Virtual events were dead, long live virtual events. But how to make them come alive?
The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry estimates that trade show cancellations and postponements have had a 14.4 billion euro impact on the global economy in 2020, but in truth it is saving many companies a fortune, and COVID is heralding a new golden age of the virtual event.
20 years ago virtual events were mocked and laughed out of the industry, so it’s great to see them forced back on the agenda. Now is their time to shine and to forge a legacy way beyond the current situation. It’s so much more than rules and governance it’s about human behaviour and virtual events in tandem with live experiences will be here to stay. Jeremy King, CEO, Festival of Media & M&M Global & Virtual Exhibition Institute.
At the forefront of these new events are a number of companies which are now offering innovative pricing models for organizers and attendees. Companies like Intrado Virtual Events and Swapcard.com can host Conferences, Exhibitions, Corporate events, and a Congress. Swapcard offers a free app for example to host events.
Using Swapcard, Hello Tomorrow increased engagement in 100% of its sessions, 9,413 connections made through the event app, and 804 attendees created their own schedule.
There are plenty of other platforms with names like Airmeet, Bigmarker, ConnexMe, Boomset, and Attendify.
SmartXpo.com - this for the organisers themselves….providing leading-edge analytics to boost performance and profitability of trade shows, conferences and events.
Virtual events create opportunities for business owners to reach out well beyond the world offered by traditional events. Public relations used to rely on events as a platform for engagement, the beauty is that now we can do this without travelling, hotel nights, expense, but more over we can have analytics.
On the downside, no getting away from home, no luxury hotel nights, no living on expenses and no way to blame the trade show organisers for lack of results.
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Jim James is the Founder and Managing Director of the EASTWEST Public Relations Group. He recently returned to the UK after 25 years in Asia where he was an entrepreneur. Whilst running EASTWEST PR, he was the Vice-Chairmanof the British Chamber of Commerce in China, he also he introduced Morgansports cars to China, WAKE Drinks, founded the British Business Awards, The British Motorsport Festival, EO Beijing, and was the interim CEO of Lotus cars
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