Last week I attended a VA Networking webinar, hosted by Leesa Barnes from the Association of Virtual Event Managers, Organisers and Hosts. The event discussed how to host virtual events and how they can help small businesses.
There is no doubt that cost cutting has affected the level of attendance at events. The majority of event managers are seeing a significat drop in attendance. In fact, Virtual Edge states that “67% of professionals responsible for traditional physical events report a drop in overall attendance.”
That statistic does not surprise me. Companies and individuals are desperately trying to reduce their overheads and unfortunately events are usually the first thing to go.
Virtual events however, are seeing the opposite effect. There has been an increase in attendance across the board for webinars, webcasts, podcast, virtual conferences, telesummits and virtual trade shows. It seems almost any event can be replicated online and and at the fraction of the cost.
So why should you as a small business owner get in on the virtual event phenomenon?
Cost effective
Virtual events are extremely cost effective and as a general rule cost around 50% less (if not more) than a face to face event. The reason is reduced overheads – there is no need to pay for room hire, catering, staff etc.
All you pay for is the virtual bridge line (or event hosting company). The costs do vary depending on the type of virtual event, webinars are going to be cheaper than a virtual trade show.
Global Audience
Face-to-face events limit your potential audience to one region – unless delegates are willing to travel. Hosting a virtual event opens up a whole new ‘global’ market and who wouldn’t want that?
Increased exposure
No matter what you do when organising an event, there will always be some people who are unable to attend. This is where virtuals event come into their element.
When hosting a virtual event it is a great idea to record the event. You can then use it as a promotional tool after the event by posting the recorded event on your website so that people can puchase and listen to at their leisure. For those, who did attend the live event you could use the recording as a thank you gift for attending.
There has been growing speculation as to the future of face-2-face events.
Whilst I agree that virtual events are extremely popular I don’t think they will ever replace face-to-face events.
I put this question out to the public and the response seemed to support that virtual events are extremely important, but they will never beat the quality of face-to-face events.
Johanna Baker-Dowdell of Strawberry Communications prefers “the interaction and listening to other’s views compared to online events.”
Peace Mitchell of Cairns Family Holidays, said “Face to face is and always will be important but virtual events allow you the opportunity to connect with people from all over the world.”
As a small business owner virtual events are definitely an area you need to consider. So which one do you choose?
The two most popular forms of virtual events are the webinars and webcasts, they are inexpensive and very simple to organise.
Webinars
Webinars are web based seminars or training courses. Webinars are hosted online in virtual conference rooms, participants attend the event from their own PC and can listen and view the presentations.
Webinars are great in that they allow interaction between speakers and participants. Participants can ask questions (microphone is required) or ask questions through the chat section. I know alot of speakers also make the session interactive by using online polls to engage their audience.
Webcasts
A webcast is different to a webinar, in that there is no interaction between speaker and participants. In fact, webcasts are usually pre-recorded and participants can listen to at their leisure. Some companies are opting for the live webcast.
My thoughts are this, if you are going to host a live webcast why not go the extra mile and host a webinar, participants really do enjoy the interaction more than just listening to someone talk.
That is a brief overview into the world of virtual events, I will be discussing virtual events in more details over the next coming weeks, so stay tuned.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
 |
 |
Very nice summary and I’m going to add it to my 10 Days to Produce a Better Virtual Event series. Virtual event will never replace offline events, however, there are examples of people who organize offline events so those who connected virtually can do so physically. In fact, I believe that you can sell your offline event easier if you have already built rapport with your virtual event.
It’s a great topic and a wonderful growth area. I’m so glad you attended the session which got you thinking about this topic.
Benefits of Hosting a Virtual Event, Day 1…
To understand why virtual events are valuable, it’s important to know the benefits to hosting one. The links below will provide a mountain of reasons why your business must consider hosting a virtual event.
Leesa Barnes on Recession Proof Your B…
Hi Leesa,
It was a great seminar, I thoroughly enjoyed it. You defintely made me think about the topic in more detail.
Being in event management I used to push more for face-to-face events, but after your seminar it made me realise a whole new market that businesses are missing out on.
Thank you for including a link in your 10 Days to Produce a Better Virtual Event Series, much apprecaited.
Cheers,
Nicole