A new report by Market Research Media predicts the worldwide virtual conference market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 56% between the period of 2010 and 2015.
Privately held, Market Research Media is a market and technology research company that relies heavily on analysts active in the respective professional fields, often in top managerial positions. In this way the company has access to primary marketing intelligence. Currently Market Research Media has 15 analysts who gather market data and engage in both primary and secondary research. Primary research activities include conducting interviews, surveys, and focus groups with industry participants. Interviews are conducted via telephone or in-person; surveys may be conducted via telephone, mail, or via the Internet. Analysts also review a multitude of secondary research sources on a daily basis.
The recent research report is titled “Virtual Conference & Trade Show Market Forecast 2010-2015”, and in the estimates made by the report the worldwide virtual conference and trade show market is predicted to reach $18.6 Billion over the period 2010 – 2015.
For more on Market Research Media and the report go to http://www.marketresearchmedia.com/
According to Miroslaw Nowak, marketing manager at Market Research Media, the leading analyst of this report is a marketing executive of one of the largest European trade show associations, a German national with 25 years of experience in professional event industry who is responsible for business development and implementation of new technologies.
Nowak said his firm gathered primary information for the report from three distinct sectors shaping today’s virtual event industry landscape: corporate event organizers, trade show/conference associations and virtual technology vendors.
Currently the market is driven by corporate events,” Nowak added. “Software platforms are too expensive for broad market acceptance. Trade show/conference associations are barely aware of the new virtual event technology, but they will be eventually the largest market segment and major market force, offering virtual events as a continuation (complementary) to the physical. Professional trade shows/conferences represent a huge market, dwarfing current revenues of virtual software vendors. Even gradual slow acceptance of virtual technology by the professional event industry will have a profound effect on the virtual market size.”
The report states that the virtual event market is poised for a big leap – from nowhere to $18.6 Billion over the period 2010 – 2015 and that the market is currently driven by corporate events but organizers of the traditional conferences and trade shows will not be able to ignore the virtual event technology evolution for too long.
“A physical trade show is a hassle for a large corporation and a major logistics nightmare for small and medium players,” Nowak said. “At a physical convention hundreds of vendors and thousands of visitors meet in a cramped noisy space. An average visitor is bombarded with competing and conflicting marketing messages. In physical events success is always on the side of the big battalions – larger corporations with big war chests get premium advertising space, premium booth space and keynote presentation time.”
The virtual event market has more than doubled in a year from 2008 to 2009 and analysts of Market Research Media expect this trend to continue. According to Nowak, the report presents a detailed analysis of the current state of the market and technology behind it, and provides year-by-year forecasts by market segments and geographic regions.
Why are virtual conferences predicted to have such a huge increase? Does this prediction have anything to do with the stagnant economy? Nowak said one must look at the bottom line reasons for the existence of a virtual event.
“Easy access to content, easy access to networking, boosting productivity-no wasted travel time, and cutting costs are the reasons for virtual events growing in popularity,” Nowak said. “The virtual event market is in an infant stage. The stagnant economy may provide an initial impact but that does not mean that productivity and cutting costs will be less important in a thriving economy. We are optimistic about virtual event technology in a depressed market, but we are even more optimistic about it with an economic revival.”
