It's incredible how much change and intensity can happen in a matter of days.  Many of us were doing something completely different a few weeks back to what we are probably doing right now, at work, at home etc.

So first of all, if you're reading this then you're likely to be in quite a fortunate position compared to many - so we must be grateful for what we have. Of course times are tough and are only going to get tougher along with the huge amounts of uncertainty. All over the world we're waking up to a new reality. But don't let fear define you, your mindset and your state of being. 

Of course the question many are asking themselves and about their business is:

Are we going to be okay?

Truthfully, the answer could easily be a NO. The odds are against us. But it's up to you to make it a YES. If you have the right mindset, support and forward-thinking approach you will do great.

Blair Enns from Win Without Pitching couldn't have put it better.

You cannot control the world around you but you can control how you respond, how you lead, how you lift others and—if your business survives—you may well be facing the opportunity of a lifetime as the entire world goes on sale. 

The Aftermath for events people

After being forced to cancel / postpone / pivot your event, eventrepreneurs and their teams might be in one of the following scenarios:

1. You are dealing with the aftermath of venues / contracts
   This is a very painful and a difficult part of the process. Many venues are being extremely conscious and flexible with their clients, but others are not being flexible at all (especially in the UK) so it's a process of going through contracts and T&Cs. Hopefully your event insurance (hopefully you have in place) will protect you - honestly many are at the at the mercy of local governments official actions to invoke cancellation clauses and not incur heavy expenses.
   
   
2. You have pivoted to virtual
   The truth is that surprisingly many event organisers have never done virtual - not even running webinars. So pivoting to 100 % virtual means not really knowing what to do or HOW.
   A really interesting and steep learning curve. 
   
   
3. You are not  panicking, instead you are re-strategising, re-thinking, developing a plan of attack for your next 6 - 18 months and future events.
   Much of this work involves cutting back, cashflow forecast, heavily executing and communicating with your industry and then elegantly reemerging in 2021 and beyond with dominating market share.
   
   
4. You decided to start working on key projects that were pending to be kicked off - Database / CRM / Marketing Automation / Online Community / Subscription products
   Visionaries and forward thinking eventrepreneurs are already viewing this unstable time as an opportunity to invest in business accelerating things (software, training, tools), leverage remote teams and capitalise on a really "quiet" period.

Did I get this right? Which scenario describes your current situation best? 

Regardless of which of the scenarios your company is, the sentiment is that there are more questions than answers available. And that is true.

The common denominator in any of these cases is that this is uncharted territory - some would have dealt with market dips/situations in the past, but surely never at this scale. Some of your team members (millennials especially) have never experienced anything like this in their working lives - and it's probably fair to say our personal lives too.

Above anything else, given that many are now working remotely and isolated, the feeling of being alone in the journey and not knowing how and where to start is very common.

But, you are not alone.

We are all in this together (more on this below keep reading)

Brene Brown summarised it nicely in this post which went viral. What stuck with me the most was: 

This global pandemic is a real case of “getting sick together” or “staying well together.”
Our choices affect everyone around us. There is no such thing as “individual risk” or “individual wellness.” This is the ultimate reminder that we are inextricably connected to each other.
Turning away from collective action right now - as tempting as it is - will only generate more pain. Owning and embracing our global interconnectedness (from a safe distance) and thinking about others as we make choices is, ironically, our only path to safety for ourselves and the people we love.

At BrightBull I am encouraging the team to embrace a positive mindset, an alternative way of approaching things, of course a CAN DO attitude and looking at the good and impactful things we can do NOW.