I was also supposed to get married in June. So I was going through a personal thing in addition to worrying about my business. I was also in the middle of home renovations. I was stuck in renovation pauses, cancelling my wedding and trying to save my business. I was in shock. It took a bit for the idea to settle in that my entire industry had been decimated.
Going into a virtual landscape wasn’t that crazy for me, because I just thought of it like live TV. We had always been creating digital content in tandem with events, but instead of livestreaming from live events we just livestreamed a bit differently now. We found great partners, we brought in TV broadcast freelancers, my tech director was busier than ever, but I feel like we became experts in virtual events really quickly.
Hybrid events are here to stay. The past year has dramatically changed the events business ecosystem. “Live” experiences no longer equate to in-person experiences alone. The in-person event will need to emphasize networking and relationship building while the digital experience will need to have a separate user journey customized to keep the attendee engaged.