3 Reasons to be Excited About Live Events

Spring is in the air — probably like you, I’m excited for the feeling that things are starting to get back to normal. More and more people are getting vaccinated, kids are returning to school, and we are starting to see family at limited gatherings. It’s hard not to feel optimistic!

Even more exciting, we are planning for a return to in-person Evanta gatherings later this year. For me, nothing can replace the informal, spontaneous interactions that regularly occur at live events. Hallway conversations, chats in the buffet line and talking shop before a session are all organic, hard to replicate online -- and don’t require you to specifically schedule a meeting with someone. It’s one of my favorite things about conferences, along with bringing people together around their shared interests.

At Evanta, our communities are uniquely positioned for this return-to-live environment for three reasons: 

1. The communities are invitation-only to qualifying C-level executives, resulting in events that foster in-depth conversations and collaboration and are smaller by design. 
2. Evanta communities are local to you, meaning that no travel is required and there is no impact to your budget.
3. Lastly, these gatherings only require an investment of your time.

Our unique relationships with our regional Governing Body members ensure all of our programs are driven by the C-level executives and for the C-level executives. Those relationships also allow us to assess executive sentiment in real time. Here is what some of our Evanta Governing Body members shared with us about returning to in-person events: 

• “Just had my first business trip last week -- and looking forward to getting back to live [events].”
• “Excited that we will finally have live events.”
• “Thumbs up to in person.”
• “100% in for a live event.”

It’s great to hear that our Governing Body members are eager to return to meeting in person!

One of the things that I’m most excited about introducing at our in-person summits this fall is Peer-to-Peer Meetings. We piloted these in a few communities in 2019 and are now doing them virtually -- and the positive feedback has been through the roof. Executives have made it clear that they want more time one-on-one with each other to exchange ideas -- or just to talk shop. 

Virtual programs have proven to be a valuable and effective way for our communities to connect in the absence of in-person gatherings, and as such, we will continue to hold virtual gatherings even as we return to in-person programs – so executives can stay connected with their professional communities year-round.

There are a lot of reasons to feel optimistic about 2021, and we hope you are feeling that way, too. We are taking a regional approach to returning to in-person events, following all local guidelines and recommendations. You can always check our Calendar page for the latest information on in-person gatherings. We look forward to seeing you in person!