Day: November 9, 2020

The global pandemic has radically upended the trends that shape the current and future event industry.

Let’s think about what we see trending in events this year and next year.

Here are some examples..

Virtual & Hybrid Events Are Here to Stay
Perhaps the biggest shift the event industry has seen over the past few months is the shift from in-person events to virtual ones. (Links to an external site.) As cities and countries begin to open up their economies, events are being re-scheduled. While most face-to-face events wont likely return until 2021, a lasting trend of COVID-19 will be increasing popularity in hybrid events. When those who cant attend physically have the option to participate virtually, that results in greater outreach and more attendees at lower costs

Custom Kits Delivered Straight to Attendees Door
Build meaningful connections no matter where your attendees are. Smoothly transition to successful virtual events through engaging communications and show-stopping virtual event essentials kits (Links to an external site.). These kits immerse attendees in your brand, reinforce your key messages, and get people talkingno matter where they are.

Health Risk Mitigation More Important Than Ever
Health and wellness have been major trends in the event industry for some time now. From an increase in physical activities available to a focus on healthy food options, mindfulness, and getting good sleep, health has been an important factor at events for years.

Spread Out Your Event & Attendees
The best practice is to keep people apart, but events exist to bring people together. The way to reconcile this is by concentrating on density. Whether you achieve this by lowering your headcount or scaling up your venue, you need to keep attendee density down to avoid the risk of spreading the virus.

This focus on intimate experiences lines up for what the future of events might look like, including more small- and mid-size events structured as a tour of a continent, country, or geographical region. Having a variety of smaller group events rather than one large one would also allow you to deliver impactful and intimate events

COVID-19 amplified this focus on mitigating health risks (Links to an external site.) as much as possible. Sanitation practices have become standard, venues are limiting capacity, food is pre-packaged and masks are worn to ensure the health and safety of staff and guests alike. There has also been a surge in mindfulness practices and exercises as people try to cope with the stress and anxiety caused by COVID-19.

Sustainability Is Still Important
Sustainability has been trending as an important issue for years and planners have historically incorporated sustainable practices into almost every meeting. While the need for pre-packaged food, disposable gloves, and plastic water bottles may be higher on the checklist right now, the negative environmental impact of single-use plastic is still real.

And the green focus doesnt stop at the recycle bin. As event planners, we have a responsibility to pay attention to how tourism impacts local, national, and global environments (Links to an external site.). Its important to take action now to ensure travel to these destinations can be enjoyed for generations to come.

Creativity Leads to Successful Adaptation
The innovation were seeing today is a testament to the creativity of event and meeting planners and industry leaders as they continue to adapt. Meeting professionals are resilient and resourceful. Innovation in virtual events and creativity in how to move forward with in-person events will drive the industrys path forward through this crisis.

You can also think about any event trends, current issues, or challenges in 2020 and 2021

Rubric and assignment attached too.

Social Complexity and Identity

Background: Archaeologists study social complexity to understand the differences between and changes within societies across space and time.  Identifying social complexity involves taking into account many factors.  In archaeology, these factors manifest themselves in certain material remains within the archaeological record. Just like any material remains, remains of complexity are subject to formation processes (see p. 36 in our textbook to review what this term means), making some factors easier to identify than others.  The material remains of complexity help us to determine the degree to which societies are structured, how societies create and reify identities, and how inequalities played a role in these structures.

Forager (hunter-gatherer) societies tend to be on the low end of the spectrum of complexity.  That is, they exhibit few of the following factors of complexity.  State-level societies such as ours are on the high end of the spectrum of complexity, exhibiting manyif not allof the factors of complexity, including:

A large population wherein many people coexist and interact frequently.
Inequality among segments of the population, with social stratification.
Economic specialization and subsistence dependence on others with delayed returns.
Regulation through customs and laws to govern behavior, interactions, and exchange.
Hierarchical ruling structure for administration and maintenance of order.
Agricultural intensification to provide surplus to support non-food-producing groups.
Interactions beyond the local community including trade and exchange.
Institutionalized ideology, rituals, and artistic expression representing the community.
Prominent monuments representing the community and/or those in power.
Instructions:  In this activity you will identify factors of social complexity as seen on our own campus and in your own cities/towns.  These factors can be found in many places and may leave different material remains depending on the activities associated with each factor.  Thinking about your own society or community (the SMU campus, the city you live in, the etc.), identify a material object that is physical evidence for five of the above-mentioned factors of social complexity.  Describe each of these physical objectsWhat are they? Where are they? What are they made out of, and how long are they likely to exist in the archaeological record?

Prepare an essay that presents these objects, how/why they represent evidence for social complexity, and how these might look to a future archaeologist after the passage of 5000 yearsa relatively short span of time in the human past.  What will still remain of it, and will it still be possible to discern how it represents a factor of social complexity?  Think about how formation processes may affect the physical appearance and integrity of the object over the course of 5000 years.  (Hint: Consider the kinds of artifacts that are discussed in class and in the textbook.  What kinds of materials appear to be common on archaeological sites, and what kinds of materials are rare or nonexistent?)  Based on the items that you chose from campus, and your reasoning about how they would survive in the future, what kinds of information could archaeologists reasonably conclude about social complexity on our campus?

Specifications: Your essay should be no less than 3 and no more than 5 pages, double spaced, with 1-inch margins, and set in 12-point font.  A references-cited page is not necessary, but be sure to include an in-text reference to any information that you obtain elsewhere.  Make sure to include your name, student number, and class/year at the top of the first page, and that there are page numbers at the bottom of each page.  Your essay should have a clear structure with an introduction, background, analyses, discussion, and conclusion. Begin your essay with a clearly written thesis statement.  You should avoid bullet points, poor grammar and informal language, vague/non-specific statements, and plagiarism (either intentional or unintentional).