Key takeaways
The spring convention and conference season is wrapping up, and this time there was a twist: the enormous involvement of flexible work. Convention centers across the United States and Canada posted thousands of shifts on the Instawork platform, offering insights into patterns of demand and specific needs. Here's a sampling of what we learned.
Recently we wrote about variation in the timing of wedding season across the United States, which unsurprisingly had a lot to do with the weather. Conventions and conferences typically happen indoors, but weather still matters; people usually prefer to visit places where the climate is mild. But unlike weddings, almost every big meeting is a "destination" event, so some metro areas are more popular than others.
This probably explains the pattern of convention season in the Las Vegas area. Here's the week-by-week pattern of demand for flexible labor there since April 1:
It looks like there was a pretty reliable peak near the middle of each month, though the peaks got smaller as Las Vegas started to heat up. (This week temperatures
It looks like there was a pretty reliable peak near the middle of each month, though the peaks got smaller as Las Vegas started to heat up. (This week temperatures are hitting 100¬°F!). The biggest events seem to be spread out, which could be by design.
The peaks were also spread out in the beautiful Seattle area, where they were also more frequent:
Seattle seemed to host a big convention every two or three weeks, with peaks in demand of similar size to those in the Las Vegas area. And the peaks got higher as temperatures climbed into the 60s and 70s.
Metropolitan areas with bigger swings in temperature had bigger swings in demand, too. For example, Chicago is frigid in the winter but gets into the 70s in May, which is when demand ramped up:
Demand for flexible labor at convention centers varied by the day of the week, too. In the New York and Los Angeles areas, the demand for flexible work was highest in the middle of the week. But in Las Vegas, demand was highest at the weekend.
Hourly pay for convention shifts also varies across the continent, and not always in obvious ways. Here are the average rates paid to our Pros in the most active metropolitan areas:
Hourly pay in Boston is usually among the highest in the nation, but it's only average for shifts at convention centers. In part that's because the most booked role in the Boston area and also the highest-paying role is a relatively low-skill position:
Metropolitan area
Most booked role
Boston
Chicago
Event setup and takedown
Kansas City
General labor
Las Vegas
Custodial
Los Angeles
Event server
New York
Counter staff / cashier
Concession / stand worker
Seattle
General labor
Toronto
Event server
Metropolitan area
Most booked role
Boston
Chicago
Event setup and takedown
Kansas City
General labor
Las Vegas
Custodial
Los Angeles
Event server
New York
Counter staff / cashier
Philadelphia
Concession / stand worker
Seattle
General labor
Toronto
Event server
Indeed, there are some shifts at convention centers that offer much higher pay rates:
Metropolitan area
Highest average hourly pay (USD)
Role
Boston
$16.75
Event setup and takedown
Chicago
$38.11
Onsite captain
Kansas City
$23.00
Line cook
Las Vegas
$30.00
Onsite captain
Los Angeles
$35.00
Onsite captain
New York
$20.56
Counter staff / cashier
Philadelphia
$32.14
Onsite captain
Seattle
$35.00
Onsite captain
Toronto
$25.84
Onsite captain
Metropolitan area
Highest average hourly pay (USD)
Role
Boston
$16.75
Event setup and takedown
Chicago
$38.11
Onsite captain
Kansas City
$23.00
Line cook
Las Vegas
$30.00
Onsite captain
Los Angeles
$35.00
Onsite captain
New York
$20.56
Counter staff / cashier
Philadelphia
$32.14
Onsite captain
Seattle
$35.00
Onsite captain
Toronto
$25.84
Onsite captain
Our business partners are increasingly using onsite captains to supervise shifts at convention centers, ensuring that everything runs smoothly from clock-in to clock-out. These captains are among our most experienced Pros, and they're getting paid rates commensurate with their importance. We think they're worth every penny.
These metrics, derived from data aggregated across the Instawork platform, compare the two weeks starting 6/8/2023 to the previous two weeks. To control for the overall growth of the Instawork marketplace, only shifts involving businesses that booked shifts in both periods are included:
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