Learning Series | The Future of Events

Summary: What does the future of corporate volunteering look like? We share our thoughts in this video!

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Transcript:

Andy - WeHero: Ben, thank you for joining me again on another one of our wonderful zoom recordings

Ben - WeHero: Back at it. Let's do it.

Andy - WeHero: Yeah. What, what people probably don't realize we are filming this in the middle of earth week, which when you say it's, we hero's busiest week of the year,

Ben - WeHero: This is our super bowl. We, we, the, this is our super bowl for we here. We have more companies and more individuals and more teams that want to get engaged during earth week than I think any other week, even bigger than giving Tuesday. Which is just great to see. I mean, we're obviously very passionate about climate and it's cool to see this many companies and people step so very exciting time for us right now.

Andy - WeHero: Yeah. All I I have to say is earth day 2022. So next year I'm hoping I have a cool background like yours.

Ben - WeHero: It's all about, you know, they don't die if you just keep continue, like the spray, like a little spray in the morning keeps this thing nice and wash. So

Andy - WeHero: Exactly. All right, next year we are here today to talk about the future of events. You know, we in a really unique position where, you know, so many different companies are coming to us and asking, you know, Hey, we need to plan an event, needs to be volunteer focused next year. What should we be planning for? You know, these are big, big ordeals. You have to start planning in advance. Even when you know, the, the COVID situation, the back to work situation is unknown. So one wanted to just quickly touch base on what we're hearing from different companies, what we suggest and how we're handling this. So I'll kind of leave it open ended and you can start and kinda share some of your thoughts.

Ben - WeHero: Yeah, definitely jump in here with me too. So I think the biggest thing that a lot of companies are thinking about is they need to have flex in the system. And what I mean by that is they have to expect the end expected and they have to make, meet people where they're at. So like volunteering, for example, it used to be that we're gonna have everybody in our office go out this day and do this experience, or we're gonna have everybody in our office do this experience in office, or we're gonna do a sales conference. And everybody at sales conference is gonna do this event. People used to come to the volunteering and now we need to meet people where they're at. And it's gonna be a mix of people that are in office at a venue. And there's gonna be people that are gonna be permanently remote for the rest of their working careers at these companies.

Ben - WeHero: And so what the change in events is this world of hybrid. We need to be able to offer a very similar experience to those folks that are gonna stay at home to the folks that are back in office and to those events that they're gonna have a conference, but they wanna bring in other people from across the globe to be a part of these experiences. And so hybrid is the word we've been seeing thrown around a lot. It's what we're seeing companies already start doing. We started planning a hybrid volunteer event today for a company. And so that's what we're seeing in regards to a shift. And so I'd love you to, you should jump in here too, any, like, that's definitely the bulk of what we're seeing. We can dive into any little alley of that, but we're definitely notice the move to hybrid. The great migration to hybrid is upon us.

Andy - WeHero: Yeah, it's interesting. It definitely, that's the trend that we're seeing and kind of the, the steady state in the future. I think companies right now, there's so much up in the year you know, just for our us customers, obviously, you know, COVID vaccines are rolling out the rest of the world, you know, India's having some of the worst COVID COVID kind of surges that they've had. And so I think it's very dependent on where you're located. I, I will say the more so than ever before, we've seen companies wanna increase sense of flexibility. So, Hey, we know we need to engage this many people through an event in November. Can we tell you in late September, if they're in person, we just don't know, but we know we need to do this event. And so, you know, whether you're doing a volunteer event or any other event, you wanna choose a provider who can flex between the D for an options or work with multiple providers to make sure that you can serve kind of whatever situation is coming up.

Andy - WeHero: So that's been what we've seen. I think the other thing I'd ask you is we've had a few clients who really are, are kind of moving forward in this virtual world and you mentioned sales conferences, and they're kind of like, Hey, we have, every year we have a big sales product conference. We're not gonna bring those people together anymore. We can just do something virtually we don't need to send 200 people around the world. You know, in those situations, do you think there's, you know, I feel like we've seen increased interest in kind of somehow bringing those people together and engaging them in a virtual way more because it's so easy to face out in a zoom if you're not interactive. And so I think that's probably a shift we'll see is like more engaging virtual experiences.

Ben - WeHero: Yeah, absolutely. And you're seeing people get really creative with the experiences they pack into one of those virtual experiences. And also I think a massive amount of it has to do with the leader of that experience or the host, their ability to grab people, engage them, that the content's engaging and that, that employee team member, whoever it is on the other end of that screen, like they're with you that entire time. And that's really a lot harder in a virtual environment, but I think you're seeing a lot of companies pull out tips and tricks to, to do that. And I think you're seeing people get really comfortable with engaging people at scale like that, cuz it's hard to engage 300 people on a zoom event sometimes. And so, but I think you're absolutely right that companies are really trying to do that the right way. And I think there's something to be said for experiences that are a hundred percent virtual, but all also experiences where there's a physical good involved like that hands on mixed with like the virtual learning environment in a conference like that, it creates that engagement. Like you're paying attention cuz it's different and it's hands on. So I think there's a lot of ways you can engage someone in this, in this kind of world and environment.

Andy - WeHero: Yeah. What you said talking about you need to engage the person. The host is so important. I think back we worked with you know, a large FinTech company based in the, you know, mountain west and they led, I believe it was 400 people through a skateboard build for this incredible nonprofit skate like girl. And that event is just an awesome event, but you know, the experience was so incredible because the, the person running the event from, you know, our client's side and our partner's side had a real knack for it. And he dressed up in a sequence suit. He had a fake my microphone and the other thing was he surrounded himself and the core of the group was the five founding executives. And so it, it brought in this whole component that you had almost like a game show host with these five executives who are together, who are kind of the leading figures of the company and you got to see them in a whole casual, new light. And I think people pay more attention when it's, when it's out. I'm sure everyone can imagine that. And so doing small shifts like that make the experience just so much better.

