Digital Event Platforms is . Technology is always an industry that gets a huge amount of investment because it ’ s all about progress . For our part , we ’ re already talking to the Association of Mixed Reality to figure out if that is a potential future path for the platform .”
Baptiste Boulard , CEO of Swapcard , says he has also seen the market shift at a rapid pace . “ The event tech world has probably changed as much in the last 18 months as it has in 20 years ,” he says . “ Events should have been revolutionised by technology in the same way e-commerce was around 2008 . But I believe it is only now we are really catching up .”
Like Groot , Boulard says his customer ’ s mindsets have been changing as the pandemic continues . They are not viewing online events purely as content – but as a crucial part of a year-round strategy . “ In the future , when you tell someone you are an event organiser , they won ’ t be confused like they sometimes are now . Events will be part of our digital daily lives , and organisers will be community managers , they will run digital marketplaces .”
On the topic of investment , Boulard says that the market was arguably not ready for the digitalisation process , and that is why we are only now seeing a financial boom . It took the pandemic to force people to try virtual events , and then another six months for them to figure out how to do them properly . “ Now they are ready , and the money is there ,” he says . This does not necessarily mean we will see lots more consolidation , however , on Boulard ’ s view : “ I think if there was any time that , as a valuable startup in event tech , you might think
‘ I ’ ll hang on to my company rather than cash out ’, it ’ s now .”
It is clearly an exciting time for all three of the CEOs CMW spoke to for this article – their businesses have bucked the trend of financial instability throughout the pandemic . Each of them is carving out its own niche and looking to prove that there is more to virtual than Zoom calls .
That could mean holding a meeting in a digital version of a Peruvian mountainside ( as in enso ’ s World Indigenous Forum ), or it could mean a greater focus on interactivity and networking . So , what does the future hold for virtual ?
“ I honestly think ,” says Boulard , “ That if we did this interview again in 18 months , the whole event landscape could look completely different .”
Michael Dynan Baptiste Boulard
“ The event tech world has probably changed as much in the last 18 months as it has in 20 years .”
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