Virtual Meetings - Reasons To Be Cheerful

There is no doubt that working in the events industry since March 2020 has been tough. Crystal Interactive has been disrupted as much as anyone but in this short article, we wanted to call out some of the benefits of the unprecedented move to virtual. I can write a list twice this length on the reverse topic…but for once, I am going all-out glass-half-full…

1. Easy(er) life - yes it’s true, eventprofs don’t get the same buzz from delivering a virtual event compared to a live one, but with practice they are so much easier to land. I know the events industry thrives on challenges/ pressure/ going above and beyond but we also know that the stress in our industry is not healthy. Could the move to virtual cause us to achieve a little bit more balance in our lives?
    
2. Events without carbon - many people I speak to within the events industry have been privately considering whether events are sustainable for years now. COVID-19 may have given us an opportunity to rehearse how to rationalise (but not stop) our face-to-face programme and supplement it with a vibrant and engaging virtual programme. 
    
3. Bums on seats - it may not last, but it is definitely easier to recruit participants for conferences in lockdown than before. With no travel and - usually - shorter events, you can reach more of your audience than before. At the excellent ITM conference in May, the 450 annual conference became 900 guests - for two full days. A very impressive achievement. 
    
4. A shake up in the event predictions industry - since at least 2010, every annual predictions article I have read confidently states that “2010/11/12/13/14/15/16…”(delete as appropriate) is going to be the year that virtual events finally take off. At least that particular prediction has now been put to bed!

Thoughts of Chris Elmitt, MD of Crystal Interactive.