Why are top rated event pros leaving Upwork? (And looking for a new home…)

Suggested by Tremayne Tatem almost 4 years ago

On the supply side of platforms like Upwork, the top-rated event pros are frustrated because they have to lower their rates to compete with less experience freelancers over “one-off, low-lift” jobs.

Therefore keeping them on the hamster wheel, working alone, and doing projects they may not be excited about.

Meanwhile, on the demand side, companies inherently value the supply of event talent as a means of cutting costs and usually dislike the onboarding process of hiring one freelancer at a time, which slows down their ability to hire multiple talents to work in more complex event scenarios.

There is a trend of B2B SaaS companies acquiring media brands to leverage their communities to lower their CAC and increase LTV. For instance:

• PENDO acquired Mind the Product
• Stripe acquired IndieHacker
• Hubspot acquired The Hustle

And in order for B2B marketers (who have said in-person events are the most effective growth channel) to serve these communities it will usher in an “always-on era of events” over the next decade.

The complexities of IRL/URL event production in a post-pandemic world will increase; driving up the need for on-demand event pros that could bring fresh new ideas to corporate event strategy.