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How can you harness data to make a meaningful impact in your marketing and event strategy?
They say the only constant in life is change, and the events landscape is no exception. Driven by the relentless advance of technology, the industry is undergoing significant transformation and growth, which can make it hard for event planners to keep up. Did you know that 73% of event marketers reported budget increases in 2023? As we strive to create unforgettable experiences, one key to continued success is data. And the more the better. According to Statista, around 328.77 million terabytes of data are created each day. But how can you harness it to make a meaningful impact in your marketing and event strategy?
Read the full article at: www.forbes.com
Bloggers and marketers have been using artificial intelligence to create brief videos from text, still images, and moving graphics. Now, A.I.-led video editing of speakers’ presentations can help event hosts generate robust social-media content as the meeting is happening. Read the full article at: www.meetingsnet.com
Aiming for the personal touch, Stephanie Cox began using videos to illustrate customer success stories in her business, Lumavate, in 2018. Although the first use case was for sales, Cox, president of the Indiana-based firm, which makes a low-code app development platform for marketers, recognized the power videos can have.
Read the full article at: www.techrepublic.com
Occasionally, major unexpected developments force entire industries to rapidly change their business model overnight or face the very real prospect of extinction. While widespread technology adoption is traditionally a slow process, the Covid-19 pandemic forced a rapid and necessary global shift to remote work, travel restrictions and digital communication, putting the live meetings and events industry on pause.In response, the events industry and many private businesses have been developing virtual events that attempt to recreate live interactions. With the opportunity to introduce novel digital experiences and present a potentially unlimited number of attendees with information in engaging virtual environments, event producers and businesses are making plans and building platforms that could deliver the compelling virtual experiences that their audiences deserve.
Language is critical to consider when engaging a global audience through virtual events in order to better connect with customers and maximize your ROI.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has forced businesses to go remote, professional development activities like conferences, networking events and education sessions have also shifted into virtual venues. Some of this shift will likely outlast the pandemic, making the skills to manage and maximize these opportunities critical for professional development moving forward.
“Since the start of the pandemic, many of us have been confined to our homes and immediate family, and virtual meetings have been the only way to interact with friends, business associates, and colleagues,” said Will Gilchrist, senior member and chapter programs manager at RIMS. “These virtual meetings, while a nuisance to some, have been a lifeline to others. Virtual events have done wonders in bringing people together across the country and have enabled people who might be confined to their homes to branch out and regain some normalcy.” Read the full article at: www.rmmagazine.com
Breakout sessions give meeting attendees time to engage with their peers and decompress. Learn how to plan one for your next meeting, discover a list of engaging ideas, and draw inspiration from real-life examples from businesses.
Breakout sessions can happen during both in-person and virtual meetings. The former typically send attendees to different areas of a conference venue, and the latter use breakout room functions native to virtual conferencing tools. These sessions are especially important during virtual meetings, where there is already an element of built-in disconnection as attendees are in their own respective locations. This article from Hubspot goes over some ideas that you can use to incorporate engaging breakout sessions into your upcoming meetings. Breakout Session IdeasThere are various breakout sessions you can plan for, like those directly related to meeting content and others that are entertainment-focused and involve attendees playing games with each other.
Read the full article at: blog.hubspot.com
Virtual events are growing in popularity, and it doesn’t appear as if that’s going to change very soon. But as planners, venues, on-site teams, and everyone else involved in an event’s life cycle plan for a future full of virtual and hybrid events, there’s still a lot of unknown. That’s where these virtual event examples come in.
The following examples of virtual events span across multiple industries and vary in size, length, and technology. But they all have one thing in common: They took place in 2020, as the need for organizations to pivot to virtual events skyrocketed.
So whether you’re a planner in charge of putting together your first virtual event, a venue manager getting set to host one, or anyone in between, we hope these virtual event examples provide you with some inspiration and maybe even spark some new and innovative ideas. Read the full article at: www.socialtables.com
We can all agree, 2020 was a doozy of a year, bringing indelible changes to the landscape of fundraising. Yet, nonprofit organizations are resilient and have always risen to the occasion of helping those in need during difficult times. Even now in 2021, amidst continuing coronavirus restrictions, nonprofit fundraising is not only surviving, but thriving. That’s due in large part to the ability to pivot fundraising efforts from in-person to virtual. With a solid year of virtual fundraising under our collective belt, let’s take a look at seven key lessons learned in 2020 to help your nonprofit continue reaching those goals and fighting for its mission. Read the full article at: www.nptechforgood.com
Microsoft Teams has got a new AI-powered feature that makes it easier to zone out during endless online meetings.
