Photo Credit: Woom

By 2024, only 24% of events will be live, while the rest will take place in the virtual world

The meetings industry is experiencing groundbreaking changes. Many events have resorted to the online world, yet the question of how events will look like in the future emerges. According to research, only 24% of all events will be in the live format, whereas all other events will be virtual or online.

As part of the “Future of the meetings industry” webinar, some of the leading experts in the region shared their thoughts. The participants of the webinar agreed that in-person meetings at the moment cannot exist, however, event organisers have come up with new forms of online cooperation.

“The event industry has quickly adapted and proved that it can face the challenges. Our research shows that around 40 to 50% of participants are satisfied with online events. As the biggest advantages of virtual events, they highlighted the amount of time an event takes and the benefits of cooperation,” says Co-founder of Conventa, Gorazd Čad.

Conventa-Crosover-gorazd-cad-workshop

1. What event forms do you prefer for the future?

– 42,4%: hybrid events
– 42,4%: live events
– 15,2%: on-line events

2. Do you prefer paying for events?

– 82,8%: Yes
– 17,8%: No

3. When do you prefer cooperating at a webinar?

– 40%: 11.00-14.00
– 36,7%: 14.00-17.00
– 16,7%: 17.00-20-00
– 6,6%: 20.00-23.00

A major part of events has stopped existing and has been put on hold. Nevertheless, there are still events that have remained true to the live format despite the pandemic. “Our event managers were restless, as we hosted several quality webinars, but also were able to organise a larger conference in-person. The participants were thrilled over the live event,” said Miodrag Šajatović, Editor in Chief of Lider.

Deciding to participate in a conference is by many decided by the quality of organisation and content. Alina Radusin, Wiener Insurance Group’s head of marketing and corporate communication added: “Regardless whether you are a sponsor or corporate partner, you must know the benefits of events. New formats and creativity is something that has gained significance, as well as the importance of event organisers. Nonetheless, networking remains the greatest benefit of business events”.

Tomo Ricov, Director of Pepermint, commented on how the market’s needs have changed and will participants still value live events or stay on virtual platforms in the future. He said: “There is definitely interest in online events. The best example is Dua Lipa, who sold around 300.000 tickets for her online concert. The content can be transferred to the virtual world, but the fun and personal touch cannot be. Hence, I believe that hybrid events have a bright future, as you can keep the personal contact between participants, and gather participants from around the world virtually.”

The event was a webinar, hosted on Croatia’s biggest online webinar platform – Woom.

hybrid_events
Photo Credit: Woom

“Varying from industry to industry, companies have found a way to adapt to the market. The hoteliers are a great example, as they have transformed their facilities into workplaces,” says Renata Potočnik from Millenium Promotions.

The speakers of the webinar unanimously concluded that the golden rule of event organising is “content is king”. “In the third and fourth quarter of 2020, there has been tremendous interest in webinars. I believe this trend will continue in the first and second quarter of 2021,” says Tom Gavazzi, Director of Woom and Business Sailing Experience Agency, which organised the webinar.

Woom is a new Croatian platform that has organised over 30.000 webinars free of charge for participants, who were amazed by the new online solution. “We have expanded to the international market, and our platform proved as a Croatian best value for money product,” concludes Gavazzi. The name was chosen as a conjunction between webinars and Zoom and is a platform for users, who are looking for quality webinar content. Such webinars platforms are extremely useful for both organisers and participants, as they enable great interaction of participants.

Join our newsletter!

Subscribe to our newsletter and stay up-to-date with the latest updates from Kongres Magazine.