In-person events are back and here to stay.

By Alexander Sharp, tradetech.

March 23rd 2023, marked the three-year anniversary of the first Covid-19 lockdown, a reminder of the unprecedented and lasting effects of the pandemic on society.

In-person events, such as conferences, roadshows, trade shows, workshops and the like, were hit particularly hard by government restrictions. To ensure some semblance of ‘normality’, they were superseded by less personable digital versions over video. However, whilst online events attempted to recreate the opportunities for professionals to interact, their limitations were felt across the board by attendees, who were left unable to network, gauge market sentiment or develop new business leads.

With Covid restrictions officially removed, in-person events have flooded the industry in response to massive participant demand. The series of lockdowns brought to light the significant importance of physical events, most notably for:

• Networking purposes: Conferences are a gateway for attendees to gain exposure and build relationships with professionals they might not otherwise have had access to. It is an opportunity for them to have one-on-one conversations with influential thought leaders, raise their own profile and promote their products/services to decision-makers.
• Challenging existing concepts: Conferences play a key role in bringing industry experts together to openly discuss topics crucial to the development and evolution of the industry, driving debate and paving the way for change. Virtual events often lack the capacity to ensure the natural flow of an in-person debate, not least with the risk of technical issues but also with participants possibly left to feel overlooked behind the mute button.
• Learning: Live events generate greater engagement than their digital equivalents from attendees eager to gain insights into the latest trends and technologies, both within and outside of their field of expertise, and participate in interactive gathering such as deep-dive roundtables and educational workshops, to find solutions to the challenges they’re facing or be inspired to create the next ‘disruptor of the future’.
• Spotting new talent: Events also provide a hunting ground for corporations looking to recruit new talent with specialised skillsets, either by hiring individuals freshly out of school or seeing what the competition has to offer.

The skyrocketing demand for in-person events will likely reach new heights over the coming years. As geopolitical and economic uncertainty deepens worldwide, participants will be searching for a place to gather, learn, debate and network, to stimulate greater cooperation and solution-finding.

That being said, conferences must broaden their scope and embrace the newest trends and innovations to survive. The pandemic brought topics that had remained dormant until now, such as hybrid working, retail trading, digital assets, operational, cyber and market resiliency, etc.

At WBR, we recognise the need to adapt. As such, we’ve launched our first Digital Assets conference in May 2023 in London for private banks, asset managers and hedge funds to explore the latest and greatest innovations in the fast-evolving digital assets market.