Virtual events started to become increasingly popular during the
late-2000s recession as they offered an economically and environmentally effective way to bring thousands of attendees to an event from around the globe. In some cases, traditional physical events now offer a parallel virtual component – creating a '
hybrid event'. Virtual environments are becoming an increasingly important part of the
marketing mix. For
marketers, virtual events can provide a rich source of marketing data, because the activities of each participant can be tracked and evaluated. A
virtual engagement index is a variable to measure interaction quantity and quality of participants. This is a very useful tool for sales people who then know the quality of the lead they are pursuing, however not all providers offer this feature yet. Virtual events can offer a number of ways for participants to connect and communicate. Virtual booths, forums and designated meeting places allow participants to connect with event staff, exhibitors and sponsors, or fellow attendees using
online chat, video and voice. Participants can leverage their
social network within the event to form interest groups or find like-minded individuals. They can also share the findings with their
online communities, often leading to the viral popularity of an event. One of the key differences between
virtual worlds and virtual events is that a virtual world is available as a persistent (perpetual) environment, even after the live part of the event is over. Many organizers are moving from episodic events to a continuous
virtual engagement of their customer and prospect communities, (archive of the event). This permits attendees to return to parts of the event to see a complete session again, review content or gather additional information. Typically, virtual event organizers allow attendees to store the information gathered in a virtual
briefcase, which can contain
marketing collateral, as well as contact information of people they met, presentations they attended and content of conversations they held. While companies have been experimenting with virtual events since the 1990s, their usage increased dramatically during the
COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the cancellation or modification of live events. Not only have corporations implemented virtual events, events that would normally take place at an onsite venue with live audiences have transitioned to virtual events. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientific associations scrambled to convert their normally on-site events into virtual ones in order to share all the scientific research needed to combat the pandemic. The
Genetics Society of America (GSA) was one of the early successes when they were able to convert The Allied Genetics Conference (TACC) event (only held every four years) to a virtual event in April 2020. A different industry example took place on 29 November 2020 when the
Miss Earth 2020 was held virtually for the first time in history. Eighty-four international delegates participated. These modifications to virtual have proven resourceful and lucrative for virtual corporate emcees. During the COVID-19 pandemic, The
National Speakers Association found 14% of members said that MC/facilitation became their top source of revenue in 2020, up from 3% in 2016. == References ==