As the pandemic nears its two-year anniversary, ad industry events are now more commonly held in person than as exclusively virtual happenings, according to a study by the DBC Industry Calendar. 

Out of 702 industry events for 2022 analyzed for the study, 273 were identified as in-person events, 271 as virtual-only and 158 as hybrid. 

The DBC Industry Calendar is a database of all scheduled events in the advertising, marketing and insights industries. Its charter members include the ANA, 4As and IAB, among others.

The findings suggest a milestone for an industry that has long awaited a return to normalcy. In-person events are vital to advertisers eager to meet new clients, connect with pre-existing ones, discuss outlooks across the industry and engage with consumers. In 2022, there will be an average of 56 events per month across the advertising, marketing and insights industries, with a monthly high of 119 planned for March, according to the study.

“Virtual events enabled the industry to move business forward and helped keep connections in place during lockdowns, and they continue to serve an important role for facilitating attendance for conferences and webinars,” said Bill Daddi, president of DBC Brand Communications—which operates the DBC Industry Calendar—in a  statement. “But certainly the desire for genuine face to face interaction and the benefit of meeting new contacts and seeing old friends in hallways and conference rooms is strong.”

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Despite a plurality of 2022 events planned for in-person formats, the majority still contain virtual components, and virtual-only events remain nearly as common as those that are in person. Virtual and hybrid formats will continue to be used for their high levels of convenience, said Daddi.

In the nearly two years since the coronavirus pandemic was declared on March 11, 2020, ebbs and flows have taught the industry that the future is anything but certain, and the next surge of COVID-19 could be just around the corner. Last month’s CES, for example, experienced a last-minute withdrawal of numerous exhibitors and marketers, such as Procter & Gamble and General Motors, due to the omicron variant.

While media and tech’s next tentpole event, SXSW, is expected to be mainly an in-person show (March 11-20), it will also contain virtual components. Other events scheduled for later this year that were recently virtual, including Cannes Lions, are currently planned for hybrid formats for 2022, too.

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