The app has launched a live transcription tool that creates a written record of what was said during a meeting.
It identities each speaker, captures audio in “near real-time,” and generates a live transcript on the right-hand side of the window. After the meeting, the saved transcript will be available to download. Read the full article at: thenextweb.com
Brands, artists, businesses, entertainers have all traded in physical events with virtual ones to accommodate our new reality with the pandemic, with more or less success. It remains a place of potential (and necessity) for marketers to experiment and learn.
That being said, events are now quintessential to the social marketing era where the places communities and individuals meet become more precious and their connections and sharing behaviour more powerful, branded or not. A good event is, more than ever, a social experience that puts its people first.
Here are our picks of virtual events that may be laying the groundwork for bigger and better socially-led events to come. Read the full article at: wearesocial.com
There is no question that virtual events remain the only viable option to give continuity to companies’ event programs. As the market matures, the focus is shifting towards more tangible objectives.
In 2020, virtual events became a necessity. COVID-19 resulted in lockdowns, closures, and strict social distancing requirements, quickly halting all in-person events. Event organizers had to adapt quickly to reimagine their events in a safe virtual space.
Fortunately, virtual platforms have allowed events to continue despite lockdowns. In 2021, people who are growing weary of lockdowns and social distancing need virtual events more than ever before. These events offer attendees an opportunity to connect, learn, and unwind, helping to build connections even when they’re still socially distancing.
Even as COVID-19 restrictions ease, virtual events will continue to be important. In the last year alone, the benefits of virtual events have become clear, and organizers have quickly learned how to run virtual events. While in-person events will be welcomed when conditions allow, virtual events are sure to stick around for these key reasons. Read the full article at: www.eventbrite.com
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While businesses should be looking to responsibly and carefully work generative AI tools into their workflow, there are a few areas where the tech comes up short. There’s an exciting sea change taking place in B2B tech marketing. While organizations got by for years with underdeveloped, middle-of-the-road content, the need for messaging that stands out has intensified thanks to an evolving buyer journey, changes in the social media landscape, new data privacy regulations, and economic uncertainty in the tech sector. In short, content standards are rising across the buyer journey. To complicate things further, generative AI has emerged—and naturally, content marketing teams are looking to it as the perfect solution for these unstable times. After all, the promise of generative AI is simple: more content at a lower cost. Could great content really be just a few GPT prompts away? Not so fast.
Read the full article at: www.forbes.com
There’s a new virtual/hybrid reach for events this year mapped out through the trials of lockdown, and accessibility, in some shape or form, is the common purpose among these top tech tips for 2023. From latest platforms, connectivity, live captioning and sign language to presentation hardware and video production solutions, the future is here…
Read the full article at: www.eventindustrynews.com
Prior to the pandemic, the folding of events into marketing departments added pressure to prove event success with the hard data that marketing teams were accustomed to seeing. The recent explosion in virtual events will undoubtedly amplify this trend.
2020 was very much the year of virtual events, as previously physical venues began offering an online version of their event. Often times this would include interactivity among viewers or participants, letting them feel more involved. With people staying remote due to the pandemic, these types of events skyrocketed in adoption. As outlined in our 2021 video trends webinar, we have reason to believe that this year will also tremendous use of virtual events with high usage and evolution of the concept.
So what types of virtual events are out there? Which ones are right for you, and what might your goal or goals be? We outline 8 different use cases for your virtual events platform and possible goals to help your event be a successful one. Read the full article at: blog.video.ibm.com
The virtual event isn't likely to stay that way, but hybrid events can reach more people while delivering in-person benefits. TechRepublic's Karen Roby spoke with Ryan Carlson of Okta about virtual events. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation. -------------------------------------------- A very interesting interview, listen to how Okta made their second virtual event really different than most other product events. Read the full article at: www.techrepublic.com
Marina Worre is someone who is not afraid of change. She embraces it. As co-founder and CEO of Network Marketing Pro, Inc., she and her husband Eric have produced thousands of hours of video-based training content as well as some of the largest and most prestigious in-person training events in the world. When COVID-19 hit, they had to figure out how they were going to reach their community if they could not hold their two signature events: Go Pro Recruiting Mastery and The Most Powerful Women in Network Marketing. That’s when Marina came up with Worre Studios. She curated a team of audio and video production specialists to build a 25,000-square-foot state-of-the-art production studio in Las Vegas to bring more interactive, online experiences to life. She sat down with Jessica Abo to share how companies and presenters can work with her studio and her advice for entrepreneurs.
