From 2020 Onwards, Virtual Events are here to stay
Physical events will return, but many will incorporate online components into their programs. There are a lot of advantages to virtual events, starting with the fact that travel is no longer a barrier – anyone on the planet can attend, and it’s easier to commit your time to an event that doesn’t require you to spend hours on airplanes to attend it.
“The global virtual events market size was valued at US$ 77.98 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.2% from 2020 to 2027 to reach US$ 404.45 billion by 2027” Source: https://bit.ly/2IdMppa
The reality is virtual events are here to stay, at least for now. Moreover, virtual events leverage the power of data – unlike physical conferences, event organizers can generate more exact figures on attendance, views, audience participation and lead generation.
However, the vast majority of the population doesn’t love to be always meeting online. So, once the pandemic is over, we’re going to go back to behaving exactly the same way we used to. Specially that virtual events have their difficulties too, such as:
1. Keeping the audience focused and engaged all the time through interactive features.
2. Missing out the face to face communication and networking that led to virtual fatigue.
3. The technology used must be is up to the level.
We strongly believe that there will be a high demand for physical conferences, because people crave human to human contact. And the ability to meet directly with an expert or shake hands with old colleagues is irreplaceable. It resonates with something very human inside all of us – the social side of being people. When we meet people at events or attend educational sessions, we feel real connectivity.
We felt it ourselves since we were back to organizing conferences beginning of August 2020 in its new Hybrid Template. The speakers, chairpersons, exhibitors and guests were very happy to be back to the normal conferencing life where engagement and networking are the main concern and integrating the virtual guests is also applicable.
“Virtual events are serving as a field test to demonstrate how online platforms can enhance the conference experience, not replace it. The core event still has to be delivered on-site, and use the virtual platforms to enable many more things so you can magnify the events outcome”.
A purely virtual event is a temporary solution, it was never meant to be an outright replacement
We are still dealing with so much uncertainty, the vision to the future is not yet clear. Industry leaders and partners are still expecting technology to evolve to create more engaging and inclusive virtual experiences that will power virtual & hybrid into the future!