Event practitioners need to rethink strategies, leverage tech to stay afloat – Sotunde

Practitioners in the $20 billion event industry must urgently rethink their operational strategies and leverage the potential of creativity and technology to survive, Bisi Sotunde, CEO of BusyBee Event Nigeria has said.

This is with understanding that the world is dependent on so many things and most of them are tied to technology. Also the event industry has witnessed a remarkable transformation due to rapid advancement in technology.

She said that with continuous growth of the industry, the players must keep pace with the dynamics by innovating and adapting to changes .

Bisi who organises yearly event business summit designed to foster sound entrepreneurial practices among event professionals said this year’s theme is ‘the forward thinking event professional- innovation meets imagination’.

At the three- day event holding this week in Lagos, she said professionals will explore the intersection of creativity and strategic thinking. She listed various professionals and industry leaders who will speak at the event.

Due to the “increase of event professionals in the industry, the question is, how do you stand out? How are you able to bring innovation to your business? What are you doing differently? How do you create?”. The summit will provide tools to these issues.

She said in the last seven years of the summit, they “ have trained many people. There are over 1,500 professionals in Nigeria and in diaspora. In the course of these seven years, a lot of members have gained visibility”, she said.

On the impact of the economy on the event business in Nigeria, she said it has eaten deep. “First of all, people do not have that easy disposable income. She said players in the industry have been supporting themselves to ameliorate the economic challenges.

During the event,Olori Sekinat Elegushi and Nike Davies of Nike Art Gallery will be honoured for their outstanding and remarkable efforts towards advancing the events planning industry in Nigeria.

Speaking on the sponsorship benefits to the event, Adeola Sessi-Traore, Head, Corporate Sponsorship, BusyBee Event Business Summit called on organisations and brands to partner with BusyBee Events to bring the 8th edition of the summit to life.