The Empty Event
On August 5th Live Events Coalition with DC Events Coalition hosted an event on the National Mall - The Empty Event.
Typically buzzing with energy and tourism, the Mall was hushed, as it has been for the past 5 months. The sporadic runners and walkers craned their necks to try to find out what could possibly be going on. The breeze rustled the elegantly laid table linens and rushed through the light towers on the empty stage. The speakers announced, “Guests, Please Make Your Way To Your Seats”. The tables, the seats, the stage remained empty.
“[An Event] doesn’t magically appear. [...] there are these extremely talented and highly skilled and trained professionals that build this.”
Rather than to celebrate, this event was staged to shine a light on an industry that has been demolished by COVID-19. 48 tables were set, each symbolizing 250,000 live event workers, totaling 12 million workers who have lost their jobs during the current pandemic.
The live events industry was one of the first to be shuttered by the pandemic’s effects and it will be the last to return.
According to DC Live Events Coalition, the US meeting industry had over $845 billion in sales in 2016, concert and events promotion had around $35 billion in revenue. The US professional AV industry had $89 billion in revenue in 2018 and the US wedding/social industry came in around $ 74 billion in 2019. Each previously booming branch of live events has been hit with the same devastation of COVID-19 and has come together and to demand attention and relief.
“The health and safety of our clients, their guests, our vendors, our employees, and the global community is our number one priority.”
Live events workers are known for their anonymity. Typically donning ‘all blacks’, we are the one’s behind the scenes – planning, setting, decorating, building, producing, cooking, serving, cleaning, trouble-shooting - creating the magic for guests to revel in. It’s what we do and it’s what we love.
“We rely on person-to-person networking and energy. Our business is exactly the opposite of social distancing”
The DC Events Coalition quickly came together as event leaders in the DC area sought to find support and resources within the industry.
Through their webinars, RGI events has stood with the DC Events Coalition to discuss and identify critical resources, create awareness of the suffering within our industry, working to bring relief by means of federal aid, and addressing the lasting impacts we will have to navigate both during and after the pandemic.
RGI continues to stand together with DC events coalition and all our industry partners in our hope and our fight for this beautiful industry filled with countless hours of hard work and plenty of magic.
Photo credit to Pepe Gomez, Daniel Swartz, and Michael Kress