2012 – The year of the Olympics…and lots of cancelled events!

There are now just 505 days to go until the Olympic Games in London (or 538 for the Paralympics) and I think I am right in saying that almost everyone is at least slightly excited by them for at least one reason.  Be it the development of a local area, the chance to see some of the world’s top athletes or simply the joy of seeing the UK host such a huge world-wide event there is almost a reason for everyone to be energised by the thought of the Olympics.

However there is one date, area, issue that has largely been unannounced or even mentioned and that is the deadline of 31^st March 2011 for informing the Mayor’s office of any event taking place in London next year.  Whilst this does not reduce the excitement we at Connect Events Ltd (http://www.connectevents.co.uk/) are feeling towards the impending games it does somewhat put a potential cloud on the horizon for event organisers and management agencies.

Firstly there is a good reason for the deadline, although not sure it needs to be quite as early as it is.  Clearly the Olympics (including pre and post-event requirements) will put a lot of pressure on London’s (and the UK’s) infrastructure (roads, rail, airports, venues, services, etc) and owing to this early planning is vital.  Last year the Mayor’s office (in conjunction with Visit London) created ‘The Culture Diary’ with the aim of showcasing every cultural event taking place in London during 2012 – to help highlight potential clashes and issues.  Whilst this, in principal, is a good idea it currently only has approx 1,100 events listed as taking place in London next year – obviously no where near the usual figure.  Given the deadline is just 2 ½ weeks away, the number of events mentioned suggests a lack of awareness from Organisers and alike.  Surely this should not be the case…

Another ‘positive’ is that this deadline is only for events of 500 people and above.  I say positive in the loosest sense of the word but at least smaller events should be able to take place (that said there is a standard governmental caveat in that the deadline could extend to smaller events if they are deemed to impact on the city’s infrastructure – which surely they all will…)! 

Before I continue let me explain that I do understand and accept that any large events usually taking place in July - September may have to be cancelled, postponed or moved.  This should only apply to those events taking place in an Olympic venue, i.e. Wembley or Earls Court, though - and I am fairly certain that will not be the case.

So…the long and short of it is that organisers and their clients (corporate and public sector alike) need to know the size / scale of their events up to 18 – 20 months away, quite possibly even after the event has taken place this year.  Even when the market was booming this would be a challenge but in the current climate it becomes an almost impossible scenario.  The events industry over the past couple of years has become an increasingly last minute environment – delegates book, sponsors sign up, organisers contract and a lot of people pay…late!  It’s unavoidable given the state of the economy but this approach seems to go against that, and in fact remove any opportunity for last minute decisions / changes / launches – something which the industry has thrived (almost survived) on recently.  Removing this flexibility will create a tough backdrop for events in 2012.

As mentioned earlier I can understand completely why something such as this would be in place but the lack of communication from The Mayor’s office (or Visit London) or anyone, bar the main industry magazines in the last few weeks - http://www.eventmagazine.co.uk/channel/news/article/1058934/Why-event-cancelled-2012/ - is unacceptable.  Yes the Olympics are important but then so are all other events that take place in London each year – without them London would not be the place it is today.  London is the leading city in the UK (and, we like to think, in Europe) for events and the leading brands do want to organise their events in our beloved capital but the effects of this deadline’s passing could discourage this.  If we turn away business next year, why would they come back in 2013…?

The Olympics will be great for London (and UK) but this sort of inflexible, un-dynamic approach creates a potential negativity around London moving forward.  The line of ‘we’ve had a great Olympics, everyone will want to bring their business here’ may not exactly be true come January 2013…obviously I hope I am proved completely wrong