Future Gatherings the 2020 Version of Post 9/11 Airplanes?

For the vast majority of individuals that experienced 9/11, airplanes, to this day, have never been the same. Air travel has never been the same due to the flightpath of those 4 lost flights. For months, even years for some, it was impossible to witness a plane 35,000' in the air, and not wonder what it might be trying to target. Anxiety was the standard look on travelers faces standing in these new TSA lines, dreading the prospect of it happening to them for far too long.

But we got past it. The vast majority of us have flown, enjoy(ed) it, and barely, if at all, feel that tinge of anxiety that used to be a given, ringing in the back of our heads.

But... we also changed. The industry changed. The expectations of air travel forever changed. From the way we buy our tickets, to the ID's we carry, to the select "cattle call" line we pay, or not, to get into, to undressing, to bottled water, and on and on and on. Airlines recovered, business travel recovered, and pleasure travel ultimately came roaring back, WITH changes that had to be adhered to.

Conversations have already started percolating in regards to what to do about public gatherings surrounding entertainment: concerts, festivals, marathons, block parties, sporting events, and more, post virus. These industries have literally been halted, creating a cataclysmic effect on the entertainment economy to the tune of hundreds of millions, if not well into the billions by the time it's all over. We've been forced to isolate in order to potentially avoid contracting and spreading a virus that can, and is, killing people. The questions moving forward though are: How fast will we re-integrate? How will we re-integrate? What will be customer expectations that are becoming acclimated to 6' distancing and face masks as normal? Who will adapt first... the industry, the artists, or the consumers?

We are social creatures that THRIVE off of music, art, sports, and the human interaction that comes along with all of those public events. These 3 camps have to reinvent and adapt quickly in order to recover and thrive moving forward:

1. Artists

2. Industry (venues, production, sponsors, restaurants, bars, etc.)

3. Consumers

Each of these are thesis topics in and of themselves, so I just want to touch on the first...

Artists:

1. With an inevitable reduction of venues, and the industry heavyweights gobbling up holds, independent artists will be stuck at the back of the touring/booking traffic jam

2. Supply and demand will likely drive down pricing and guarantees, for those venues/restaurants/bars that do survive this chaos will most definitely be in the drivers seat in negotiations OR cutting costs (not all the time, but likely most of the time)

3. Which really should be #1, Video streaming MUST become a key component of your repertoire. It works. It's relatively easy. It has low overhead. This will also help continue engagement with fans that remain leery of public interaction.

Customers will absolutely be thinking about the potential of virus transfer for some time to come when asked and or tempted to engage in large gatherings. Most will not admit that they are "afraid," but will most definitely make choices that reflect that lingering fear. We in the entertainment, production, engagement industry need to be prepared to ask a lot of questions and apply new processes to client expectations.

PS... Road trips were HUGE in 2002-2005. That's not a coincidence.