Sophie Ahmed has been leading the charge in terms of virtual and digital events for more than two decades .
Ahmed co-founded the Virtual Events Institute ( VEI ) during the pandemic and previously led global events for Informa , Reed Exhibitions , Cannes Lions , and Money 20 / 20 .
Ahmed joined Hubilo as senior vice president of market strategy in April and sees no sign of the demand for digital innovation in event tech slowing .
She agrees that the purely virtual event bubble may have burst – as seen by the likes of Hopin slashing its workforce – but says “ tech that enables the event ” is definitely here to stay . Having started her career running in-person events she has
Raise the game
Senior vice president of market strategy at online event platform Hubilo Sophie Ahmed sees that the demand for purely virtual events may have peaked – but tells Emily Wallin that the rate of innovation sparked by the pivot to digital has seen a boom in the way tech can enable and enhance events and make them more accessible to all
Sophie Ahmed
not forgotten their value but sees how tech can improve them .
“ If I was running my old events now , I would love how quickly the technology has progressed over the last two years . I would probably have a 365 year-round community and within that monthly meetups and think tanks , exclusive focus groups , I would have subgroups , I would have micro communities , I would have a matchmaking facility , I would make sure that everyone is getting as much out of my event brand as possible all year , that they ’ re truly engaged . And I would understand what content they ’ re discussing what they ’ re interested in . I would use that to translate into my content strategy , and my overall event design , so my community would feed my event and my event would feed my community . I would do that tomorrow if I went back into my old job .
“ By the time they get to the event , they ’ re all excited , it ’ s whetted the appetite . You can use the 365 model as the top of the funnel , to get more data , to get more people to come and dip their toe into your brand , to understand what you ’ re offering .
“ When InGo and GleanIn and Snöball first came out , and I loved it as an event organiser , because my audience went up 22 %”
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