Since 2018, we have the great honour to belong to 27Names, a European network of marketing, events and live communication agencies aimed at collaborating and learning from each other in terms of business, innovation and creativity.
As stated on its website, “27Names is much more than a professional network. It’s a strong partnership built on trust and personal relationships. Together we represent over 500 event and live communication experts across 20 different countries. We work towards collectively leading the industry by sharing the latest pan-European insights, technology, and strategy combined with local knowledge.”
The unique strength of 27NAMES comes from its 20 agencies, each a market leader in their respective European country, with deep roots in the local consumer and business culture. It is made of brand strategists, creative designers, event producers and experiential innovators, always eager to collaborate on international concepts.
Another aspect that makes this specific partnership so special is that you are part of a highly-talented bunch of companies which regard each other not as competitors, but valuable partners wishing to share their experiences, best practices and even clients. We often collaborate in projects where we think one’s skills can complement the other’s and thus create a more valuable and qualified combination.
The work of this group of professionals consists mostly on building powerful brands by live interaction. But its main asset lies in the knowledge-sharing amongst members. Our leadership includes entrepreneurs who meet 3 times per year face-to-face (or virtually at the moment) to brainstorm, solve problems and share their passion for live communications.
These meetings are organized each time by a different member, which also hosts the meeting in their destination (or online studio). I spoke in another blog entry about the one we organized in Innsbruck right after we joined 27Names three years ago. Although the gatherings are usually reserved for the members, the latest virtual meeting was made available to the public.
We think that, in these hard times, the exchange of knowledge, ideas and tips, and of anything that can help to overcome the challenges our sector specially is facing, must be shared.
Our Irish member Verve put together a great virtual event on 16 March 2021, including relevant content and speakers from outside of the group, to show those attending the online session the trends in the world of events, live communication and brand awareness, for 2021 and beyond.
Our last five meetings have taken place online. For such a compact and well-functioning group, it is even more evident what’s really missing (besides physical contact): the so-called wisdom of the crowd, the collective intelligence or wild knowledge. All that is lost by not seating at the table for a lunch-break together, the grabbing of a cup of coffee on meeting breaks, and why not, the after-meeting, after-dinner drink. Many great ideas, as well as collaborations between partners for a specific event were born during the after-meeting hours.
These serendipity moments and spaces are not present in the online modalities. Therefore, as much as the virtual world is here to stay for events – and at 27Names we are more than equipped to deliver top-notch virtual and hybrid meetings –, we are still longing for in-person events to take place as soon as possible.
