THE POST-QUARANTINE AGE IN THE EVENT INDUSTRY OR THE WORLD WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. THE ERA OF HYBRID EVENTS.
The stages of accepting the inevitable are denial, anger, bargaining, and acceptance. The event industry has gone through them all in the last 3 months. As well we did :) During these difficult months, the global event industry has made an incredible leap in the development of technologies for remote interaction with the audience. At one point we were faced with a dilemma - whether to hold our annual transport forum TRANS EXPO ODESSA 2020? And if yes, in which way should we hold it? What is the suitable modality? How to provide our participants with quality content, speakers and the opportunity to communicate? The main question on the agenda was how to transfer all the benefits of live events online.
For us, the crisis period is a time of searching for new opportunities, finding ways to reach a new level of development. It was not easy for us to find a way out of the situation. We spent many hours negotiating with potential partners, exploring the possibilities of the online format of events. And we decided to cooperate with companies having experience in digitizing events. A company Eventishes digitized events when they were not in mainstream. They have hosted more than 1,500 online events in 30 countries and more than 40 events in the last 2 months.
Analysis of the activities of our competitors, partners and colleagues showed that in September-December of 2020 49% of events were planned online, 33.5% - offline, 17.5% - hybrid (using online and offline format). In our opinion, this format is underestimated.
(Есть инфографика) 02_финалWhy we cannot get anywhere without digital now?
62.2% of the audience will use the online format after the return of "Live" events;
34.4% have not yet decided;
3.4% will not use.
(есть инфографика) 03_финал
Many are thinking about resuming marketing activity for fear of a second wave of quarantine. The online format of the event is cancellation insurance. Our experience of online events has shown that we get an expansion of the audience through online participants (expected 10-20 times).
Today's situation has shown that representatives of regions that have difficulties in obtaining visas, expensive flights and inconvenient logistics are interested in the online format. This gives us an expansion of the geography of the participants through a digital platform. For our partners, this opens up new opportunities to expand the target audience with a very moderate budget.
In recent months, we felt tired of the same type of online events. It creates a high competition for the listener's attention. The mobile application provides a more vivid picture than the broadcast in Zoom. There is an opportunity to organize a full-fledged stage in the audience, light, quality video. It's more like a full-fledged event and engaging than Zoom with a "talking" head.
Инфографика по поводу гибрида (круглый диаграммы) . 04_финал, 05_финал
How to give online and offline participants the same experience and equal opportunities?
Effective networking in an online format is provided by a loyal community and a digital platform for interaction. Both offline and online participants get a single platform where they can communicate make acquaintances, exchange contacts, and not only during the event, but also for 6 months after the event.
Video broadcasting technologies are now on the hype. All of them are actively developing. Developers have seen the shortcomings of their products and are eliminating them as quickly as possible. In general, the digital event industry has received a huge impetus for development. And this applies not only to event technology, but to other technologies. APPLE presented a new version of the mobile operating system in July. A very important step that has finally been taken is the support of micro-applications. What does this mean for the average person? This means that the line between web and applications is blurred. This will close one of the most common objections - applications need to be downloaded. But there are big pros. If you download the application, it increases the chances that you will use it. Statistics show that the use of applications is many times higher than the use of similar solutions on the web. But now nothing will need to be installed. Many will start using it without even realizing it is a web or application. But it will take time.
Conclusions
The main advantages of the online format of exhibitions and conferences:
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expanding the geography and increasing the number of participants many times (sometimes dozens of times);
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increasing the time of interaction with a potential client for a participant of an online exhibition / conference (instead of 3-4 days from 3 to 6 months);
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online exhibition is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week;
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meeting place not only for TOP managers, but for any specialists of the company;
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opportunity to present the most up-to-date line of goods and novelties (including in VR format);
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independence from circumstances and force majeure;
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· saving time and costs for a trip to another city / country and accommodation;
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· obtaining records of all reports;
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· gaining access to all contacts of both participants and visitors.
RIA MediaCompas - we always stay on your radar.
Zerkalova Olha
Head of the Department of Exhibitions and Conferences+38 0482 355-999