Read the full article at: www.entrepreneur.com
Virtual events still sound a little futuristic, but they’ve been happening since 1993 when the world’s first livestream brought us nail-biting webcam footage of a coffee maker in mid drip. The streaming pot brewed up millions of views. In some ways little has changed in 2020. On TikTok, teenagers have gone viral with sleep feeds, raking in crypto coin as they catch some zzz’s. But tech and social media upgrades have opened the door to new ways to connect online, from virtual museum tours to live Q&As with astronauts in space. Even some of the largest conferences have gone partially or completely digital. Moving events like this online can reduce costs and carbon footprints, and make attendance accessible to a wider audience. In 2018, Coachella’s YouTube livestream brought Beyoncé’s Homecoming to more than 41 million people in more than 232 countries, rather than just the hundreds of thousands in attendance in person. From live-tweeting to livestreaming, businesses and organizations are staging virtual events across the web. So, is your company ready to get digital? Whether you have an event already in mind or you’re looking for ideas, this article is your all-access pass.
Read the full article at: blog.hootsuite.com
In 2020, you might have heard your favorite influencers talking about a mysterious new social media app called Clubhouse. But, unless you had a huge online following of your own, you might just be getting access to the app now. Until a few months ago, Clubhouse was a platform where big-name celebrities, company leaders, Silicon Valley investors, and some of the web's top global influencers could have uncensored audio group chats about their lives, hobbies, work, or industries. Now, as the invite-only Clubhouse continues to gain media coverage and a growing pool of non-celebrity users, you might be wondering, “What the heck is it? And, how do I get in on the action?” Below, we’ll explain where Clubhouse came from, what it actually is, and the pros and cons of using it in your marketing strategy.
Read the full article at: blog.hubspot.com
Wow how quickly this event tech company list in growing, more are being added weekly. The above graphic organizes 268 different tools for online event experiences, in 9-14 different subcategories, such as streaming, ticketing, networking, event marketing, and “all-in-one” platforms, including those with 3D virtual environments.
Read the full article at: chiefmartec.com
If Netflix, YouTube, video games and dating apps are any indication, online engagement has massive potential. Why are virtual events struggling to achieve it, and what lessons can virtual events glean from these successful models of digital engagement?
Some 4 in 10 B2B event organizers plan to hold a virtual event in 2021, according to a new report [download page] from the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) on trends in the virtual event space. Based on a poll of more than 340 executives at organizations running or managing physical, in-person B2B exhibitions, the report suggests that virtual events are sticking around for now. Some 62% of respondents held a virtual event in 2020, per the report, and 4 in 10 also intend to hold one in 2021. The vast majority (86%) feel that virtual events are a necessary short-term option due to the pandemic, agreeing that “COVID-19 forced the cancellation of our physical event. The only option at this time is running a virtual event to serve the needs of our communities.” However, nearly 7 in 10 (68%) also agree that virtual will be a bigger component of physical events moving forward, leading to more hybrid events.
Read the full article at: www.marketingcharts.com
Live events are all about connection. We all know that. Back before the pandemic, brands and publishers were increasingly investing in live events as a way to build their profiles and generate revenue. Sixty-five percent of business-to-business marketers in the professional services industry were hosting conferences by the end of 2019, and 87% believed in-person events were a “critical component” to their company’s success.
Then the pandemic hit. In an instant, live events all but disappeared.
Conferences, seminars, festivals, and leadership courses were postponed, cancelled, or moved to online-only in 2020. Even the Sundance Film Festival was transformed into an almost entirely remote event. Although the virtual events industry grew at a steady clip throughout the year, brands struggled to reproduce what was traditionally one of the most important features of live, in-person events: human connections.
Networking and building connections with other industry leaders was one of the primary reasons why people attended live events before the pandemic. In a world where virtual events have become the norm, brands, publishers, and B2B companies are struggling to reproduce the human connections that people crave in an digital-first environment.
A new startup called Welcome is working on a solution.
Read the full article at: streetfightmag.com
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