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me repeatedly how hard his teams have worked .
The very fact that they ’ ve had work at all is potentially another reason for the applause that again interrupts our conversation . Not only has GDS never had cause to put anyone on furlough , it has recruited around 130 new staff during the past seven months - growing an existing team of 250 employees in Bristol to 380 today .
Green believes that growth in product development and digital support staff won ’ t be a short-term measure as the global events industry double-downs on digital , both for practical , strategic and sustainability reasons .
He says : “ The communications sector is incredible exciting currently and virtual events have proved more impactful than physical summits across almost every one of our 18 available
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metrics including reach , engagement and registration conversions . As we emerge from the pandemic , senior leaders have a responsibility to both business effectiveness and the environmental impact of their practices so given the choice , I believe they ’ ll make the right decision and continue with digital .
“ Previously , our summits would see delegates fly longhaul , spend three days out of the office and fly longhaul home again . Business travel is no longer justified when C-level executives can now connect online for longer and achieve more in a highly productive and efficient way .
“ Travel is meant to be enjoyed with the family . For the most part , business travel isn ’ t enjoyable or sustainable and will require a major rethink at board-level now that there ’ s a more effective
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way of communicating and conveying corporate messaging .”
To play devil ’ s advocate , I ask Green about the one aspect of in-person events considered not to translate into virtual - networking .
“ In my view , networking was hugely over-rated at physical B2B events as most of the time it was never based on attendee intelligence . We ’ re a social species and
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we ’ re all looking forward to hugging friends and family but you don ’ t go to a business event to hug an industry colleague .
“ Over the coming year , networking on digital event platforms will improve considerably as the technology continues to accelerate and audience intelligence data plays a greater role . In the B2B space , this focus on attendee profiling will solve the networking issue as attendees will be match together based on desired outcomes .”
If Green is proved right , then sophisticated , intelligence-led virtual events could replace many of the physical B2B formats that global corporations have come to rely on for delivering strategy , learning and development , plus motiving sales staff .
Green is betting on a B2B virtual events future that ’ s more sustainable , more time efficient and one that allows him to keep growing his team and developing his product line . There ’ s lots to be applauded .
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