Rohit Bhargava's--6 Reasons Virtual Events Are Getting So Popular
Rohit Bhargava is Senior Vice President, Digital Strategy & Marketing at Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence
Will virtual events may start to overtake real life events? Rohit says "I think they currently compliment each other and will continue to do so, yet it does raise the point of the current popularity of virtual events." (We totally agree.)
His six big factors driving virtual event popularity:
1. Recession economy and budgets. This is the most obvious reason for the rise of virtual events.
2. Filling the void. More and more we will see virtual events filling the void (due to budget and travel reductions) and making training, learning and networking possible on more occasions than currently possible.
3. Bring together a fantasy team. When done right, virtual events also allow you to bring together a group of speakers that would be very hard to bring together at the same time for a physical event.
4. Allow for multitasking. With virtual events, you can go on mute on a conference call and multitask from your desk. Getting work done while attending a virtual event is a pretty powerful benefit.
5. Small business friendly. At many large events that I attend, it sometimes seems that small businesses are the ones that are left out because it is only the bigger companies that can afford to send people to conferences. (We actually see it a bit differently, some of the biggest companies have totally cut travel but the mid and small businesses are still traveling for the right opportunity.)
6. Built in archive. As an entire event is hosted online, all the content and conversations the event generates are also online. (A virtual event is certainly a lot less expensive than trying to capture a real-world event at say a convention center with the high cost of labor and extensive union requirements that are often imposed.)
Will virtual events may start to overtake real life events? Rohit says "I think they currently compliment each other and will continue to do so, yet it does raise the point of the current popularity of virtual events." (We totally agree.)
His six big factors driving virtual event popularity:
1. Recession economy and budgets. This is the most obvious reason for the rise of virtual events.
2. Filling the void. More and more we will see virtual events filling the void (due to budget and travel reductions) and making training, learning and networking possible on more occasions than currently possible.
3. Bring together a fantasy team. When done right, virtual events also allow you to bring together a group of speakers that would be very hard to bring together at the same time for a physical event.
4. Allow for multitasking. With virtual events, you can go on mute on a conference call and multitask from your desk. Getting work done while attending a virtual event is a pretty powerful benefit.
5. Small business friendly. At many large events that I attend, it sometimes seems that small businesses are the ones that are left out because it is only the bigger companies that can afford to send people to conferences. (We actually see it a bit differently, some of the biggest companies have totally cut travel but the mid and small businesses are still traveling for the right opportunity.)
6. Built in archive. As an entire event is hosted online, all the content and conversations the event generates are also online. (A virtual event is certainly a lot less expensive than trying to capture a real-world event at say a convention center with the high cost of labor and extensive union requirements that are often imposed.)
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