Chances are you’ve attended your first post-pandemic conference by now. Elbow and fist-bumps are becoming hugs again. We have the whole eating-and-mask-wearing thing down, but we’re still in transition. What does the future hold for meetings and events?

According to the 1,500 meeting and event professionals surveyed in the Encore Fall 2021 Planner Pulse Report, the future looks brighter than it has in a while. The percentage of planners who have been vaccinated stands at 91 percent, a 12 percent jump over the Summer 2021 Planner Pulse numbers. More than half (53 percent) have held an in-person event in the past six months and 48 percent expect to hold their next in-person event before the end of 2021.

The sentiment towards in-person events is currently 51 percent positive. That’s down slightly from the summer numbers, primarily because of the Delta variant surge. That surge is also why more planners are requiring proof of vaccination from meeting and event participants (38 percent), recommending vaccination (29 percent) or at least asking participants about vaccination status (6 percent).

But that dip appears temporary. Caution about a winter surge clearly has impacted Q1 2022 event strategy, with survey respondents planning an almost even split between hybrid (26 percent), virtual (38 percent) and in-person (36 percent) meetings and events. That balance will shift to primarily in-person events in Q2 (46 percent versus 26 percent virtual and 28 percent hybrid).

Forty percent of meeting and event professionals expect event budgets to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022. Thirty-seven percent believe it will take until 2023.

Gain more insights from the full Planner Pulse Fall 2021 report and summary infographic here. And bookmark the page. New reports are published quarterly and are always free to download.