With COVID-19 vaccinations underway globally and throughout the U.S., marketers are indeed seeing an end to conditions that have made business travel to training seminars, conferences and trade shows unsafe. Caution is still reigning in the short term, but optimism is painting their longer-term views.

Nearly 75% of marketers we surveyed in the beginning of 2021 said it was highly unlikely they would attend in-person events in the first half of the year. But that dropped to about 20% when asked about the second half. In fact, 20% of the nearly 200 marketers polled said they felt there was a 5-in-10 chance they would feel safe to travel to events. Even more surprising, 15% of the group said it was “extremely likely.”

That confidence is likely tied to how much comfort the vaccine brings. About 78% of those we surveyed in our latest Events Participation Index said they plan to get vaccinated. Others said they were unsure and only 6% said they would not get vaccinated. Of those who said they would get vaccinated, 13% said they would feel safe immediately (assuming that means after the 2nd booster), 37% said they would feel safe after a month and 29% said they would feel safe after 6 months.

Read more here.

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OUTFRONT Media, the outdoor media company and pioneer in the digital billboard, or ‘liveboard,’ space, marked the first day of Black History Month by launching its “Making Black History with…” campaign. The campaign will run on highly visible digital OOH assets in 35 markets nationwide, highlighting the achievements of Black trailblazers.

The honorees will include some leading figures in marketing, such Dara Treseder, SVP, Global Marketing and Communications at Peloton, and Remi Kent, Global CMO, Consumer Business Group at 3M. The full list of honorees, from a range of professions, can be found here.

Why we care. It’s not just about the positive Black History message. OUTFRONT is one of the vendors in the OOH space which understands that digital billboards are more than just regular billboards which can be refreshed remotely. They can convey substantial content, especially to briefly captive audiences, like commuters at transit hubs. Once we all start moving around again, expect to hear more about this space.

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Sometimes described as the “grandfather of ABM,” much to his chagrin, Chris Golec has announced that he is in his last week at Demandbase, the ABM platform which he founded in 2006 and steered for more than a decade until ceding the CEO role to Gabe Rogol. He stayed with the company, keeping abreast of innovations in product, his first passion.

Jon Miller, co-founder of Marketo and Engagio, joined Demandbase as Chief Product Officer through the Engagio acquisition, and took on an additional role as CMO, following the departure of Peter Isaacson (who was also the person to blame for the Golec “grandfather” tag).

Read Chris Golec’s farewell here.

“I expect fewer handshakes and more elbow bumps, and we’re probably not going to drop our business card in a fishbowl anymore.” Michael Bartholow, Director, Marketing & Education at Bounteous (on the return of in-person events).