Once the COVID 19 Pandemic hit, the event industry came to a fast halt. Event companies scrambled to learn the virtual world and virtual platforms worked tirelessly to keep up. Most aspects of the live event transfer to a virtual realm was successful, except exhibitors. This virtual space left exhibitors with no foot traffic or swag to give away and very little to no direct sales contact with potential buyers.
Now that events are back to going live, exhibitors, as well as attendees are thrilled to be in the “exhibit hall”! Some clients have chosen to no longer do a hybrid event and some clients are, to accommodate those who cannot travel. So what’s happening with exhibitor on virtual sites?
Most exhibitors are not purchasing packages that have a high presence on a virtual site. Attendees have lost the thrill of gamification, which may require going to a certain amount of exhibitor ‘booths” on a virtual site. At this point, the presence on virtual sites for exhibitors is a clickable logo that links out to the exhibitor’s website. The clients are using the exhibitors who are of the virtual platform to all list out the Exhibits booth numbers.
So as the tide has turned regarding the Pandemic, event professionals are once again pivoting to stay at the front lines of changes and variety for their client’s and their exhibitors. Each event has its own unique needs!