The 2021 LOMA List
At the start of 2020, our team ushered in the new decade by launching the inaugural LOMA List: a report analyzing event marketing trends with a focus on creating sustainable and inclusive experiences for all.
The report posited that our progressive attitudes towards societal “norms” related to race, gender, the environment, and the economy would impact our event marketing and planning strategies in the years to come.
But by early March 2020, while our team prepared to launch a large scale, in-person conference in San Francisco, the threat of COVID-19 had begun to unfold all around us, eventually gripping the entire world, exposing socioeconomic inequities and crippling various industries, including our own.
Unsurprisingly, this past year, planners have shown great resilience in the face of so much uncertainty. Shared learnings, newly integrated technologies, and a steely determination to bring people together, propelled planners to forge ahead and create meaningful virtual experiences for audiences globally. After all, who better to understand the importance of adapting to changing circumstances – often with limited time and resources – than an event professional?
Now almost one year later, with a vaccine in distribution, a return to in-person events is within reach. Therefore, event planners must once again rise to the occasion, this time placing a heightened priority on new tools, processes and safety protocols, to create unique and inclusive hybrid experiences for both in-person and virtual audiences.