A virtual reality for the events industry
The virtual events market looks set to grow rapidly over the next five years to become a multi-billion pound industry that will change the face of events permanently.
With the boundaries between traditional and virtual events already blurred, it appears that the sector is taking a new direction. Busy, budget-constrained delegates who can’t make live events are already being offered the opportunity to participate virtually, in hybrid events.
As the name suggests, hybrid events combine the best of both worlds, the live and virtual, and are so far proving very successful. There’s nothing particularly ground-breaking about them; they simply draw upon existing tools such as social media and webinars to build a multi-faceted event experience, capable of overcoming challenges such as time and money.
Attendees to virtual events don’t need to leave the comfort of their desks, which saves their employers a tidy sum in expenses and wasted hours due to travelling, with the added benefit of enabling attendees to dip in and out of exhibitions at their convenience.
But the delegates aren’t the only ones feeling the pinch – exhibitors are under financial pressure as well. Demand for comprehensive delegate tracking and reliable measurement of ROI is on the rise as organisations re-evaluate their event expenditure. Virtual events are becoming an increasingly tempting alternative as they offer a controlled environment where performance can be easily measured.
Advances in technology also play in favour of the virtual event. High-quality graphics, powerful software platforms and increasing broadband capabilities can enable delegates to intuitively navigate a rich virtual world. They can customise their appearance, and have increasingly life-like interactions with other delegates and staff on stand and emotions can be conveyed, all in real time.
The current success of virtual events relies heavily on their interactive offering, which has also proven a hit in the gaming world. World of Warcraft is great example of this, allowing gamers to share their experiences with an online community.
The same can be said for Second Life. I decided to see what the fuss was all about so logged in and created an avatar of my own. I then attempted to customise my avatar’s outfit and ended up permanently naked, which is not representative of my normal appearance! It just goes to show how easy it is to get confused by unintuitive, underdeveloped applications in the virtual space.
The gaming world stands to gain commercially from investing in 3D technology, as consumers are willing to cough up a small fortune to purchase the latest games, but will the events sector follow suit? It is certainly questionable whether advertising revenues alone would make it worth while. After all, no-one expects delegates to fork-out hundreds of pounds to visit an event in their own living room.
However, it’s worth remembering that 3D has been around for 20-30 years, yet it has only just begun to make its mark, with big-budget Hollywood blockbusters using it to great effect. High Definition and the digital switch-over are other examples of how long it can take to implement a new technology, so whereas I don’t think the arrival of 3D and other such technology in the virtual events sector is imminent, it’s certainly one to watch.
So, it would seem the odds are stacked firmly in favour of the virtual event, but does this mean the live event is a dying breed? The short answer is no, as virtual reality as we know it will never be able to recreate the buzz of a well executed live event.
Experienced exhibitors recognise the importance of physical cues such as eye contact, body language and of course the ability to touch products and try them out, which isn’t possible in a virtual world. There is more opportunity to make a lasting impact by engaging with a delegate face-to-face, and for the moment, this sort of interaction will always gain priority.
It’s a very long road, but virtual events are most definitely here to stay. Savvy events professionals need to embrace virtual events as a complimentary addition to their offering, to keep them ahead of the game in an era of change in the events industry.
By Don Turner, managing director, Spinning Clock
Category: Advice for Event Management
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Just as it’s important to discriminate between web enabling technology (e.g., WordPress) and finished enterprise websites, it’s important to remember that Second Life, by itself, is a generalized 3D construction kit, not a finished virtual event platform. It’s powerful, but, as you discovered, it can be hard to use, even in trivial dimensions.
Immersive event specialists like Second Life Gold Solution Provider World2Worlds (http://www.world2worlds.com) wrap turnkey technology and services around Second Life to create a finished global event platform. They do content and program creation, audience development, registration, metrics, access control, security. They create and customize vivid 3D event facilities with multimedia and web integration, design and deploy correlated websites for global audience access via streamed video and chat, provide multi-platform social media integration, and offer sponsor exhibit and creative services, concierge services, and full audience and speaker orientation and training — enabling any event producer to provide high value for attendees, sponsors and presenters in this unique medium.
P.S. World2Worlds also offers protection against accidental avatar ‘wardrobe failures,’ by providing business-class avatars with non-removable clothing.
I had to post and say that it is no wonder many in the events business think virtual wont work when you see an avatar THAT bad (the one featured in this article) . I have been using this system http://www.venuegen.co.uk and it absolutely rocks……
“The short answer is no, as virtual reality as we know it will never be able to recreate the buzz of a well executed live event.”
I would probably not use the word “never” in that sentence. Live events done in Second Life are not merely copies of physical live events, and trying to replicate the experience as best as possible within the limitations of the virtual world environment. Instead, they add a new side to the experience which is impossible to get in the atom world: interpersonal communication, for instance. You can chat (either in text or voice) while having a band or singer perform live — something you cannot do in the real world (because either the music is too loud for voice communication, or because it would be impolite to do so!).
Step back the clock a century and half. Live music performances (at a opera house) were completely different social events. Instead of an audience that is silent and listening to the music (or a roaring noise that prevents all kinds of communication), going to the opera was done for three reasons: showing off your wardrobe; gossiping; and chatting with your friends. The music was a backdrop to that. People might listen selectively to an aria or two, but the remaining music was really secondary — it was just the pretext to go out to a “live music event”.
We totally lost this social experience during the 20th century. Opera-goers, like head-bangers, don’t chat and don’t talk during the performance. It’s too loud or not polite to do so. You won’t we watching what others wear anyway — it’s too dark for that — so gossip and wardrobe show-offs are relatively less important these days.
Ironically, this long-lost tradition (recorded at least as early as the 17th century and going up until the early 1900s) has been “revived” inside virtual worlds.
No, you won’t feel the pressure of a crowd or smell their sweat while they listen to the performance. But you will chat with them. So it’s not the same experience, but a different experience, and, in that regard, much more complementary than perhaps your article has brought up.
Thanks for the article, though!
Thanks for your comments, it is great to see such intelligent dialogue on the subject of virtual/hybrid events.
I agree that virtual events offer a different (and in some contexts better) experience, due to more appropriate communication technologies, such as live chat and being able to easily locate prospects in a virtual space. My point was more to do with the fact that over 90% of face-to-face communication is non-verbal (body language, eye contact, etc) and the technology to replicate this in a virtual environment is a very long way from being comparable to real life.
I’m sure there will be virtual events which do have a real “buzz”, just not quite the same “buzz” that you get when really connecting with someone at a networking event or rocking out with thousands of other people at a live concert. Exciting times ahead though!
If you have any upcoming virtual/hybrid events please do get in touch.