The events industry is building positive momentum, as major events continue to return to in-person in big ways.

Mobile World Congress hosted 61,000 attendees in-person

As one of the largest world tech conferences—and one of the first major events to cancel when the pandemic began—MWC’s in-person attendance was up 3x from 2021 and crept up to 55% of pre-pandemic attendance—a great sign for a rebounding events industry.

 

South by Southwest (SXSW) also returned in-person 

SXSW made its first return to in-person since the pandemic in March. Despite in-person presence, the event featured myriad online and hybrid elements, including an XR World and “creator spaces” with both physical and digital components.

Throughout the month of March, brands celebrated International Women’s Day

 

Brands took the opportunity to elevate and celebrate women with unique and interesting experiences.

 

 

The Metaverse conversation continues to evolve 

Whether it’s branded open-world sandboxes or the convergence of a laundry list of technologies being touted as the key to the metaverse, it’s making the news every day. While it’s a marketing hot topic, by no means are you missing out if you’re not already there. The ideas have been in place for years, but the implementation is still in the early stages, with mixed results.

The bigger question is: does it make sense for your brand to explore metaverse experiences? Keep your eyes open for a GPJ POV that will help you answer that question. 

GPJ VP of Strategy Discusses the Engagement Dilemma 

What captures audience attention in 2022? Brendan Brown sits down with BizBash to tackle the new challenges in audience engagement and what brands can do to listen to and address those challenges. Listen to the Podcast

 

 

Until next time, be well and take care of one another!