It’s been a couple of weeks of cancellations and warnings as industries from technology to culture and sports to marketing and creative cancel, postpone or take events digital in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some 4 in 10 B2B event organizers plan to hold a virtual event in 2021, according to a new report [download page] from the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) on trends in the virtual event space. Based on a poll of more than 340 executives at organizations running or managing physical, in-person B2B exhibitions,… Read More » The post Most B2B Exhibitors Will Continue Virtual Events Post-Pandemic appeared first on Marketing Charts .

Small businesses are the heart of the wedding industry. So what do the florists and caterers and photographers and event planners do now? As retail sales drop precipitously, designers and fashion brands have started producing masks and hand sanitizer in lieu of couture and perfume, to support their businesses and essential workers. Some bridal boutiques have taken a cue from the rest of the industry, refashioning their Chantilly lace scraps into pandemic-chic masks that evoke The Handmaid’s Tale . For $45 or less, you can don a mask dotted with pink sequins or black lace trim from Los Angeles bridal shop Katie May, which is donating utility masks to essential workers for each purchase. (“Hiding from rona or a chin breakout? No one has to know,” reads a recent Instagram post .) And some designers are still trying to court customers through social media and virtual showrooms . Read Full …

During the first quarter of 2020 and in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, some three-quarters (72.6%) of events originally scheduled for late March were cancelled. New data from the Centre for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) illustrates just how significant the impact of the pandemic has been on the exhibition industry. The cancellation of the… Read More » The post Exhibition Industry Sees Worse Performance in Q1 2020 Than During the 2008 Financial Crisis appeared first on Marketing Charts .

Insiders at Burning Man, Broadway, Meow Wolf, and more describe how the live events industry, hit hard by the pandemic, will emerge onto a new stage. For Fast Company’ s Shape of Tomorrow series , we’re asking business leaders to share their inside perspective on how the COVID-19 era is transforming their industries. Here’s what’s been lost—and what could be gained—in the new world order . Read Full Story

Fri Forjindam’s clients include HBO’s SXSWestworld, Paisley Park, and Comic-Con, among others. Here, she weighs how theme parks can adapt for a COVID-19 world. Fri (pronounced “Free”) Forjindam is co-owner and chief development officer for Mycotoo, a global entertainment development and production agency that creates award-winning destinations, from theme parks and live events to museums and immersive brand experiences worldwide. She spoke to Doreen Lorenzo for Designing Women , a series of interviews with brilliant women in the design industry. Read Full Story

Fotografiska and NeueHouse have merged in an effort to create high-end cultural programming in a post-pandemic world. After a year in which cultural events have been shuttered and repeatedly postponed, the business of appealing to the tastes and social cravings of the creative class has been struggling. Now, as COVID-19 case loads go down and vaccination numbers go up, two growing brands are joining forces to awaken the slumbering industry. Read Full Story

The new trends are taking a backseat to global health concerns. As coronavirus spread through China, it halted production on all sorts of goods, as employees fell sick or under quarantine. Now that it’s found its way into Italy, coronavirus is impacting the world of design: Salone del Mobile in Milan is being delayed to June 16-21 from its original start date in April. The new dates are in big, bold lettering on the event’s website . Read Full Story

It’s been a devastating year. These are just a few of the brilliant minds we lost. The coronavirus pandemic has taken nearly 2 million lives around the world. Like every other industry, the design world has suffered some incalculable losses. Here, we remember just a few of the designers and creatives who have passed away this year due to COVID-19 complications. Read Full Story

Designers can dismantle the New Jim Code. Here’s how. The disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Blacks and the continued violence against Black lives as elucidated in protests responding to the death of George Floyd have thrown light on pervasive systemic racism against Black people in the United States. That extends to the technology industry. Anti-Black racism in technological design abounds, and it cannot go unnoticed and unchallenged. Read Full Story