September, 2020
Feature 17
“Online
platforms are
like Formula One.
There’s a race
one weekend
and by the next,
practically 80%
of the car has
changed.”
Both 73 Media and Raccoon Events
are of the opinion that online events
and platforms will never replace live
events. They can, however, add value
and provide an alternate option for
branding. Tranter says: “If there’s
one thing five months of Zoom calls
has taught me, it’s that this is not the
future. It’s amazing that we have this
technology, and as much as we sometimes
hate it, we should be grateful for
it because I think the situation would
have been a lot worse without it. But I
think it’s a tool that runs alongside.”
73 Media is taking the lessons
learned from its digital excursions
into its future business. Tranter says:
“We agreed a deal with an on-demand
digital sports channel, who are
licensing the Virtual Rugby Show for
two years. They get all the content,
and we get a percentage of the revenue
for all the advertising and viewing
that they get from our content.
That’s a new model for the industry,
and you can’t do that for a live event.”
Raccoon Events says the Digital
Running Show was “viable” as it
attracted 39 exhibitors and almost
2,500 visitors, earning a small profit
in the process. But Seaman says
that its greatest strength was that
it “kept our community engaged
during a difficult time…when
most people were shut indoors.”
With some creative thinking when
it comes to business models and a low
barrier to entry for visitors, Raccoon
Events and 73 Media believe there is
a future in the hybrid model. We may
yet see it evolve as organisers continue
to experiment in 2021 and beyond.