Ben - WeHero: Yeah. It's like, how do you take the day to day zoom call and create an experience, right? Like that's the difference. People don't want to come into these and go, it's another zoom call. Like we're to done with zoom, we have that fatigue. Like how do you make it that next level experience and stuff like that's like a perfect example.

Andy - WeHero: Yeah. All right. Next question for you. You know, this is the discussion around the future events and I think something we see is companies using these type of experiences to engage customers. Can you share a little bit of your thoughts around that, how it works and kind of what you view as some of the benefit of it?

Ben - WeHero: Yeah, I think customer events and client events, like those used to be, just think about the, like any of our other events. There used to be a client event, a software company, for example, like they would have a client experience. Dreamforce is a perfect example. And so I think there's still benefits of bringing client bases together, bringing prospects together. It's a huge opportunity to make sure you're engaging those clients engaging those prospects in a meaningful way and providing value to them, whether it's in a one hour experience or a multi-day experience, depending on how you're gonna run that event, run that conference. And so that value of building relationships with people and doing it in a virtual way, there's a lot of new software products out there that are making this really easy to do you know, different tracks within the event, different panels. And so they're doing a really good job creating those kinds of experience is to engage client bases and prospects, which I still think is really important. And so if companies can keep doing that, it, it just helps with their retention of an existing client base. I, I curious to your thoughts on that, Andy, but very similar to a lot of events we're seeing making that transition that transition, I think will keep going for like client related events.

Andy - WeHero: Yeah, I totally agree. I mean, I think personal relationships and business is so important, right? And, and it's harder to do that over zoom. You know, I think back to previous jobs I've had where you'd fly for a meeting and meet them and then grab lunch afterwards and you really get it to know them and that helps facilitate good communication, good feedback, and a better business relationship. I believe business travel will decrease. And so maybe not completely, but I think they'll be less traveling around to do that, given the prevalence of zoom. And so I think if you can, if a company can use experiences that are virtual or over the computer to buy on with an employee, you know, have similar experiences, shared experiences, there's gonna be ways to do that. And I think that'll be increasingly important to build those touchpoints without being able to fly across the country for a lunch. And we've loved seeing that as with some of our volunteer events you know, companies using, you know, giving back and CSR to engage in employees. But I think you can do it across a number of different events, wine tasting, you know, just name 'em. I think it's a good way to engage customers.

Ben - WeHero: Yeah. We had an event like that today. It was a client event and it, these clients all came together and they all solved the same challenge, which was serving underserved students with education supplies. Right. And they all got to do do that together. And to your point of, you're not just connecting with clients, but you're creating an experience where people can bond and build a relationship and doing that in a really tangible, structured way. That's highly curated just makes that so much easier to do. And to your point, we're doing it virtually now which is amazing. But I think if you, you can plug in those things the right way and make those unique experiences, like it just builds that relationship. Cause that's what it's all about at the end of the day.

Andy - WeHero: Yeah. Totally agree. Any last minute thoughts on the future events or changes we've seen, thanks to COVID anything else you wanna add to this? Ben?

Ben - WeHero: I think the technology for events is gonna be really interesting. I mean, we're talking about some pretty advanced technology steps in this, in the happenstance of a hybrid event where you're in person and having to cast that the right way to the remote employees. I think you're gonna see some leaps in the technology sector and some standout players that do this really well. So just something to keep an eye on. And there's a lot of companies, you know, you know, competing against each other to kind of dominate that sector. There's some okay players and some okay. Solutions right now, but I think they still have a long ways to go. And so that's a final thought. Something we're constantly looking at is like, how can we do this in the best way possible? I think we have a good of doing it now, but I think it's something we're constantly watching is how is technology gonna continue to make this easier? And to your point, Andy, how is technology gonna assist us in making these experiences, you know, to the level of experience you would have in an in person event, right? Building that kind of relationship, building that kind of connection and making it unique. So very excited to see the ideas and players and companies that come out of this. And so that's, that's kind of like my final thoughts on, on it. What are yours?

Andy - WeHero: Yeah, I would agree. I mean, I think technology will make this better and I think we'll keep seeing new players come out. I think the other thing that, you know, we find really helpful to remind companies of is, you know, make sure the event is core to your mission. You, you know, it, it's very confusing having for employees or customers or whoever is attending the event to have, you know, events jump all over without purpose. And so everything you do should just be aligned to your company mission, whether it's events you know, any type of event and making sure that you connect to that. And, and that's always what I think is most important for, for employees as well as customers.

Ben - WeHero: So yeah, a hundred percent agree.

Andy - WeHero: Well, thank you Ben, for this this conversation, I hope you get some rest to drink a lot of fee. And so we can finish up earth week in a successful manner. How many trees are we planting during earth week? This month

Ben - WeHero: Easily, a couple thousand easily, a couple thousand trees just this week going into the ground because of this event. So everybody makes sure to follow our journey. We're gonna be sharing a lot about it. Trees are just one of the many things we're doing right now. So very sad to see the end result of this week. And I think we'll all have a really nice relaxing.

Andy - WeHero: Yeah, well, well deserved at this point. Well thank you very much, Ben. And looking forward to the next one.

Ben - WeHero: All right. Thanks everybody.