SALLY DAVIES, U-LIVE & EDOUARD AUGER, HAVAS EVENTS – EVENTS OF THE FUTURE “To deliver virtual events in an impactful way, you need creativity, excellent planning and a decent budget.” What does the future look like for events? SD: To deliver virtual events in an impactful way, you need creativity, excellent planning and a decent budget. There is a lot Sally Davies: With recent progressions in vaccine research, I of live streamed music content out there which is low quality and think we will move past Covid-19 within the next 12 months, but poorly produced and fans now expect better quality digital and the pandemic has reminded us that the live event business is virtual productions. I think budgets will have to increase. very fragile. It has hit the industry hard, but live events have also Virtual events will never remove the demand for live events been impacted by terrorism and the weather, as global warming as they are in no way the same experience. The sense of impacts our climates more and more. As an industry, we need to togetherness, community and excitement that you get standing find ways to manage those risks by creating platforms for fans to in a densely packed gig can never be replicated online but I don’t experience the event digitally (as an alternative to the live see it as one or the other anymore. It must be a hybrid. experience or in addition to the live experience). Coming out of this pandemic, I feel strongly that people will want to continue to What’s the solution to beating technology/digital fatigue? be able to indulge in entertainment and culture remotely which opens up events to a truly global audience. The real challenge is SD: I think that’s a question of how we balance our time and how the business model and economics will evolve in response our interaction with technology. At the moment, we have very to this shift. little choice other than to work from home and communicate on platforms like Zoom and Teams. But when we move on from this Edouard Auger: We shouldn’t be pessimistic about the future of experience, we will once again have a better balance of physical our industry. The pandemic has forced organisers to think about and digital interaction. This will probably be the same for live new ways to deliver their projects digitally and reinvent remote entertainment. When presented with the option to either go to a experiencesto widen their target audiences and related profits. gig or stream it online, people will still choose to see their CES will now be fully digital and the Olympic Games will launch favourite artist live. The pandemic has opened our minds and a new live broadcast experience in 2021 thanks to augmented made digital experiences a natural extension of our lives and this reality technology, which will provide a more inclusive, global will surely make us receptive to seeing new shows, watching new experience. music and consuming art and culture that we might have never done before. Do you think hybrid events are here to stay? EA: Seriously, technology offers an endless range of possibilities SD: I’m sure of it and this is a positive change for our industry. I (computer processing power, artificial intelligence, VR/AR, haptic see a similarity in what is happening today in the live music space technology and 5G) that will for sure revolutionise the way we to what record companies went through when their business was build up awe-inspiring scenarios. Still, our primary focus should threatened by piracy. That very difficult phase for record remain about the meaningful story we want to tell and the companies saw the evolution and growth of a new medium emotional experience we want to provide. Digital technologies of music consumption which was streaming. Through this will always be there to support but not the contrary. Strong and experience, I think we will see our own evolution and therefore inspiring narratives will remain key to keep audiences connected we must continue to innovate. and engaged. EA: Today, technology acts as a true game changer for the What have you learned from 2020? industry to enhance events and scale up for universal access with a more profitable model. A complementary approach should EA: As Winston Churchill said, “Never let a good crisis go to be taken when planning events now, combining an exclusive IRL waste.” The health crisis is obviously dramatic, and we must (in real life) experience with the introduction of virtual extensions, comply with very strict hygiene protocols when we operate again. capable of amplifying both the experience and the reach. We But times of crisis in the business sector can often lead to an were told digital would bury live events, but it has actually overall improvement in the community. This is exactly what’s strengthened them, and I bet this will be even more relevant as happening at Havas Events. We quickly reacted to unleash an we move forward. entrepreneurial spirit at all levels within the agency, building up strong partnerships within Vivendi to take a decisive leap forward Do you think virtual events will ever compete with the onto the market. Personally, it is a hugely challenging but very atmosphere of an IRL event? insightful time to manage people. EA: The fact is, the pandemic has stopped us from operating IRL SD: With more time on my hands to reflect on the challenges events, and we’ve been left with no other choice than to switch faced by the live industry, I feel as though I have a better long- to fully digital formats. These formats have proven to be efficient term perspective of things which seems contradictory. I feel on several levels such as a capacity to reach remote corporate strongly that the decisions we make as leaders to navigate the or public audiences around the globe and cost effectiveness tough climate define us more than ever and that we need (even if this statement needs to be mitigated due to additional to strike a balance between what is right financially, morally and investments on digital and content development). But let’s face ethically for our business and our people. The pandemic has it, if an event’s purpose is to foster internal collaboration, nurture made me more hands-on and brought me closer to my teams personalised relationships with key stakeholders and generate which has been a wonderfully heartwarming experience. vibrant connections between one team/artist and its public/fans, IRL events will always win the game. 33 DARE!