How We’re Responding to Challenges in the Experiential and Field Marketing Industry

“I wish the germs would go away,” said my three year-old daughter this morning as we were playing with her Peppa Pig castle. Yes, soon I hope. Soon.

When the pandemic hit, it was a complete jolt to everything we all knew. Here in Chicago, things unfolded very quickly. In a matter of a few days, schools, retail businesses, offices, and even our corner Starbucks was closed. With three kids, a wife and two dogs under one roof for an indefinite amount of time, I wasn’t quite sure what had just happened or where things were heading.

“A few hours in and they have already been sent to their rooms twice, Vivian still hasn’t found her pants, the oldest two are now fighting over a radio, and Vivian is dancing.”

On the work front, the changes were equally as evident. MainEvent customers are brands and agencies that conduct field and experiential marketing programs. Because of the pandemic, campaigns were cancelled or suspended. The industry was upended.

So what do we do now? That’s a question many of us are asking in all aspects of our lives. When large, unforeseeable, uncertain things happen in life, how do we respond?

For me, after initially increasing my daily caloric intake by 6,000 calories, I attempted to take stock of what I could control, and make movements in an incremental fashion.

On the home front, I try to stay out of my wife’s way and clean more than I ever have. I’m also doing my teenage daughter’s ab workouts to help offset my enormous appetite, and am proud to say have finally perfected the chocolate chip cookie recipe. I should probably move on to perfecting salads now.

With MainEvent, we’re focused on better serving our clients. Based on their feedback, we’re improving our product and processes to help them navigate this tough environment. In the past few months, we’ve added 32 new features - from improved reporting, to detailed email notifications, and better visual analysis of data. We’ve addressed many wishlist items, and are adding training materials and videos, all with the goal of assisting you, our customer, as we adjust to our new normal.

Our LegalServer and Collaborate teams at Network Ninja also continue to assist the communities they serve during challenging times.

During this period of uncertainty, it is comforting to know that I can rely on our team. The earnestness of our employees has been revealed in an incredible, defining way, and I am often reminded of how fortunate I am to love what I do.

Soon I hope to share with my three-year-old that the germs have gone away, and we can go to the playground again. In the meantime, we will keep moving forward, listening to you and responding to your needs. Our company has weathered many storms in the past 22 years. We are scrappy and we are resilient. When we come out of this pandemic, we are confident the industry will adjust to the times - and the MainEvent team will, too.

Together with our amazing customers, we will continue to lead and move forward.

Be well,

-Andy Plax, Partner @ Network Ninja