Amid all the bad news about the economy and its effects on the event business, here's something that might turn the current budgetary constraints into inspiration instead of frustration—for a little while at least. In Sunday's New York Times, Michael Cannell suggested that design thrives in a depression. Although he is more concerned with architecture, furniture, and consumer products than events, many of the observations in his piece certainly cross disciplines.
For example: “What designers do really well is work within constraints, work with what they have,” said Paola Antonelli, senior curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art. “This might be the time when designers can really do their job, and do it in a humanistic spirit.”
Another prediction: "Expect to hear a lot more about open-source design and cradle-to-cradle, a concept developed by William McDonough and Michael Braungart that calls for cars, packaging and other everyday objects to be designed specifically for recycling so that their parts and materials are used and reused without waste." Event professionals are already adept at reusing decor items, props, equipment, and all kinds of doodads, but they could probably continue to push this idea in new directions.
And concentrating on innovative approaches to the latest challenges beats worrying about job security, right?
