Trends in regional events

Here are trends and opportunities to incorporate into your event this year.

Sustainability

Being sustainable is not a passing trend – for example, grant providers now require evidence of how applicants are improving their event’s sustainability.

We have a new module in our event management training program on Responsible Events.

We’ve developed a new Responsible (sustainable) Event Plan template which outlines how you can reduce your event’s emissions and environmental impacts, as well as how to make it more socially inclusive. This will help you keep your event’s social license!

Accessibility

As with being sustainable, being accessible is not optional – after all, events are all about building community, and 1 in 5 of us live with disability! (That’s a lot of potential attendees!).

This great video outlines what helps people with disability enjoy an event, from the point of view of people with disability:

We’ve developed an Access and Inclusion Plan template to help event organisers find affordable ways to increase their event’s accessibility for people a range of disability.

Inclusion and diversity

Do your committee members, presenters, exhibitors, and musicians all look they’ve come from the same mould? 

How can your event become more inclusive?

Start by inviting diverse members of your community to join your committee - if your team is diverse, you have a better chance of creating a diverse event.

Is it time to update your policies to, for example,

• ensure at least half of entertainers and headline acts are female

• offer a low-priced or free tickets for Low Income Card holders and free tickets for Companion Card holders

• use images to promote the event that show diversity in attendees and entertainers

• provide spaces for mothers and carers (e.g. changing rooms either parent can use)

• provide a variety of dietary options (e.g. vegetarian and halal)

Our Responsible Event Plan template includes more ideas.

A new model

A new year provides an opportunity to rethink the model of your event.

For example, should you aim to attract fewer attendees who are each higher yielding (who pay a higher ticket price)? Some rural towns find they get more economic benefit out of attracting a small number of overnight visitors, and filling available accommodation, rather than attracting a lot of daytrippers, or sending most of the event’s economic impact away to nearby towns when local accommodation gets full!

Alternatively, would it be better for your committee to run a series of smaller, easier to manage events (e.g. one each season) that spread the workload across the year?

Would a new model for your event solve one of your biggest challenges as a committee?

Sponsorship that adds to the event experience

The days of Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsorship are gone! There is a better approach to sponsorship where you co-create meaningful and mutually beneficial partnerships with businesses and community groups that increase benefits for your community.

CSEnergy, which sponsors Chinchilla Melon Festival, is a great example of a sponsor adding to an event experience (see how here) (the sad caveat to this otherwise great case study is that the event is being used to build social license for a highly polluting corporation – the days for this should also be over!).

Check out these free toolkits we developed to help businesses and community groups leverage events, and to help event organisers maximise the benefits for their community from their events.