ike in an old movie , over the last 18 months event tech companies have gallantly ridden into town like knights in shining Armani , declaring virtual events to be our industry ’ s saviour . Certainly , virtual seminars have managed to keep some events ticking over , albeit not at the usual ramming speed .

But with exhibition centres across the globe primed to swing their doors open again , will virtual events become virtually non-existent ?

As a leading event website specialist for 23 years , we have been asked by event organisers based around the world if virtual is worth the time , effort and money . Our answer to this may go against the grain of the thinking of techies in our industry , but although virtual events , keynotes and seminars have

served a purpose and have done well to fill a vacuous void in the absence of face-to-face , have they been a mere sticking plaster over a deep graze ?

However , virtual events have given our industry another media vertical to trade on away from the show floor .

Previously , most organisers had all their eggs in one basket . The showfloor was the beginning , middle and end of the business model . But now the opportunity for online to bring substantial revenue to the event ’ s bottom line is clear .

There are true net gains to be found for the organiser in empowering potential show visitors to personalise their online interaction with the event .

This is why ASP has spent the last eight months developing and stresstesting our event personalisation

Right : Jon Benjamin , MD , ASP

“ Virtual events have given our industry another media vertical to trade on away from the show floor .”

tool Gateway . We understand that what makes a good event website great are the tools it provides marketing and sales teams to exceed their targets .

ASP ’ s Gateway empowers visitors to create their own profiles , build their own custom lists of products , exhibitors and content they are interested in and add meetings and talks to their personal calendar . All of this personalisation and interaction makes a potential visitor a shoo-in to attend and spend .

Furthermore , low-cost and highyield products like Gateway allow exhibitors and sponsors to be in front of the show audience all year round . A lovely by-product of this engagement and personalisation is that it provides exhibition organisers with deep data to help further evolve the offering for their event community .

Websites are the shop window of the event . But , through personalisation , they are now also a full on event experience platform for audiences to interact , learn and even purchase all year round .

Keen to empower your event audience through Gateway ? Contact us at hello @ asp . events