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5 key insights into the state of events

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‍As we all start to return to more familiar working and social activities, the events industry remains to be a question mark for many attendees and professionals alike. Whilst the pandemic was a huge blow to us, the world has become familiar with engaging with virtual events, changing the landscape of this industry like no other.

We take a look at the state of the Events Industry following a recent report undertaken in this blog to answer the biggest question faced with event organisers and attendees at the moment: What will happen to events in life post-pandemic?

1. The biggest challenge for event organisers remains the pandemic

It’s not a surprise. Uncertainty is rife within the events community, especially with the new variants that are able to spring up. The uncertainty surrounding covid-19 and partaking in events means that for physical events to take place, organisers must constantly worry about:

  • Not enough people attending the event
  • A sharp rise in cases moments before the event date
  • Regulations suddenly changing
  • The event causing a breakout of cases

These concerns cost a lot of time, money and resources to combat, which intensifies the risks already associated with hosting a physical event in the first place. 

With this in mind, organisers are continuing to host – and plan to continue hosting – virtual and hybrid events. These dramatically reduce the risk of spreading covid-19 amongst event audiences and means that if the local regulations change, the migration to online is less of a worry.

 

2. Hybrid and Virtual events are the top choice for event organisers

Exclusively in-person events are at an all-time low. 72.3% of people plan to run one or more virtual events in 2021 while 52.4% plan to run one or more hybrid events in 2021.

In comparison, only 35.8% of survey respondents plan to host an exclusively in-person event in 2021.

In the planning of such hybrid and virtual events, in addition to reviewing their performance throughout the pandemic, event organisers are continuing to realise lasting benefits of these types of events. It seems that hybrid and virtual events won’t be a temporary ‘plaster’ to see us through to post-pandemic, but they have longevity in the event industry as a viable process.

 

3. Event organisers are expanding their target audience with hybrid and virtual events

Travel restrictions – and we don’t mean those ruining our summer holidays – mean events pre-pandemic were bound to location-based target audiences. Due to expensive travel costs and the risks of in-person interaction during a pandemic, many people are unwilling to travel to physical events.

Event organizers agree that hybrid and virtual events eliminate these in-person event limitations and open up attendance to a larger, more diverse audience. Events no longer need to be bound to a single location. Travel isn’t necessary. Hybrid and virtual events can attract a geographically distributed audience, which benefits businesses seeking to build awareness, grow, and reach their business goals.

4. Event engagement is both a key to success and a huge challenge

‍This is probably the biggest disadvantage and challenges associated with hybrid and virtual events. It is widely agreed that in-person events provide better human connection and better engagement.

With a virtual or hybrid event, event organizers must battle online fatigue and online distractions. It is also harder to gauge how engaged people are during the event, whereas in real life you’re able to assess the energy.

Despite this, engagement is also a huge key to success. Virtual and hybrid events provide a wider audience with a larger range of tools and opportunities to engage and interact with one another and communicate with speakers. Starting an in-person conversation or asking an in-person question is difficult for some people. Hybrid and virtual event technology makes this easier. 

Attendees can more easily network one-on-one as technology pairs them together. Attendees can ask questions on screen or via chat, giving them the ability to choose how they want to engage depending on their comfort level.

On top of that, virtual and hybrid events make it more possible for attendees to meet with other people from around the world and expand their network since these events are not location bound.

5. Event technology is a must-have for successful events

The challenge of engagement is very easily combated with the right event technology – and by this, we mean platforms and event apps. 

The report asked what event platform feature or tool is most important to them, event organizers said (35.3%) that multiple, separate virtual spaces within one event are of top importance.

Engagement features came next in importance such as 1 to 1 networking features, live polls, interactive quizzes and group chats. Many of these aren’t available on well-known video conferencing platforms, so it is important event organisers are able to find the right technology to provide this for them. 

Check out our dedicated hybrid and virtual event technology solutions and get in touch if you want to find out more.

The post 5 key insights into the state of events appeared first on Insight Mobile.


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