05 Jul Top Industries Benefiting Most from Virtual Events

Virtual events are here to stay. At SevenEvents we have seen the return of live events but there is still a great demand for virtual event services. Fundamental to the offering we now give clients is that of a virtual events agency with our own virtual event platform.

It’s easy to understand why virtual events are here to stay, be it seminars, conferences, music festivals or team building have become commonplace in everyone’s work life. The benefits include brand engagement, better reach, and great ROI. The popularity of these events has never been as high and there’s no sign of it slowing down. In fact, studies suggest as much as 45% of future B2B events could be completely virtual.

‍There are certain industries that have really begun to benefit from virtual events so we are going to take a closer look at these to understand the benefits they have received.

Education

Out of absolute necessity, education was one of the earliest and greatest adaptors of virtual event services. When the high of Covid 19 made it impossible for students across the globe to go to their place of study, educational institutions had to pivot extremely quickly into virtual events and virtual event platforms. 

This adaptation, of course, was initially seen as a negative, due to the lack of face-to-face interaction and engagement you would have in a typical classroom setting however over time we believe that the perception of how virtual event platforms can be an invaluable tool change. The medium of virtual events gave teachers the ability to create extremely collaborative and supportive environments for all of their students. Certain software has an array of engagement tools that can elevate the learning experience on occasion far beyond that of the classroom. For example, facilitating smaller group break-out discussions could not be easier in the virtual norm by allocating time within sessions for students to be placed in the breakout rooms. The medium of virtual ‍events also gives a great deal of accessibility for educators, enhancing the learning experience by easily connecting and inviting guest lecturers from all over the globe to present.

The rise of ‍virtual events also gave education institutions the ability to host a calendar of virtual events to give more accessibility to occasions such as job fairs, review days, and open days.

Hospitality

Another industry that has benefitted from virtual events is hospitality. Under the same circumstances as the education sector, the hospitality industry was forced to adapt to the virtual approach to surviving without compromising guests’ safety throughout the pandemic.

With the variety of virtual events available to host online – hotels and restaurants began to host intuitive and engaging events online to keep customers familiar with the brand and of course generate revenue when their brick and mortar establishments were closed.

Restaurants and hotels began using ingenious ways to elevate virtual event platforms and benefit from the connection this made to customers. Events such as cooking classes in which guests were sent a hamper of food to cook along with restaurant chefs or cocktail masterclass followed by a hotel mixologist.‍

We also saw the rise within our virtual event agency of the lifestyle type hospitality events which saw clients focus more on hosting events which an element of lifestyle within it such as yoga, mindfulness, or fitness. In a time when a lot of delegates did not have the ability to go to the gym, this area of hospitality event really shone.

Summary

We have highlighted just two industries, hospitality, and education which have benefitted from virtual events, but of course, these are not the only two which have benefitted, across the spectrum from tech to recruit, this new approach to how we conduct events has been utilized differently. The way in which businesses use virtual events of course varies depending on goal and industry but the return on investment and connections made remain.

With the world beginning to open back up and the rise of live events again, there is no need to disregard virtual events or a virtual event agency. The benefits of virtual events are there to see and we believe here to stay.