The battle for business moves into a new data-built arena
WITH HYBRID AND VIRTUAL EVENTS MAKING THEMSELVES INDISPENSABLE AND EVOLVING FAST , THE KEY POINTS OF DIFFERENTIATION FOR ORGANISERS WILL SHIFT INTO THE DATA MANAGEMENT ARENA , WRITES MICHAEL JONES
ollowing the industry-wide havoc wreaked by the Covid-19 pandemic , virtual events have become vital to the industry ’ s survival . Yet , with the signs of a vaccine-driven fightback against the pandemic , the return of ‘ normal ’ in-person events is nearing , albeit that return is unlikely to be to the old normal .
Sjoerd Weikamp , publisher of Eventbranch . nl , believes we need to use the digital for hybrid moments during live events and , says : “ If we don ’ t apply these tools but simply go back to the old normal , it would be a waste of a crisis ”. This logic sparked the industry ’ s whirlwind romance with hybrid events , events that combine an in-person experience and a virtual experience . Mark Rackley , partner , and chief strategy officer at PAIT Group , a digital transformation consultancy , suggests the benefits of such an approach are three-fold . Firstly , hybrid is more accessible . Secondly , as it is streamed live , virtual attendees at a hybrid meeting are forced to be more interactive than during a pure virtual event . Finally , hybrid events can be more cost effective than solely in-person events .
Significantly , AV provider MB4 productions suggests these benefits are supported by increased audience reach through hybrid meetings , as well as the ability to solve space limitations .
The approach is certainly evolving exponentially : UK headquartered Live Group says it has seen a 200 % increase in clients wanting a longer-term strategic partner in the virtual and hybrid space .
However , a survey by Identity , a UK-based global production agency , found that 4 / 5 people remained keen to return to live , in-person events , which illustrates the in-person element of an event remains critical to success .
Analytics One development associated with this new status quo is the enormous amounts of analytics available from each virtual event . This means organisers need a data management strategy to analyse whether their event is successful , cost effective , and , in contrast , which areas of the event may have wasted resources . This process of effective data management allows organisers to create feedback loops to streamline the format and execution of their virtual and hybrid events .
The proof of the power of data continues with Eventforce ’ s study showing 74 % of organisers now use data to define their event ’ s success , and 73 % of organisers believe the collection of data is vital for their future event success . Significantly , data is not only important in defining the attendee experience , but also how event organisers can attract sponsors for their events . Eventsforce also suggests that
Above : The advancement of technology has given organisers unsurpassed insight into the preferences and behaviours of their audience two-thirds of organisers use data to create more detailed post-event reports , the kind that sponsors are demanding .
Complete picture Toby Lewis , CEO of Live Group , says : “ The advancement of technology has given event organisers unsurpassed insight into the preferences and behaviours of their audiences . This has helped to drive smarter decision-making and determine event ROI . Our digital capabilities can immediately gather data on which content is maintaining the most sustained engagement , or which topics are gaining the most traffic across different demographics and geographies . Organisers can then prioritise this type of content in upcoming hybrid events , driving a cycle of continuous improvement .”
Lewis adds : “ Tech advancement also allows organisers to interact with their audiences in real time and use this data insight to inform the content of their events as they unfold . Additionally , by combining online and offline data collected across the lifespan of a hybrid event , event organisers can get a complete picture of the delegate journey . In doing so , they can capture and calculate the value of sales leads using contact-sharing and engagement scores , and automatically track how their attendees navigated through each session . This maximises the engagement potential of their hybrid event in the immediate moment .”
40 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / ISSUE 114