Industry reactions: Event organisers rejoice as SG turns to 'living with COVID'

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made the announcement this morning to the joy of many event organisers, who have been badly impacted by the restrictions of COVID-19.

PM Lee shared that moving forward, events with over 1,000 people will have a 75% capacity restriction up from 50% announced earlier. Meanwhile, group size limits will go up to 10 persons and masks will no longer be mandatory in outdoor settings, and alcohol can be consumed past 10.30pm at F&B joints. PM Lee labelled the move as one taking a “decisive step forward towards living with COVID-19”. On the workplace front, 75% of employees who can work from home will be allowed to return to their workplaces. PM Lee also added that Singapore has “reached a major milestone” with high vaccination rates and the wave caused by the Omicron variant is now subsiding. He added that while the country must be wary of not burdening healthcare workers, it must still “weigh the cost of stringent safe management measures on businesses and the economy”.

Live performances will also be allowed to resume at all venues, including F&B establishments, along with busking. The government will also lift the restriction on the screening of live broadcast programmes and recorded entertainment in F&B establishments. The government is also separately looking into the safe resumption of nightlife businesses, comprising bars, pubs, karaoke establishments, discotheques and nightclubs which it deems as areas of "higher risks of transmission and where there are generally more difficulties complying with the prevailing safe distancing measures." Nonetheless, MTI and MHA will provide an update on the re-opening of the sector in the coming weeks.

Speaking to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Lighthouse Independent Media regional director of event services Yeo Wei Qi said that the move is definitely a welcomed one, not just for the event industry but for many businesses looking to connect with their clients and employees face to face. “From the initial announcement, it seems like we are able to hold more MICE events which is great, and the allowance of gala dinners, social events and the likes (when it happens) will really help us drastically with our recovery given the difficulties we’ve been through as an industry,” said Yeo. Lighthouse Independent Media is the parent company of MARKETING-INTERACTIVE and Human Resources Online.

Tjin Lee, managing director of Mercury marketing and communications, added that this is great news for many in the events industry. “Clients have been enquiring about large-scale events for the past six months and this will really pave the way for mega-events to return in the foreseeable future. Even if we have to work around safe-distancing measures, these are still great steps forward for the industry,” she said.

During a MARKETING-INTERACTIVE webinar last year hosted in collaboration with event platform Hubilo, Lee said that many in the event industry had to really relearn and adapt to the new world by staying nimble. She shared that employees at Mercury had to rethink and reshape their minds and think of events in a virtual format. However, not all were able to keep up with the speed of change and the skills needed in the world of virtual. This led to the event industry as a whole seeing departures of some very senior talent.

“Some of these departures were from very experienced senior individuals – people with over 20 years of experience, and they did not want to be back in a digital classroom, learning everything from scratch again, and I understand that,” Lee said. Nonetheless, with several senior exits, it has paved the way for new recruitment opportunities, people who enjoy digital or digital natives, Lee shared. 

Hybrid here to stay

In the initial days of the pandemic, many event companies struggled to pivot into the virtual space. However, living with the pandemic over the course of two years and with easing of measures, hybrid events have now become a staple for many in the marketing, PR and events industry. 

Now with live physical events becoming very much a possibility, will hybrid events still have a relevancy? Commenting on the matter, Lee was of the belief that despite the push back into the realm of physical, hybrid will still be here to stay. “Events may now be complemented by online platforms which can generate tremendous eyeballs, engagement leading to a conversion funnel, alongside the buzz, impact and visibility of physical events,” she said, adding:

We can expect to see glamorous events with regional and international celebrities back on our shores soon, now that the VTL and quarantine restrictions are being lifted.

In a prior conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Cathy Song Novelli, senior vice-president for marketing and communications at event platform Hubilo said that today virtual events are really pushing the boundaries and focusing on engagement. “Engagement is the number one KPI for event marketers and event organisers so I think the big trend is going to be testing and dipping toes into micro in-person events; still having virtual, but bridging those attendees all together,” she said.

She added that while hybrid might have been a term which seemingly cropped up more over the course of the past two years, as a concept it isn’t very new – especially in the sports industry.

“Hybrid is not new because every major sporting event is hybrid. You have your in-person attendees and you have people watching on TV. People watching on TV have benefits that in-person people don’t. They get to have a commentary, they get to see the replays, they get to hear all the stats. There are benefits to watching it on TV, and of course, there are benefits to being there in-person like the energy and being with the crowd. That to me is the north star for our industry,” she said.

Photo courtesy: 123RF

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