Of all of the business sectors floored by the COVID-19 pandemic, then surely the events sector has to be one the hardest hit.
From corporate hospitality to car rallies, children's parades to sporting tournaments - for nearly two years the license to gather together in big crowds has been mothballed.
We record this as the Tennis at Wimbledon and the Euros at Wembley gradually climbed to full capacity crowds, but the Olympic athletes in Tokyo are literally surrounded by tens of thousands of empty seats. Test events in Liverpool and London have required revelers to declare their vaccine or lateral flow test status before they can enter, something being teased as a mandated fixture in nightclubs from September for the foreseeable.
For however long, we're in a two-tiered society with many anxious to get back in huddles and others anxious at the very thought of queuing for the toilets again.
What is clear is the solidarity and community within the events sector, which has come to the fore - with venues bathed in red, with giant projected letters #WeMakeEvents and #LightItInRed as a way to share the pain.
In this episode of The Possibility Club After Corona? series, we're looking at the events sector with a magnifying glass.
Our special contributors, who were all asked the same questions, are:
Janice Moth, founder of The Glamour Club a regular 1940s-style tea dance which acts as a lifeline for older people and people with dementia to socialize and be treated like royalty
Hollie White, amongst many other talents, helps to manage farmland in the Somerset countryside including an exclusive wedding venue that would usually be booked up right through the summer months
Dan Flanagan is the founder of Tot Rockin' Beats and Dad La Soul - a programme of daylight family raves and structured playdates for dads who find it a challenge to make new friends in later life
and Rifa Thorpe-Tracey is a well known-figure in the digital sector as a coach and events manager and advocate of women in tech; organiser of She Says Brighton and the Spring Forward Festival, Rifa is also currently Head of Events & Marketing at Wired Sussex.
Each of these guests are speaking in a personal capacity, and from the heart, from different stages in the pandemic - from right back at the start when lockdown were a novelty, to more recently in Spring 2021 with the UK cautiously opening up.
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