During 2020, all of us have left our Live Event Foundation for the Virtual Event Train in an effort to move forward during the COVID pandemic. As we were forbidden to meet face to face to interact at events, virtual events rose to a new level.
Virtual events are not brand new, however, during 2020 virtual events thrusted to the front of the event world. As event professionals are resilient, we embraced the new standard of events in the virtual event world. Doing and attending events became a challenge for some, depending on their tech savvy. The older generation had a harder time to adapt to the new virtual platforms: how to register, how to log on, what to click once in the platform, can you hear me? am I on mute?
The younger to middle generation adapted well and began to challenge the virtual platform world. They no longer accepted a boring, flat looking virtual platform. The platforms with more color, gamification, exciting transitions and graphics, as well as a high polished production polish was sought after and almost required by mid 2021 to stay competitive.
As we hit the middle of 2021, venues are allowed to open up in various amounts with COVID compliance in place. How many will return to live events and why? We miss the personal interaction of live events. Sponsors miss the exposure of live events that was not captured very well by anyone in the virtual space. Networking in person was much missed as well, as a Zoom breakout room just did not do it for us.
However, virtual events exposed your event to a larger audience around the world. Some events had attendance peak during the virtual events by thousands of attendees. People from all over the world that may not have originally attended the event now could. Especially with travel restrictions and fear still in place, virtual/hybrid event models are the future of events.
Some of the interesting facts were exposed to clients during COVID. Corporate bean counters found out how much they were saving by Not sending employees to live events. They were saving thousands of dollars. How long will it take for employers to justify sending employees to events, or even the same number of employees to the event as before? Clients lost out on contacts made during networking or elevator conversations. Trade shows and sponsors took a hit during virtual events, thus they are looking forward to walking into a convention center again and see their logos plastered all over the place.
How do you decide if you’ll stay on the virtual train or go back to a live event foundation? Your company will need to evaluate and decide the best way to present your message, your content, and generate leads. Or you can straddle the middle and do a hybrid event to capture both of your audiences. Hybrid will ensure a choice for your attendees that they can make in advance or at the last minute. Either way, virtual, live or hybrid corporations have a choice on how to deliver great content and experience to their attendees.