TRAVEL
Reimagining Virtual Meetings and Events
March 17, 2020
IMAGE: Global Destination Sustainability Index
“For tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” - Malcolm X
Imagine a future, in which disruptions are not simply seen as enemies to avoid, but also as containing opportunities yet to be discovered. At present, the outbreak of Covid-19 is a very disruptive force which is ripping apart the events industry. This dramatic disordering of ‘the normal’, brings with it a new environment for experimentation in which we should prepare ourselves for the future.
The meetings and events industry, leisure tourism, and just about every ‘gig worker’ has been particularly affected by travel bans, government intervention and quarantines. And, it will get worse. UFI, the Exhibition Association estimates that the economic impact to the events and exhibition industry is already 14.4 billion euros, and more than 23 billion euros of business contracts will not be signed as a result of events not taking place.
Conventions, exhibitions and big events are high risk breeding grounds for diseases. Shaking hands, reaching for conference swag, buffets and being crammed in an enclosed space with, at times, hundreds of thousands of people, is commonly known to cause ‘tradeshow flu’ or ‘conference cough’. As a result of this risk, most of the largest events in the industry, from the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to ITB Berlin, to IMEX, have been cancelled.
The calendar year ahead is expected to be jam-packed with more cancellations. We have to find solutions, as the vacuum left behind by cancelled events could seriously leave event organisers with crashing sales, a breakdown in innovation, and an internal panic about what to do. More worrying, this may be a tipping point in the way the industry operates from now on. Currently, there is a real gap in knowledge, expertise and proven tools that are tried and trusted alternatives for running large conventions, or even small meetings, in a non-physical space.
Never let a serious crisis go to waste
This crisis presents us with an opportunity to pool our collective knowledge and kick-start innovation to shift to virtual gatherings in the industry. While the immersive and meaningful experience of physical meetings should not be fully replaced, the disruptive impact of Covid-19 has shown that the events industry needs to expand its toolkit. Even for small, virtual team meetings, there is a huge potential to make them more engaging, fun and meaningful. In fact, as remote working continues to be on the rise, and many companies are currently asking employees to work from home, there is a need to make virtual meetings more enjoyable, effective and impactful. An associated benefit is that the environmental footprint of meetings and events can be drastically reduced, if not eliminated, by using virtual alternatives, while also developing the capacity of the industry to adapt to climate catastrophes in the future.
So, where do we start? What urgent key issues must we address first to make virtual events a viable, vital, enjoyable, impactful alternative? What solutions already exist and can be repurposed to make virtual team meetings kick-ass? While this article does not offer an exhaustive list, it creates a foundation upon which future conversations can build.
Graphic by Lucia Fabiani @ The Value Web
What to do in advance
Just like organising any event, virtual gathering requires planning. In fact, maybe even more than IRL (in real life), as it's a skill most of us are not trained in. Think about how you and others tend to use teleconferences: for multi-tasking, making lists, or playing games! So, a key challenge is how to help everyone focus on the tasks at hand. Key steps to take include:
IMAGE: Sarah Nolter
Bring in the body and heart
Virtual reality does not feel the same as in-person meetings, and they won’t replace the magic of face to face gatherings. Online it’s difficult to create an emotional connection among participants, especially if it is their first meeting. It is also tiring to sit and be in front of the screen for hours, making it more difficult to be engaged in a virtual setting. These challenges can be alleviated by bringing in the body and heart. Without wanting to sound overly esoteric, there are many practical benefits to integrating movement and an emotional connection into virtual meetings and events.
5 Simple rules for engaging virtual meetings
As the meeting organiser may want to make use of some of the following rules to create more engaging sessions. How you start, and how you structure the call, will have a significant impact on how attentive and productive participants will be. You are key to setting the right patterns from the beginning. How you land it is equally important, as people remember endings best.
IMAGE: John Schnobrich
Collaborative Tools
When it comes to applications and tools that you can use to map the flow of ideas during virtual meetings and events, there are a great number of existing options out there. A key issue to recognise is that using new tools will require training, which reduces their applicability. One alternative, is to reimagine the digital tools that are widely known already. Both will be outlined in brief.
Google Docs: Almost everyone has used google docs, which helps to avoid additional training. Any other cloud-based application for shared documents works too. For brainstorming sessions, it can be as easy as creating a grid with different questions that during break-outs are answered by participants. Aside from saving time, writing instead of speaking can also help those who are less comfortable sharing their ideas vocally, be that because they are introverts or non-native speakers.
Miro, Mural, Klaxoon: Each of these three tools offers a digital workspace for collaboration. They attempt to replace the whiteboard that would be used to visualise key take-aways during a meeting. Digital tools provide additional benefits as they integrate across platforms, so they may feed directly into your organisations preferred to-do app.
But what about tools for events? While this article began by outlining the opportunity for meetings and events, most of the tips outlined here have focused on meetings. The tools that do exist for events, such as vFairs or WorkCast’s virtual conference platform, are not offering the tools needed to replicate the feeling of a real-life tradeshow. However, there are start-ups with exciting ideas on the horizon, such as Hopin and RunTheWorld, which are building all-in-one live online event platforms, alongside digital booths and networking spaces.
Now, let’s bring these ideas and concepts into reality. What are the actions you will take on-board to transform the often-dreaded virtual meeting into an engaging and fun experience? And specifically, how do we bring in the human aspect when navigating the virtual world? Let us know what works for you, and contribute to this ongoing discussion.
Article written by Noah Joubert with contributions from Guy Bigwood (both at the GDS-Index), and Jodi Engelberg and Svenja Rüger from The Value Web. It was inspired by a virtual gathering of The Value Web. The GDS-Index and The Value Web collaborate to design and facilitate virtual and face to face sessions and events that accelerate the transition of the tourism and events sector towards a more regenerative, inclusive and sustainable future.
Terms and Conditions | About Sustain Europe | Privacy Policy | GDPR | Advertising | Contact Sustain Europe
© Sustain Europe 2021. All rights reserved. Powered by 100% Green Energy. Our pledge to the Environment.