Press conference for the “Night of Light 2020”

Initiators, supporters and industry representatives provide information about the dramatic situation in the event industry and the “Night of Light 2020” campaign. As a result of the corona crisis, official requirements have deprived one of Germany's largest economic sectors of its working basis. A wave of bankruptcies on an enormous scale is imminent. The campaign is a call for dialogue with politicians, which is intended to address the diversity and systemic relevance of the German event industry as well as solutions and ways out of the crisis.

On the night from 22.06.2020 to 23.06.2020, the now more than 7700 participants nationwide will illuminate event locations, venues, event centers and other buildings with red light. More than 8400 such glowing memorials have been planned so far in more than 1500 cities and municipalities, and the number is increasing every hour (as of 22.06.2020, 18:00). The “Night of Light 2020” campaign is a call for help to politicians: The medium of light is intended to make the event industry visible in its entirety — an industry that comprises over 150 trades and disciplines and therefore does not have a uniform lobby, although it is among the top 3 industries in Germany in terms of employment figures and turnover.

“We represent 1 million employees in the B2B sector alone,” said Tom Koperek, initiator of the Night of Light and CEO of LK-AG Essen and operator of Grand Hall Zollverein. “If we add the entertainment industry, entertainment, cultural and creative industries, the event industry has more than 2.5 million employees.” More than 50 percent of companies face acute insolvency after 4 months without income. This would therefore have serious consequences not only for cultural diversity as a mainstay of our society, but also for the labor market. However, the government's aid programs in the form of credit programs were not an effective means of saving the events industry, as they could not be invested to create value, but would have to be spent to cover operating costs while there is still no income. In the end, the renewed insolvency was therefore linked to over-indebtedness of the companies concerned. “This is just an extension of the infirmity,” says Koperek. “You attach the event management to a ventilator and at some point the oxygen bottle will be empty.” He added that the campaign is expressly not directed against the hygiene measures adopted as a result of the corona crisis. “The virus is there. It is dangerous and cannot be controlled by us,” said Koperek. The aim of the campaign is a dialogue between the event industry and politicians about joint, effective solutions and ways out of the crisis. “How can we ensure that the majority of companies in the event industry survive the corona crisis? ”

Prof. Dr. Bernd Schabbing, head of the “Tourism & Event” program at the International School of Management, Dortmund, and co-author of the study “The Overall Economic Significance of the Event Industry” on behalf of IGVW e.V., drew attention to the scope of the problem. This affects not only the event industry, but also indirectly many other sectors of the economy. “The study shows that if you want to save the economy and tourism, which has been in strong focus in recent months, you quickly forget what the event industry is doing.” The majority of the event industry's annual turnover of almost 130 billion euros is generated through business-related events that are not the focus of public attention. “Around 400 million people take part in around 300 million business-related events every year. Germany is number 1 in Europe here, number 2 in the whole world. “These events are of great importance both for companies and for indirectly affected economic sectors as well as for individual municipalities that recorded revenue losses. “A central precondition for ramping up the economy and securing tourism, which consists not only of holidays but also business trips, is to secure the event industry,” says Schabbing.

“I was quickly affected myself by the cancellation of events during the crisis,” said Sandra Beckmann, self-employed event technician, founder of the “Initiative for the Event Industry” and cooperation partner of the “Night of Light 2020” campaign. “On the basis of this, I launched the 'Initiative for the Event Industry” and called for a presentation of how many fields of activity we have and at what scale we are on the road.” In addition to the approximately 150 fields of activity, there would be over 50 different event formats. This included events that everyone attends, such as city festivals and concerts. The diversity of the event industry and the major role of independent artists and freelancers are further points that the initiative would like to draw attention to.

Tedros Tewelde, business economist, founder of P x P Embassy e.V. and organizer of the PXP Festival, Europe's largest benefit concert for children's aid, represented the views of artists and cultural workers. “Through our festival, we were able to discover what social commitment the cultural and creative industries can make possible. We were able to illuminate people who are normally not the focus of attention, in our case children from all over the world, starting with the refugee crisis in 2015 — that was the initiation of our festival. “The festival created a space in which social responsibility could be addressed. Without further capacity, there will also be no more such benefit concerts, which would only be possible through the free support of organizers and artists. Tewelde's partner, soul singer and co-organizer of the PXP festival Fetsum Sebhat, said: “Music plays a fundamental role in society. More and more artists are campaigning for social issues. “Through them, social issues would also be brought up to young people who would not normally deal with them. It is therefore important that artists are paid. “We must create prospects in order to be able to find solutions,” says Sebhat.

