Virtual events: advantages, disadvantages, and things to consider!

What Is a virtual event?

A virtual event is the implementation of an event in which several people connect online at the same time to follow or interact with a specific content. Even an online meeting, as you know from traditional communication solutions, has the character of a virtual micro-event.

What types of virtual events are there?

Live webcasting

Webcasting is when video content similar to what is known from radio or television broadcasts is transmitted over the Internet to a large number of viewers. The focus is primarily on transmitting content from one or a few speakers to several people.

Video conference

Thanks to modern collaboration and cloud technology, conferences can now also be held in virtual space. With changing speakers, Q&A sessions and various virtual rooms, both conferences and collaborative workshops can be held online.

Virtual Town Halls

Virtual town halls are being used by more and more companies for internal communication. These offer the option of securely transmitting live (internal) video content to a large number of employees without sacrificing quality and interaction.

Hybrid events

Events are referred to as hybrid events when they are carried out both in-person and virtually. This option is used to avoid the problem of room capacity, or to make content accessible to people who cannot be on site themselves.

Exhibition Streaming

Exhibition Streaming offers exhibitors the opportunity to virtualise a trade fair presence with tours, presentations, etc. Customers can thus immerse themselves in the exhibition experience and learn first-hand about the latest innovations from exhibitors without having to be physically present.

Benefits of virtual events

• Range: With a virtual event, anyone in the world who has a powerful Internet connection can become your target audience.
  
  
• Costs: Even though virtual events, just likei n-person events, can be carried out in a very complex manner, there are still typical event costs such as renting rooms, catering, security personnel. The costs for event technology are also much lower in most cases.
  
  
• Sustainability: A virtual event contributes to sustainability. On the one hand, by saving travel emissions for participants and, on the other hand, by being able to make event content available for longer.
  

• Analyses in real time: Although there are already many key figures available for in-person events today, a virtual event offers the opportunity to precisely measure the effective time of participation in the respective online session.

Disadvantages of virtual events

• Limited  networking: Although there are various technologies and approaches to how networking can be carried out virtually, the spontaneous and physical exchange between people cannot be replaced 1:1.
  

• Potential technological barriers: Even though there is a strong trend towards seamless technologies, there are always solutions that have technological barriers and, for example, are not available in certain browsers, require complex registration or software download, or do not perform well with high user numbers.
  
  
• Missing culinary highlights: In addition to the actual programme, most events also include a joint culinary experience on site. With the purely virtual implementation, this is no longer necessary.
  
  
• Conveying emotions: Experiences and emotions that we associate with events are created through shared experiences and interactions with one another. Getting to the heart of the unique moment at a virtual event is much more difficult, as the dramaturgy of a in-person event can be perfectly coordinated with a holistic experience of staging the content, lighting, sound, image and unique location.

It is important to note that

• Conception: Similar to a in-person event, a holistic concept of the event must be created, from invitation to participation and content availability after the event.
  
  
• Invitation: Think about whether the virtual event should be available to a public or closed group of participants. Depending on the type, you need protected access to the virtual event.
  
  
• Easy registration process: Make sure that signing up for the virtual event is GDPR-compliant, as easy as possible and that participation can take place as seamlessly as possible without time-consuming registration.
  
  
• Testings: Before holding a main rehearsal at an event, test the technical conditions in terms of availability and accessibility of the virtual event. Make sure that your speakers also have a powerful Internet connection and sufficient bandwidth.
  
  
• Safety: Review the security-relevant aspects of the solution's end-to-end encryption and requirements within your company.
  
  
• Different time zones of the target audience: Note that an international target audience may be in different time zones. Allow access to the content even outside of the actual implementation.
  
  
• Performance in relation to number of participants: Clarify the possible performance in terms of the number of participants. If there are several participants, holding a virtual event only requires specific internal or external network optimisations. Please also note that some solutions are limited to a specific number of participants.
  
  
• Content availability: Make sure that content is also available after the event. In this way, you can sustainably extend the value of your content.

Conclusion

In many cases, virtual events are a real alternative or addition to holding in-person events. Virtual events are an added value for organisers and participants, especially when content is to be made available to a wide range of people, regardless of time and place.