LIVE! Matters: A Q&A with a public health specialist
At LIVE! Matters 2021, we interviewed Ben Rolfe, a public health specialist focused on the health of the bottom billions. As Founding Partner, Nascent Advisory, his job is to understand the science then help companies understand the implications of the pandemic.
Here are Branded’s takeaways:
On a twin-track world:
Conferences, music, any kind of live experience: in 18 months to 2 years, will be largely back to normal. There are domestic events in high-vaccination populations like Australia and New Zealand. It is already happening in the US with a pro-vaccination concert.
Outside Europe, North America and Singapore it’s not a great picture. The large populous countries with slow rollout (India, Philippines, Indonesia) are going to see sustained ongoing transmissions and lockdowns.They will need more extreme and draconian measures, which is tough to turn around.
On international meetings:
You can do it if you want to spend enough money and political capital. But not many events will be able to afford to do that over the next 18 months.
On what event producers should be thinking about:
How do we plan an event in 3-6 months’ time? There will be variability in people’s propensity to travel and people commissioning events. Event organisers must give themselves the opportunity to pivot at the last minute, a runway to make decisions on travel and venue, depending on the situation. How will countries like Singapore play this? It is a unique selling point for countries with high vaccination coverage and demonstrated ability to run safe events.
On how long we will have to wear face masks:
For indoor events, definitely at least until there is 70-80% coverage.