Woman Leadership Highlight: Margo Dunnigan of All American Entertainment Maximizes Virtual Events for Business
Virtual communication and videoconferencing has become a way of life for many, as companies and organizations have had to adjust to the consequential stay-at-home orders and restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. For some organizations whose revenue relies solely on in-person events, virtual communication has now become a saving grace, and has even presented new opportunities to reach more people and increase productivity and profitability.
At the beginning of 2020, the talent booking agency All American Entertainment was on track for another record-breaking year of business. But when the pandemic hit in March, everything came to a screeching halt, derailing plans, cancelling booked events, and postponing future operations. As a full service event booking agency, All American Entertainment’s main source of revenue seemingly disappeared overnight, and the future of the company was suddenly left uncertain. As the summer months progressed, it was evident that COVID was not going away any time soon, and so it was time for a change in strategy.
Chief Operating Officer of All American Entertainment Margo Dunnigan recognized this and decided to take action. She led the way into embracing virtual events, taking the worst month the company has ever seen and turning it around to become one of the most profitable years yet. “We really took it upon ourselves to embrace virtual events,” Dunnigan says. “It was a matter of trying to create opportunity and trying to make use of the time that we had.”
By delegating appropriate tasks and putting together a team of individuals entirely focused on turning already-booked in-person events into virtual ones, Dunnigan was able to completely turn around what would’ve been a terrible loss for the company.
While virtual communication has become the preferred method of communication for companies post-pandemic, for many individuals, it certainly has not been an easy transition. Many users complain of Zoom fatigue, or feeling mentally or physically exhausted as a result of video conferencing. The exhaustion can come from prolonged direct eye gazing, as well as the images on screen appearing too large or too close.
Dunnigan says that the transition to virtual events and conferencing was not simple, so it was crucial to keep the team together by inspiring and supporting them during these changes. “It honestly took some convincing internally with some departments more than others, so we had to work through that,” Dunnigan says. “It also took some convincing with clients as well, but in the end, it turned out to be the right move.” Because other companies in the industry did not take the same quick approach as All American Entertainment, the company was able to fill a void and meet a need for many clients who became more and more reliant on virtual communications as the pandemic raged on.
Dunnigan predicts that virtual events will not go away any time soon, and that we will even see an increase in this form of communication moving forward. “There will definitely be at least a solid portion of our booked events that will be virtual events,” Dunnigan says. “In fact, there are certain events that actually work better as virtual events.”
For more information on All American Entertainment and how they can assist your business with virtual event bookings, please visit their website www.allamericanspeakers.com.
Written by Rosa Linda Fallon