Virtual Events: The growth, downfall and the new Era.

Those who work in the virtual event industry, what happened? Wasn’t virtual going to boom even after the pandemic? I thought it might. Because I’ve seen the virtual event industry grow from bootstrap to unicorn. But all the recent layoffs and decline have started me thinking, that we have been doing something wrong. Here’s my analysis of the past years of virtual events & a few directions where the whole industry might go. The Sudden Growth 📈 The growth started with the lockdown that led to cancellations of all in-person events. So now there was real panic for the organizers all around to facilitate an outlet to make the events happen. This is where virtual events platforms came to the rescue of organizers. The Fundamental Issues 🧿 The organizers hosting these events were not prepared to engage live audiences. They not only lacked technical skills but also presentation skills to keep a live audience on their toes. Moreover, there's the issue of networking, which is the true attraction for participants to come to an in-person event. Networking was virtually non-existent on the earlier platforms. The virtual events platform saw the demand for networking and launched a bunch of features for organizers to allow networking among participants. However, these features were still in their early stage and the success of these features was inconsistent. But, What next? What else can be done? The New Era 🐐 I believe the virtual industry will find success in the below avenues to long last the future of social engagements - Hybrid Events 🕑 Hybrid virtual events will be the standard choice in the post-pandemic world. This allows organizers unparallel reach & profit. Further, this could lead to interesting ideas & avenues where both the virtual & non-virtual could interact, play games, and network. - Virtual Studio 🎙️ The next wave is virtual studios, now these platforms are focusing on extending in creator economy. Providing first-class studio support for creator platforms like youtube, Facebook, etc. - Virtual Co-working 🦫 In Multiverse, a couple of companies are experimenting with virtual offices to drive engagement for their existing customers with innovative solutions. For example, companies like SoWork facilitate virtual work to encourage diversity in the workplace as well as counter climate change. Overall, I would say, virtual is at the frontier of opportunities and unexplored spaces, and I didn’t even mention the gaming industry or the metaverse or VR headsets! The possibilities are yet to be explored. I strongly believe that virtual is going to change the status quo as it did during COVID-19.