COVID-19 threw a huge spanner in the works for the events industry.
Earlier this year, when the virus was taking hold in China, the international sector working with delegates overseas was rocked, leading to the current day when a multi-national ban on public events is in place and pretty much the entire industry as we know it, for now, has ground to a halt.
In the live events industry’s decline, virtual events have boomed. With an unknown end to a UK and European lockdown, the industry has had to diversify – finding ways to host events whilst keeping delegates safe and following government guidelines.
Enter platforms such as Zoom, LogMeIn and Intrado which allow the conferencing sector to hold conferences remotely with delegates worldwide. This has now expanded with other events such as Music Gigs and even Festivals connecting with their audiences virtually. In difficult times, event organisers still need to consider client and sponsor needs – they still need to deliver content to an already interested audience.
It isn’t just large-scale conferences and tech events that are using virtual events as a tool. Local events are doing the same. Take our clients at Clarke Nicklin with the Stockport Business Awards as an example. Having had to cancel the awards launch last week, they have turned to a video platform to launch the awards and application process, with a series of other video promotion to follow in the run up to the awards ceremony in October. You can see how they made things work here.