small meetings and small eventsThis can only be done in small numbers, in secure locations halfway between each person's home for reasons of transport time and practicality, but also, if we think in the long term, in response to CSR issues. hybrid meetings and eventsThese will also develop more and more as they meet the constraints and needs of the two previous types.
What feelings prevail among buyers?
Arnaud Katz - The buyers we talk to fully understand the current and future issues and challenges in terms of MICE strategy and post-covid ways of organising work. Some of the buyers we work with are more in an observation phase, while others are trying to anticipate future needs. Pending the structuring of the organisation, which is a long-term reflection, they all share with us issues that are more short-term: how to maintaining links between employees ? How can we compensate for informal meetings in the cafeteria or café? How do you cultivate team cohesion, which is usually achieved through seminars and teambuilding ? They have found solutions to the current crisis by setting up virtual meetings and events. The challenge for them will be to find appropriate solutions to suit the context and their objectives.
Are there already grounds for optimism for 2021?
Arnaud Katz - The sources of optimism will undoubtedly lie in the fact that employees will be coming together via small meetings and events, that the quality of meetings will be prioritised over the quantity, and that this will involve rethink the organisation and added value of what we offer in terms of meetings, seminars and conferencesWith a real commitment to both form and content.
Are you expecting a gradual return to normality, or the affirmation of a new relationship with the office and the meeting room?
Arnaud Katz - What does it mean to return to normal in a post-covid world? I think that everything will be done gradually to reassure everyone, suppliers and customers alike. With this in mind, face-to-face meetings and events will resume in line with the health safety measures. As far as the relationship with the office is concerned, 2021 will be the year in which the organisation of working patterns will be structured: companies are in the process of reflecting on and implementing agreements on the "working week". teleworkingWith so many stakeholders involved, this will take time.
This year has been a year of awareness of the changes accelerated by the COVID-19 crisis. The relationship with the office has changedthe very notion of an office is changing, as we can now virtually work from anywhereWhether at home, on the company's premises, in a training centre or in an office. coworkingIn cafés, hotels, etc. On the other hand, this multiplicity of workplaces, if we want to do it in optimal and professional conditions, will, in my opinion, take place in three main spaces: the company, the home and professional spaces such as coworking spaces, business centres, etc. In this landscape, the act of meeting in a room will be strategic, as it will have to meet both HR objectives to encourage dialogue and maintain links and team cohesion, but also and above all performance objectives to make progress on projects and deliver results.
the meeting has a bright future ahead of it!
Will the coming year see a return to the office and the meeting room, or the lasting advent of teleworking? Should we already be calling 2021 "the hybrid year"?
Arnaud Katz - I hope that 2021 will be the year when we get together, whether for seminars or meetings! It will also be the year in which we structure teleworking, which, as I said, will take time to put in place. It will also be, and you're right to point this out, a hybrid year in the sense that the three modes of meeting and working will have to coexist: the virtual 100% for meetings or events that bring together people who are physically distant, gatherings that involve several geographically dispersed subsidiaries for example; the face-to-face 100% with small meetings/events with a demand that will focus more on the experiential side: atypical venues, variety of formats and media with workshops, role-playing, etc.; and the virtual 50% 50% face-to-face, that is to say, meetings that involve several geographically dispersed subsidiaries. hybrid or phygital eventsA cross between the other two types of event. "Stay tuned: we'll be announcing this very soon...
After months away from the office, what would prompt employees to return to their workstations, uninstall Zoom and return to the meeting room?
Arnaud Katz - Undeniably, the lack of human links. Zoom and other technological tools are fantastic tools that have responded very well to the problems of confinement and geographical remoteness. We use them every day, both internally and with our customers and partners. However, we have to consider them as tools, because nothing can replace a physical meeting. I see this with my colleagues and the testimonies of my professional and personal entourage, we all need to find ourselves physicallyto see us, to informal discussions around the coffee machine. A company is also built on the people who make it upThese are the people who create and maintain the culture and values of a company, not to mention the emulation and collective intelligence. Without physical contact, this can be difficult to maintain over time. I'll say it again: the meeting has a bright future ahead of it!
