The Spotlight at the End of the Tunnel

Covid-19 has exposed many of the cracks in the foundation of a lot of industries. Pre-pandemic there were more entertainment options than were days in a week and as a leader in the industry, so many folks would ask me for my opinion on what they should be attending and where they should be spending their money when it comes to entertainment outlets for their families. One of the most frequently asked questions by journalists and futurists is “Aren’t you concerned that live entertainment will be rendered obsolete with all this streaming and internet content so readily accessible to consumers”? The answer is unabashedly NO! I don’t say this because I am bullish on the entertainment industry that I am so deeply invested, I say it because all signs point in that direction. Here is why:

1) You have been home for 9 months gestating over every streaming platform you can subscribe to. The streamers/networks/music labels now need to birth more content for you because you want more. Your emotional connection to that content and to others who enjoy the same content will drive you to a live event where you can congregate around your shared passion. Mothers can relate — This is the “Mommy & Me” class with your newborn.

2) There is so much creativity and ingenuity around “virtual live” brought straight to your personal computer or living room but it is a “stand-in” for what we really want to be doing, which is experiencing the intimacy but in a live community setting. Its “Diet Coke” instead of “Coke”

3) We need to be unleashed from our multi-tasking pandemic ways. We are seeking to appreciate a single live event to focus our minds and steel our senses. There nothing more provocative than being immersed in an innovative transformative live experience — whether it is the thoughtfulness of theater, the rousing emotions live music stirs within our souls, seeing the sweat and tension of superior athleticism, or the environmental escape of scenic transformation through storytelling and technology.

Attending a live event will become an item on our “To Do” list again and the experience will certainly inspire the other actionable items.