With the global business events sector growing at a compound rate of 6.4 percent per annum, it’s not surprising that it is one of the most lucrative aspects of the meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions (MICE) industry.
It is estimated that, at any given time, there are at least several thousands of business events of varying magnitude throughout the world, powered by the intrepid efforts of the event management and MICE professionals who organise them and make them work.
Likewise, the pandemic gave rise to the concept of hybrid events: a livestream could be broadcast from the physical venue, enabling those who are unable to attend in person to get in on the action on the floors.
This has enabled events to boost their attendance numbers as well as revenues streaming from both in-person and virtual participation.
But such success has its drawbacks, particularly where the mental health and wellbeing of events management personnel are concerned.
Burnout hits hard
According to a report from the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), over a third of event planners worldwide declared that they were exhausted and burnt out from the job.
Cumulatively, a 2023 report from The Culture Collectors pointed out that 79 percent of event professionals now find their roles more stressful than ever before.
Small wonder then that MICE and events management in general are now currently ranked third among the world's most stressful occupations, not too far behind military service and home-based medical care services.
That said, event management companies, MICE suppliers, and even government organisations tasked with handling large-scale conventions and exhibitions need to find ways to keep their people from inevitably burning out and losing their passion for the job.
What’s fuelling burnout in the industry?
UK-based events management company Goho reports that around 42 percent of events professionals have jumped ship, many of whom cite increasing stress and pressure in the workplace as their reason for quitting.
The same report points out that up to 28 percent say that their burnout is driven by the lack of work-life balance in their profession, as seen in the constant need to be ready for any eventualities before, during, and even after an event.
Another reason for burnout that should be given serious attention is that event management personnel tend to take care of the needs of event attendees before their own, with some even showing up even when ill to ensure that there are enough to take care of matters on the event floor.
As selfless as this sounds, taking one for the team even when one’s mind and body are screaming for rest benefits no one, least of all the individual.
SOS for event professionals
One of the most striking talks I’ve personally encountered on the subject is the one from Penang Adventist Hospital’s Dr Prem Kumar Chandrasekaran at BE @ Penang 2025.
In his talk The Unbroken Wave: Mastering Boundaries and Workload to Future-proof Mental Health, Chandrasekaran called out the way event professionals sacrificed their personal well-being to ensure desired outcomes.
That said, his sage advice was for professionals to safeguard both their mental and physical health by ensuring a proper work-life balance.
This would involve learning to say no as a means of preventing burnout, along with opting to clock off professional responsibilities at a reasonable time.
To be honest, that is a challenging proposition, especially if companies do not offer their people the proper resources with which to improve both their mental and physical health.
Now what?
If we go by Chandrasekaran, the best way by which event management companies can take proper care of their people is by giving them the necessary medical, psychological, and, whenever necessary, spiritual measures they need.
But there are a number of more practical methods by which to achieve this end:
- Allow for ample post-recovery time Organising events is certainly not a light undertaking, often taking weeks and even months to plan and involving everyone from office staff to suppliers to ground crews. All that effort mandates ample time off to rest and recuperate from both the physical and mental rigours of the job. By giving people enough rest, you get a team that is rejuvenated and ready to get back in the field;
- Refrain from scheduling back-to-back events One of the challenges of contemporary MICE and business events is that events need to be scheduled one after another in immediate succession, something that may be lucrative but also exhausting and detrimental in the long-term for the health of most people involved. Proper scheduling needs to be taken into consideration to manage time, people, and resources in the best manner possible;
- Automate wherever necessary With all the technology available at our fingertips, relying on people to do all the usual paperwork is now seen as impractical and inefficient. Tech teams can develop filing and inventory solutions that can help teams keep track of things without too much paperwork involved, and less human intervention also means less mistakes will be made;
- Open dialogue matters We cannot underestimate the importance of post-mortem discussions following an event as these are the best venues wherein to discuss areas of improvement along with any issues encountered by the team in the process of organising and staging the event. Open dialogue also encourages events professionals to candidly discuss their needs with management, enabling both parties to find ways through which to address key concerns; and
- Know your limits At the end of the day, let us remember that event professionals are humans rather than machines and there is only so much that can be done by either people or organisations. Knowing your limits also enables all parties involved to properly manage expectations for an event from start to finish, resulting in great outcomes and much less stress for everyone.
