Social media has helped events, not hurt them.
observation — attributed to Ben Parr
Parr's counterintuitive read on the events industry is that social media has helped events rather than hurt them. The more tools available for remote connection, the more clearly people realize that deep connections are made in person. The shift to staying home or staying in offices has made the in-person gathering more valuable, not less. When someone really needs to build deep connections, they go to events. The implication for event producers is structural. The format's value proposition has gotten clearer as the alternatives have proliferated. Events that lean into what only in-person can deliver win against virtual substitutes. Events that try to compete with virtual on cost or convenience lose.
For event producers, conference operators, and association executives thinking about the in-person value proposition. The observation is most useful as a strategic frame against the assumption that digital is eroding in-person.
social-media, in-person-value, deep-connections, events-industry