Jutta Kirberg, managing partner of Kirberg Catering GmbH in Cologne, represented the catering sector and, in addition to the financial impact, also emphasized the social and social consequences of the dramatic situation in the event industry. “We have 100 permanent employees and employ up to 400 part-time workers for weddings, and of course we are also a training company. Since the start of the crisis in March, we have neither had orders nor are we generating sales.” There is no sign of improvement before the end of the year. “When we sent 98 percent of our employees on short-time work in March, it felt bad. From one day to the next, we were completely torn apart.” The loss of joint work on projects, the connection between each other and also the recognition for the joint work was difficult to cope with. “As an employer, I naturally also feel responsible for the employees. The feeling when someone asks you when things are about to start again or what's next, and you don't have any answers because you have no perspective — that tears your heart apart,” says Kirberg.

“For over 100 days, we have been wondering how we can best make recommendations for members of over 150 different disciplines,” said Sacha Ritter, managing director of the leading association of the event industry IGVW. “We are also talking about manufacturers, distributors, operators, artists and specialist planners — and of course a great many trainees.” What can be done for trainees in the event industry is a topic that is being considered specifically by the IGVW. “We have already followed a great many approaches. Over the last 100 days, we have had intensive discussions with associations within and outside Germany about what can be done and which measures make sense.” However, they have repeatedly come to the conclusion that without further support from the state and without dialogue with the federal and state governments, all considerations would be of little help. “We can't do it alone. The dialogue with politicians should therefore address what associations need — just like all other market participants in the sector. ”

Background — the dramatic situation of the event industry

The events industry was the first sector to be hit by the COVID-19 crisis and it is also very likely to be the longest and most profoundly affected by the effects. In fact, all companies in the areas of exhibition construction, event technology, event agencies, catering, stage construction, event location, exhibition company conference center, conference hotel, concert organizers, artists and individual entrepreneurs have lost their entire order backlog within a few working days as a result of the event bans. They were the first to fall into the crisis (first in) and will be the last to come out of the crisis (last out).

Since mid-March, the event industry has had virtually no turnover. Unlike in the manufacturing sector, lost sales can no longer be made up for, nor can anything be produced “in stock”; most companies in the event industry are service providers. Even if high demand were to set in after the end of the crisis, the loss suffered can no longer be compensated. The event industry as a whole is one of the largest sectors of the German economy and has around 1 million direct employees. It generates an annual turnover of around 130.0 billion euros. If you add the cultural and creative industries with their event-related sub-and supplier markets, more than three hundred thousand companies in over 150 disciplines employ more than 3 million people and achieve an annual turnover of over 200 billion euros! 1

As a result of the provisional ban on major events until 31.08.2020 and subsequent lead time to planning events, there is an 80 — 100% loss of revenue over a period of at least eight months. This results in an acute risk of insolvency for the entire sector. It is important to also draw public attention to the particularly hard-hit event industry sector and to make it clear that current assistance in the form of credit programs is not sufficient. Since these loans cannot be invested to create value but must be used to cover operating costs, this results in renewed insolvency after the loans have been used up in connection with over-indebtedness of the affected companies and institutions.

The economic organization of events is currently and until further notice no longer possible under the applicable restrictions and necessary hygiene regulations. There are therefore particular economic challenges to save the so-called “first in — last out” companies and individual entrepreneurs working in the event industry, i.e. the entire sector.

‍

The color red used together for this action is intended to express the following:

• The event industry is on the “Red List” of dying industries
• Red alert — a billion-dollar market and millions of jobs are at risk!
• We are a community and have the common goal of an industry dialogue with politicians
• We make a flaming appeal to the public
• The color red stands for passion for our profession/ our profession “We are passionate about what we do! ”
  ‍‍

‍

1 Source: Study “The Overall Economic Significance of the Event Industry” from 15.06.2020 by R.I.F.E.L. e.V. on behalf of IGVW e.V.