While no one envisioned this uncharted time to last as long as it has, many areas are slowly and carefully coming out of isolation and wanting to get back to the business of tangibly connecting again. But how?

Less than 25% of events moved to a virtual platform in North America since the beginning of the pandemic, according to industry research. The rest were either postponed or cancelled. Of those events that postponed, it is more than likely they will require an online component if taking place within the next 6 to 12 months.

OK, so now what?

While virtual platforms have made some incredible strides over the last couple of months, it’s not a simple task to find an innovative, secure, and flexible platform that will fit your client’s requirements. Virtual event technology is not for everyone! It can be expensive, technical, and frustrating to learn. As event professionals, we must choose something that is easy and intuitive for ourselves as well as for the event’s attendees, speakers, sponsors, and vendors.

Virtual events have amazing potential to increase reach and brand awareness, but attendance and engagement are still huge challenges. It is tricky to be able to reinvent an in-person conference, fundraiser, or trade show and move it online successfully.

Much of the new virtual event tech has yet to be tested and analyzed. Some clients are still uncertain in the benefit of investing in a platform, hoping that things will return to “normal” sooner rather than later.

Returning to that “normal” pre-pandemic event life will likely not happen for years to come if at all. Virtual and hybrid events are just getting started and they are here to stay. As event tech companies continue to improve the online experience, it may be quite some time before attendees will pay to travel cross country to attend a large in-person event. Especially if an engaging and modern option is available from the comfort of their couch.

If you have a postponed event lurking in the background and need some expert advice to take it down the unknown virtual path, send us a message or give us a call! We’d love to chat!

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