Offering a virtual component can pave the way for more attendees

“Virtual events are not out to kill trade shows,” says Joerg Rathenberg, vice president of marketing at Unisfair. While his pitch may come off as a bit self-promotional (Unisfair is a company that creates virtual events), he’s actually right. In fact, there’s a lot of opportunity in doing both. Enter the hybrid event—a combination of physical and virtual in one unique affair. 

Rathenberg helped the American Payroll Association host a hybrid event this past May, and the outcome exceeded the APA’s goals. Attendance totaled about 1,900 people at the physical event in Washington, D.C. and 1,885 virtually, almost doubling their audience. Even afterward, an additional 1,500 people attended the virtual event online. And, surprisingly, the overlap in visitors between the two was only 7%. 

The way a virtual component works is that you buy a platform from a company like Unisfair, then create your own personal venue, with its own theme and interior design. The APA, for example, set up their platform to be just like a trade show. Suppliers could purchase booths for either the physical event or the virtual event—or both. However, the virtual platforms can go far beyond a traditional trade show set-up. For instance, other customers of Rathenberg’s have created their own personal Moscone Center, hosted a beach event and even incorporated a Star Wars theme.

Apart from the click-of-a-mouse decorations, one of the advantages of a virtual event is that people can still participate after the event is over. APA’s virtual attendees, for example, had the opportunity to earn four free Recertification Credit Hours towards their FPS and CPP certifications. Based on the reporting capabilities of the virtual platform, the APA was even able to distinguish who actually attended the workshop in its entirety online, and then gave the credits accordingly.

The advantage of reporting capabilities went way beyond determining who deserved credit hours, however. “You can see everything your attendees do, literally,” Rathenberg says. “You can see who went where, for how long and even what questions were asked.” These capabilities can  provide proof of lead generation, as well. And 10 days or 10 weeks after an event, the online segment can still generate new leads. (It also avoids having to take down the contact information for every person you meet,  because it’s right there on-screen.)

All of these advantages open up a world of opportunity for the events industry, which is why Rathenberg thinks adding a virtual component is the way of the future. It gets people engaged, he says, and is the perfect answer to attendees who say they can’t travel or don’t have time. “In the day of Twitter and Facebook and so on, people almost expect it,” he says.

While some meeting planners may be skeptical of the technology and leery of what the future holds, adding a virtual component doesn’t mean physical meetings will disappear. “It’s a collaborative work,” he says. “Huge mega-trade shows might be over, but smaller, closer meetings are the way of the future.” The bottom line is that people still like face-to-face interactions. And as attendees’ schedules continue to pile up, by offering them the option to attend your event virtually, it opens up the possibilities of continuing that “mega” feel without the stress of hosting 1,900 people. Now, who can say no to that?