HITS

From the outset of the pandemic, it seemed like a constant fire drill for those involved with media and entertainment events, with everyone from NAB to IBC shifting their trade shows to digital-only.

The Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA) was among the industry groups that had to adapt quickly, with seven major events left on the calendar for the year, all which typically drew hundreds of studio executives, content distributors and Hollywood service vendors when held in-person.

At the recent “NET Critical Conversations: I Guess You Had to Be There: Planning and Executing a Virtual Trade Show” roundtable, Guy Finley, president of MESA, joined more than a half-dozen other M&E event directors and organisation heads to share how his group shifted events to a virtual event quickly, and how what he’s learned thus far will carry over when the industry returns to in-person conferences.

“We were among the first back with NAB, doing our cybersecurity summit during their NAB Express week,” Finley said. “And it was quick, May 12. We didn’t have a lot of time to change [the approach], but our organisation was nimble enough to adopt something in three weeks that would normally take three months.”

“For MESA, our events are usually based in London or L.A., Vegas for NAB, and Amsterdam for IBC,” Finley said, adding that the members of MESA’s media and entertainment community is a “close-knit” crown who are all very familiar with one another. “I had to pick a platform that would allow people to do those quick one-on-ones [they’re used to]. That’s the technology we chose.

“Of course the programming is absolutely critical, drives everyone together to be in that same digital room at the same time, but I needed something that would allow people to connect one on one, and add other people in. The difficult part, is we have to train our constituencies. They’re so very used to the webinar experience, which is one way. It’s like watching TV.”

The platform Finley and MESA chose — Engagez — allows for digital MESA member booths, one-on-one interactions among attendees, quick and easy Q&A with presenters — and the three events MESA has done this far using Engagez, with four more planned for the fall. And not everything from the live events is gone.

“We still have live registration, networking breaks, a networking reception,” Finley said. “I’m really trying to preserve that feeling that these are the same events you’ve been going to for years. And these are the same events that will come back when we all can get together again.”

Mark Chilios, director of business development for Mobile TV Group, said he attended one of MESA’s virtual events in recent months, and came away impressed.

“I actually found the networking lounge, and it was actually pretty intuitive and friendly, and ended up chatting with three people I knew and would have chatted with [in-person], and we ended up taking it offline after the event finished,” he said. “It accomplished what it was supposed to.”

MESA — which has 150-plus members and just unveiled a major rebrand, bringing its multiple communities under one umbrella — will next host the SoCal Women’s Leadership Summit 2020 (Oct. 7), the Media & Entertainment Day 2020 (Oct. 20), and the Smart Content Summit Europe 2020 (Nov. 5).

To learn more about MESA’s events and MESA itself, click here to schedule time with its sales team.