ABTS announces its support as a partner for Go LIVE Together, representing over 4,000 companies with U.S. operations—who have joined forces to support legislative actions that will aid the industry’s recovery from COVID-19. The coalition is bound together by the belief that nothing in the world will ever replace the power and need for trade shows and live events.
As Davide stated in his LinkedIn article Why Virtual Events Should Not Replace Live Experiences, “The live congress is the only opportunity to recreate and sustain the community we built, and it cannot be replaced by online virtual learning only. As humans, we have always learned through experience, and by imitating other people we consider experts. The “show-me-how” (constructivism) is still the most effective pedagogical approach.”
Events serve as a massive incubator for innovation and economic growth. Advocating for recovery funding will be essential – not only to the events industry – but to the healing and recovery efforts of the global economy, because:
- Live events contribute nearly $1 trillion to the U.S. economy annually, with events touching every major sector that makes up the U.S. GDP.
- In 2019, the events industry employed 3 million workers directly, with a total impact of close to 7 million jobs.
- The live events industry employs millions of union workers, general laborers, strategists, marketers, concession stand workers, entertainers, riggers, project managers, and more.
- Over 80 percent of the companies that serve the live events industry are small, with many being women and minority-owned businesses.
Please join our efforts in advocating for what we all already know to be true — nothing in the world will ever replace the power and the need for live events.
Let’s Go LIVE Together! #GoLiveTogether
