From new developments in mitigation measures and strategies, to new and more collaborative actions across the venue space, Recovery Sessions: Arenas Working Together looked at what lies ahead for the arena sector.

Newly appointed EAA chair Olivier Toth (LX) – alongside Coralie Berael (Forest National Arena (BE)), WME‘s Tony Goldring (US), Steve Homer from AEG Presents (UK) and Paul Twomey (Biosecurity Systems (AU)) – examined how these crucial venues can come back better.

Beyond Covid-19, with sustainability now a must-tackle issue and the ongoing race to provide the perfect customer experience, how are leaders in the field seeing the path ahead?

Subscribers can watch all Recovery Sessions, as well as our IQ Focus webinars, on-demand on our website. To become a subscriber, click here.

The Recovery Sessions are kindly supported by ASM Global and POS solution provider goodtill.

Recruiting, Re-staffing and Re-skilling brought together HR leaders from global live music organisations for our third Recovery Session, which streamed live on IQ on 22 July 2021.

Recovery Sessions: Recruitment, Restaffing and Re-skilling quizzed HR experts including ASM Global Live‘s Catrin Lee, Heather Papst from TAIT, Brian Newman (Ticketmaster), Kirstie Loveridge from AEG Presents and The Zoo XYZ‘s Nadu Placca about the various challenges they face as key markets reopen for business, as well as the opportunities to ‘build back better’ by spreading the recruitment net as wide as possible to help the industry become more diverse, equal and equitable.

Subscribers can watch all Recovery Sessions, as well as our IQ Focus webinars, on-demand on our website. To become a subscriber, click here.

The Recovery Sessions are kindly supported by ASM Global and POS solution provider goodtill.

While compensation schemes in many European markets have helped build confidence, the absence of commercial cancellation insurance for Covid-19 remains a major barrier to live music’s return. How long will this market failure endure? And when policies do return, what are the likely rates and terms that companies can expect?

With an update on availability and progress across Europe and other international markets, this vital Recovery Session, Insurance: The missing piece, provided a current snapshot.

Chair Anna Wade (Boomtown Festival (UK)) was joined for this Session by Tim Thornhill (Tysers Insurance Brokers (UK)), James Davies (EC3 Insurance (UK)), Kim Bloem (Mojo Concerts (NL)) and Matthias Grischke (Novitas special risk (DE)).

With many live markets on the verge of reopening, the precautions put in place will vary enormously. From voluntary-risk-assessed mitigations to those required by guidance, what are the latest measures that will restart live music?

Our invited line-up of production specialists and industry pros presented a rundown of the top mitigation measures, the latest in testing and certification, and draws from up-to-the-minute guidance from multiple international markets.

Chair Jessica Koravos (The Really Useful Group/Oak View Group (UK)) was joined by Jim Digby (Event Safety Alliance (US)), Julian Bentley (J-EMSS Limited (UK)), Lisa Ryan (EFM Global Logistics (UK)) and Stephanie Bax (CAA Icon (UK)).

Kicking off our second Recovery Sessions – our new monthly series of conversations on the latest developments around the COVID-19 pandemic & the roadmap to reopening – was this conversation about the commercial live music business becoming more organised in speaking to governments and authorities.

The Private Sector: Finding a voice brought together Chair Greg Parmley (ILMC/LIVE (UK)), Evelyn Richardson (Live Performance Australia (AU)), Alex Schulz (Reeperbahn Festival (DE)), Jonathan Lomax (The Blakeney Group (UK)) and Erin Benjamin (Canadian Live Music Association (CA)) to discuss what less engaged markets can learn from their neighbours, and how important relationships with politicians will be in a post-Covid world.

Kicking off our debut Recovery Sessions – our new monthly series of conversations on the latest developments around the COVID-19 pandemic & the roadmap to reopening – was a discussion about certificates and passporting.

Certificates & Passports: The key to mass gatherings? brought together professionals with experience trialling, developing and implementing passports or certificates in order to answer the big question: Could they be the key to reopening venues and festivals for the masses?

