Corporate Events.
BY
Events In Person in a Physical Meeting Space are like Feature Films. In-person events offer the opportunity for you to meet face-to-face with clients, prospects and partners which can enhance your rapport and streamline your interactions. In-Person events are an essential component of any effective demand generation strategy. Meeting someone in person helps establish trust and credibility. Instead of just being a voice on the phone or someone on your computer screen, you become someone they personally know.
With access to plentiful online communication technologies, it’s easy to forget about the value of person-to-person connections when conducting business on a global scale. Genuine in-person interactions can’t be replicated by your competitors through automation, design or content creation, so take advantage of your opportunity to stand out simply by showing up.
Virtual Events have exploded for more than a year now due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Virtual Event Planning Software is clearly on the rise, with lead generating virtual events consistently proving themselves as the most powerful weapon in the digital marketing arsenal. Conferences, Meetings and even Happy Hours are just a few events that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused us to attend virtually for the past several months. Virtual events have many benefits, including the opportunity to easily and quickly widen reach and collect a large amount of data on attendees. But while they will always play a role in the marketing and sales processes, they don’t connect communities in the same way that in-person events do.
Video meetings are rife with communication disconnects and technical errors, causing the “Zoom fatigue” phenomenon. While creating true digital engagement has become critical to our Success, we find ourselves in 2021 facing real digital fatigue. Not only do we get to see that in our audiences’ faces but also in our attendance stats. As a result of which registration and dwell times are down and no-show are up.
With every coin having two sides to it, both Virtual Events and in-Person Events have their Pros & Cons too.
Virtual Events-
1) While we comprehend that Virtual events are different, we do no mean that they are worse. They are beneficial in multiple ways and have the the advantage of being Cost effective, Flexible, Generating Mass Data and establishing Long Term ROI.
2) Virtual Events can be a Boom Box. Virtual events can be made hi-fi by customizing and personalizing with minimum resources.
3) Transitional dynamics in Virtual events such as low or no energy, lack of audience cues, random eye contact and ongoing distraction undermine our biggest event assets – our speaker and our audiences – that make our digital events clunky, dull and dissatisfying.
4) Virtual Events may grab the attention for the attendees for a sometime. However, due to the lack of optimum Curiosity Gaps and bland demonstration, virtual events seem to slag a bit.
In-Person Events-
1) Genuine in person interaction cannot be replicated by virtual events. In-Person events create an experience for every individual attendee.
2) In-Person Events, not just grab your attention, but hold it. The direct contact of the Speaker and the Audience allows the Speaker to wind the audience into the trap of his words and grab enough attention according to their desire.
3) In-Person events allows the audience to understand things better which in turn allows them to stay there until it ends. Unlike, virtual events where most of the attendees leave the event way before it really ends.
4) Interaction and Communication is a vital aspect of In-Person Events. It is not just one way, but two way.
COVID-19 changed how people interact with one another, but it could not squash the need for in-person connections that engage audiences. In-person events needs a comeback because people crave face-to-face interactions and experiences. Of course, we’re not quite ready to fully return to In-Person Events, we’ll start to see Integrated Hybrid Models where attendees can choose to experience an event either in-person or virtually, or customize their experience through a combination of both.
There’s pent-up demand for in-person meetings, especially smaller-scale gatherings that use technology tools. Now that we know that our audience is craving for In-Person events involving face-to-face interactions, the question arises as to How can we fulfil it? How can Companies Capitalize on this demand? To plan for a return to in-person events, here are four strategies for field marketers, channel marketers and sales teams to put in their toolbox:
1) Develop localized gatherings.
Throughout 2021, smaller event gatherings should be the norm. This means we won’t yet see too many massive trade shows or conferences with tens of thousands of attendees. Firms are taking a more regional approach to events to engage with clients without asking them to fly across the country and stay multiple nights in hotels. Smaller gatherings present multiple benefits for companies and attendees. They provide more time for one-on-one interaction to enable deeper sales conversations with high-value clients (because relationships are key!). Fewer attendees also mean social distancing is easier to achieve. Field marketers should pitch smaller meetings to maintain safety and present a comfortable low-stress environment for all attendees.
2) Pick the right audiences.
Smaller gatherings mean smaller guest lists. Companies might need to narrow the focus of their event so it relevantly connects with the target attendees. Event teams will need to improve their cross-functionality with other departments such as field operations and sales. Increasing collaboration throughout production results in a manicured guest list that has potential for the biggest result.
When the vision and purpose of the smaller event aligns with the right people, everyone involved experiences a productive dynamic. The company hosting the event gets in front of potential sales and partners, and the attendees learn more about a possible engagement. It provides a showcase for companies to display their strategic value and build their brand with the right crowd.
3) Communicate early and often.
Social distancing and mask guidelines will remain in place for the foreseeable future, even as cases fall and sectors reopen. Attendees will only participate if they feel safe, and developing this feeling requires frequent and transparent communication from the event organizer. Event managers will need to demonstrate in every facet of their productions that they have the customer’s safety in mind. This means following the latest social distancing protocols by managing traffic flows, blocking off seats, or breaking into smaller groups. We’ll also see an expanded use of outdoors spaces and other suitable areas that offer the enhanced safety of outside air.
These measures, paired with vaccinations and decreasing cases of Covid around the world will help in-person events make them eventual and much-needed resurgence. In-person events are coming, and companies need to prepare to capitalize on the coming economic resurgence. Throughout 2021, event planners and brand managers will develop focused attendees lists, add digital connectivity and improve their communication skills to successfully reintroduce in-person events to the world.
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