(Pictured above: “The Don & Mike Show” at the ESCA Winter Awards ceremony interviewing winner of ESCA’s Volunteer of the Year award, Brett Mitchell, general manager of The Overland Park Convention Center in Overland Park, Kansas)
by Mike Morrison
Here we are at the end of the year and 2021 has been one of interesting perspectives. It certainly wasn’t 2020 dismal results, yet it wasn’t a 2019 record-setting pace and experiences either. If there is one thing that is for sure—that we have heard over and over again on the show recently—it is that this comeback will be a marathon and not a sprint. Challenges from every aspect will be seen and experienced by all in our industry and to get back to where we want to be will take some time. Many of us (myself included) are guilty of not wanting to wait out the return and want the proverbial magic wand to wave and be back to the pre-pandemic levels of business for our industries of tradeshow, events and experiential marketing … however, that is pretty unrealistic with all the challenges we are facing with labor shortages, supply and logistics challenges, cultural demands centering on work and home life balance and many other indicators that will see the return to previous record-setting years a long-range goal at best… but we can all strive and hope for the best sooner than later.
That being said, December saw a very successful EDPA Access 20201 Future Forward Conference in Hollywood, Florida, take place and an IAEE Expo!Expo! face-to-face conference and exhibition happen at the Philadelphia Convention Center along with ESCA’s Winter Awards Ceremony in Philly as well. The common thread? Face-to-face events with people hugging, smiling and thankful that there is seemingly a light at the end of the grim tunnel known as the 2020 Pandemic that set our industries back to an almost zero level. We all know we were the first to shut down and seemingly the last to return.
Let’s hope that 2022 will be a banner year in comparison to 2020 and 2021 and The Don and Mike Show looks forward to getting back on the road and having meaningful conversations with industry colleagues about the matters at hand, educational content and memorable experiences! Here is to a happy new year and we will see you in 2022!
Mike Morrison is the national sales director for WS Displays as well as co-host and producer of “The Don & Mike Show” podcast, Contact him at thedonandmikeshow@gmail.com or mike@wsdisplay.com. For more info, visit TheDonAndMikeShow.net
The Don & Mike Show can be heard on Fridays at TheDonAndMikeShow.net; ExhibitCityNews.com; Facebook (www.facebook.com/DandMshow); LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/groups/12096643/); Twitter (twitter.com/DonAndMikeShow1) and most all podcast platforms including iTunes, Google, Spotify and more.
This story originally appeared in the Q1 2022 issue of Exhibit City News, p. 22. For original layout, visit https://issuu.com/exhibitcitynews/docs/ecn_Q1_2022
