At the year’s end, we humans have a tendency to look back at the year that was, trying to make sense of it all and also ponder how things might be different in our future. A year ago, no one could’ve imagined what 2020 would have in store for us. Looking back, we find ourselves still floating among the remains of a catastrophic pandemic that has caused so much pain and suffering. We’ve seen the cracks in the surface of our democracy and our nation (U.S.) be blown apart by racial and cultural injustices, political divisiveness, destructive wildfires, and economic agony. In short, 2020 was a real dumpster fire. However, in the wake of destruction there is always space created for renewal.

It’s difficult to not to feel overwhelmed or powerless when faced with such a daunting challenge such as overcoming systematic oppression, but we can all play a role in working together to create change. This includes having tough conversations with our children, standing up when we witness injustice, fostering respectful dialogues with others with whom we disagree, and figuring out how we can implement change in our work. Here is a list of practices that you can start implementing to promote greater diversity and inclusion at your events.

If there’s one thing you could embrace today to make your events more efficient and less wasteful, harnessing the power of digital technology is a great start! Below are some of the technologies and trends we hope will become the “new normal” at face-to-face events going forward. 

It seems like every trade show and event is “pivoting” to virtual right now. For those live events that didn’t integrate a virtual component before COVID-19, it’s been a painful lesson as they struggle to adapt – and quickly. Regardless of what’s happening in the world, we believe that virtual should be a natural extension of any live event, one that provides an even greater opportunity for any organization to further its mission.

There are obvious and not-so-obvious benefits to offering a virtual option. Not only are more people able to access your content, but it also provides critical access to people who may be physically or financially challenged to attend face-to-face meetings. Virtual options can help to build and maintain a more loyal event community, increase engagement and inspire more people to collaborate in ways they never have before.

Honeycomb Strategies recently had a chance to “sit” down (don’t worry, we kept everyone safe and did it virtually!) with Tahira Endean, CMP, CED, DES, head of events at the Society of Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) and author of “Intentional Event Design, Our Professional Opportunity.” SITE has been busy going through a digital transformation while working hard to build sustainability into its agenda and adopting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals – an ambitious feat, for sure. We hope you’ll find Tahira’s out-of-box insights about virtual events and technology – beyond being just a current survival tactic – as helpful and inspiring as we did!

What will the “new normal” look like for event sustainability when the COVID-19 pandemic has finally ended? Are the days of buffets and bulk condiments long gone? Much like the 2008 economic downturn, the majority of meeting and event professionals are currently focused on the survival of their events, careers and the industry as a whole. So will sustainability take a back seat – again?

While the future of our industry remains uncertain, there’s no doubt that as event professionals, we have an amazing opportunity to work smarter and better than we did before. Sustainability is just the vessel we need to propel us toward a brighter, more resilient future.