What Will Be Different About Attending Post-Pandemic Events?
As we prepare to turn a corner related to gatherings, it's important to note that, as a human collective, our psychology will change.
Human experience may never be the same and the psychology of attending events in the future is more important to consider than ever. Here's what Brand Alive believes will be different when we are invited to post-pandemic in-person events:
We will grapple with indecision.
The 'fear' and worry caused by isolation and zero-gathering rules will play a role in our psyche for a while to come and this will impact our ability to easily say "I can't wait to attend that event again."
We may toggle between choosing to attend out of a desire to do something completely different than we have in the last 14 months, and choosing to stay home for fear of either contracting the virus or simply not knowing what to expect.
We will want more information ahead of time.
This is a completely fair way to feel. Now that so much has changed in the landscape of gatherings and events, as attendees we will seek more concrete insights into what to expect on site and how to prepare.
Gone are the days of attendees generally understanding what their experience will be when attending a business lunch function or an evening gala awards dinner. The good news is, strategists and communications professionals can help with this.
We will want more choice.
Our desire to attend an in-person event may not always be black and white anymore. There will be more factors that play into our decision making and if the brand's goal is 'engagement' of some form, we have to offer varied options to engage within our own form of safety.
This is an opportunity for us as event strategists + producers to coach our clients how to layer in event strategies that offer choice to the attendee, like hybrid event models or virtual accessibility.