Session chair chair Lisa Henderson (IQ) was joined by Paul Twomey (Biosecurity Systems International), Danielle Kennedy-Clark (The O2), Ruth Hayat (Tel Aviv Yafo Municipality) and Hillary Cannon (myGP TICKet).

Announced last month, the Recovery Sessions is a new monthly series of half-day webinars that will keep the live music industry updated about the international roadmap to reopening. All Recovery Sessions events are free to access for IQ subscribers, taking place here on the IQ site.

Test concerts: Piloting live music’s return took place on Thursday 13 May 2021. IQ invited professionals from the most important pilot shows and initiatives to date – Back to Live in the Netherlands, Festivals per la Cultura Segura in Spain and Sefton Park Pilot in the UK – to present the lessons learned from those pioneering events, which it is hoped will provide a model for the short-term restart of non-socially distanced concerts and festivals.

Joining chair Jon Chapple (IQ) on this session was Dr Josep María Llibre (Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol), Primavera Sound’s Pablo Soler, Festival Republic’s Luke Cowdell and ID&T COO Rosanne Janmaat

This Recovery Sessions took place on 13 May 2021

Announced last month, the Recovery Sessions is a new monthly series of half-day webinars that will keep the live music industry updated about the international roadmap to reopening. All Recovery Sessions events are free to access for IQ subscribers, taking place here on the IQ site.

As professionals across different territories plot separate timelines in the recovery process for the live entertainment industry, three leaders from the agency, festival and venue sectors discussed where they are on the roadmap to recovery. A high level discussion included an announcement about Festival Republic’s forthcoming pilot show.

Festival Republic MD Melvin Benn, Artist Group International president Marsha Vlasic, and ASM Global’s Europe EVP John Sharkey appeared as guest speakers. Creative Artists Agency senior agent Maria May chaired.

Recovery Sessions: Arenas Working Together
Continuing with IQ‘s virtual Recovery Sessions, our latest online debate looked at the recovery of the arena market, and how these principal touring grounds are working collectively to reignite the live music sector.

From new developments in mitigation measures and strategies, to new and more collaborative actions across the venue space, Recovery Sessions: Arenas Working Together examined how these crucial buildings come back better.

Guest Speakers:
Chair: Olivier Toth, Chair of European Arenas Association (LX)
Coralie Berael, Forest National – Vorst Nationaal (BE)
Tony Goldring, William Morris Endeavor (US)
Steve Homer, AEG Presents (UK)
Paul Twomey, Biosecurity Systems (AU)

Beyond Covid-19, with sustainability now a must-tackle issue, and the ongoing race to provide the perfect customer experience, what lies ahead for the arena sector, and how are leaders in the field seeing the path ahead?

You can view all previous Recovery Sessions on-demand below.

The Recovery Sessions are kindly supported by ASM Global and POS solution provider goodtill.

Not a subscriber, or looking for an extra copy? Find a limited selection of previous IQ issues and annual reports available for purchase here.

IQ’s May Edition is out now and available to read or buy.

The latest issue includes:

Royal Renaissance: An in-depth look behind the scenes of Usher’s Past Present Future trek

The Architects – Herman Schueremans: Our second Architect details how he helped lay the foundations of Belgium’s live music business

Cowboy Charter: IQ saddles up to explore the burgeoning genre of contemporary country music

Raga & Roll: A deep-dive into the flourishing live music market in India

Sound Check: We dig into the ever-changing world of live sound engineering

Diaspora Touring: IQ looks into the emerging market for specialist diaspora events

Living Legends: Chris Bray outlines progress made since the ASM Legends merger

City Focus – Berlin: We shine a light on the German capital

Comments & Columns: Oltea Zambori encourages us to embrace sustainability at our events; OCESA’s Jorge Cambronero enthuses about Shakira’s wildly popular LatAm dates

Plus: The latest agency signings, industry appointments, business trends & lots more…

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A preview version of IQ‘s May Edition is available to read.

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