35 BIG Benefits of Virtual Events | Why Host A Virtual Event
Virtual Events versus In-Person Events
Over the latest few decades we’ve moved from snail mail to email, from libraries to wikipedia, and from movie theaters to Netflix. History trends towards virtual experiences which bring people together despite any physical barrier. It’s accessible to businesses of all sizes. In fact, many of the best events are still happening online now. And virtual gatherings have become the new normal because they offer perks that are beyond the reach of in-person events.
When things went virtual thanks to technology such as live streaming video — many more individuals attended a virtual event from their own home without having any previous connection to it. Virtual events offer benefits for those who host them such as: saving money, being able to make last minute changes, and not having to worry about physical space limitations or rental costs. You get a lot of benefit from hosting your event virtually.
Events used to be simple, exchanges of pleasantries at cocktail parties. Now they are vibrant and playful conversations across the world with people who would’ve been inaccessible just a few years ago.
Before the pandemic ruptured our social fabric, most events involved face time — networking opportunities that were possible by meeting attendees or sponsors only in person.
Virtual events not only helped achieve the same goals as in-person events, but also they also presented an added benefit networking with a broader audience.
This was achieved by allowing people from all over the world access, leaving travel expenses behind.
Advantages of Virtual Events
As time goes on, virtual events are becoming more and more “the norm.”
Here’s why:
35 Benefits of A Virtual Meeting or Webinar
Virtual events are an easy, cost-effective way to meet and network with your industry peers. They're also a great way to provide attendees with content on demand and give them the opportunity to learn at their own pace. Virtual conferences allow event hosts more time to work on other aspects of the event that require face-to-face interaction like sponsor pitches, networking opportunities, and general planning.
But the best part?
There's no travel involved for you or your employees! You can just stay in your office or wherever you prefer working from.
Whether your event is big or small, an online virtual magic show is just one of many ways you can spice up your virtual event and energize your group.
Even pre-pandemic, people enjoyed listening to Pavarotti sing without needing to go to the auditorium where the tenor was singing. Tom Cruise made a movie and the movie was broadcast to theaters around the world. Movie-goers could watch the movie without the actor being there in person. Then Netflix came along and more people watched the movie without leaving their couch.
In 2019, 10 million people played the Madden NFL video game. Even if each player played the game only one time that year, that’s still 200% more games played in one year than the 15,790 NFL games that have ever been played in a hundred years.
Since more and more event planners and attendees are realizing the benefits of virtual events, the list of fun ideas for virtual events will continue to grow. Whether your virtual gathering is big or small, here are just 35 big virtues of virtual events.
1. TRAVEL TIME = 0
In 2020, I was invited to hundreds of gatherings as a zoom magician. In a single day I got the chance to celebrate a birthday party in Australia, a team meeting in Berlin, a law firm event in San Francisco, a company’s quarterly whatchamacallit, etc.
Not only did get-togethers shift from local to global, but events that were formerly feasible only Friday or Saturday evening became feasible virtually any time of day, any day of the week.
It’s impossible to overestimate the collective time savings everyone got when in 2020 virtual gatherings became the norm. Almost everybody across the world, all at once, stopped wasting hours commuting to work. For event planners, that means instead of wasting time trying to find a venue equidistant to most of the attendees, they can now use that time and energy towards making their online event more organized and valuable to the attendees.
Commuting to work is one of the least productive activities we can spend our time doing. Suddenly everyone gets a bonus — more hours in the day to do something more important than traveling.
2. NO COMMUTING ➡ PROBLEMS SOLVED
The time savings is a benefit in its own right. But there are many other related benefits to shifting to virtual. The following statistics don’t include car repairs and permanent injuries from car accidents. These are the most important costs of commuting:
Before 2020, road traffic injuries were the leading cause of death for people aged 5-29 years.
In 2010 alone, nearly 1,000 people were killed in plane crashes.
Before 2020, more than one million people died each year as a result of road traffic crashes.
In 2018, nearly 4,000 people were killed EVERY DAY in wrecks involving motorcycles, cars, buses, trucks, and bicycles.
3. ATTEND FROM ANYWHERE
Since it's online you get to attend the virtual gathering from anywhere, even the comfort and safety of your own office or home. You already have all you need — an internet connection and a computer!
4. REDUCE POLLUTION
Virtual meetings, online conferences, and even large family gatherings can be an effective way we can societally and individually mitigate our carbon output and reduce pollution.
The Covid-19 outbreak of 2020 impacted practically every element of energy production, distribution, and consumption around the world. The pandemic drove down fossil fuel consumption for much of the year while renewables, nuclear, and electric vehicles—the three key components of emission-free energy—were magically unaffected.
Global CO2 emissions from energy decreased by 6%, the highest yearly percentage drop since World War II.
The reduction in CO2 emissions of ~2 billion tons was unprecedented in human history and almost equates to removing all of Europe's emissions from the global total.
In 2020, demand for fossil fuels was affected the most — oil fell 9% and coal fell 4%. Oil had its biggest annual drop ever accounting for more than half of the reduction in world emissions.
The downturn in road transport activity accounted for 50% of the drop in world oil consumption, while the freefall in the airline sector accounted for roughly 35%.
5. SAVE TREES
Every year, 2 MILLION TREES are chopped down just to make business cards.
Every.
Year.
And what about name tags? How many times have you met someone at an event and forgotten his or her name? Maybe the tag flipped around or hair was covering it. At a virtual event, you don’t need to be a — virtual mentalist — to know everyone’s name 😉. Asking someone’s name (and then asking again) seldom happens because each attendee’s name is continuously on display.
No need cut down another tree to make those name tags (or whatever you’re cutting down to make name tags).
6. COST SAVINGS
Many of the costs accompanying an in person event are simply gone when it’s a virtual event.
There’s no longer any need to pay for:
Costly flights
Accommodation (hotel rooms, etc.)
Catering
Invites
Parking
Toll roads
Decorations
Photographer
Venue reservations
7. CONVENIENCE
Getting ready for an in-person event takes time. Each of us has our own checklist of things to do when prepping for an in-person event. For you, it may take 20 minutes or 2 hours.
When attending a virtual event, you simply click a link and instantly you’re there at the event—you don’t even need to leave your couch. No need to shine your shoes, lint roll your pants, take out the dog last minute.
8. PETS WELCOME
People love showing off their dogs. And dogs don’t mind the extra attention! You get to bring Fido to the Zoom event! (cats are okay too).
9. SAFETY
We’ve all been pickpocketed. Or we know someone who has. And if you’re a pickpocket, you know as well as I that pickpockets are just as vulnerable. That’s one thing you don’t need to worry about at a virtual event.
10. NETWORK AT YOUR LEISURE
You can collaborate with people from all over the world and connect with partners outside your immediate region without all the distractions of a crowded floor.
11. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Most of us think of audience participation as that at an in-person event.
Virtual events have proven to draw larger crowds than in-person events. Attendance at an online conference is on average 29% higher than at a live event. The main reasons for this? Networking is easier, there’s no need to travel, and people can participate from wherever they choose. It may not always be feasible for someone from Toronto Canada to attend an in-person event in London. Such geographical constraints are removed with a virtual event.
At an interactive in-person show, the process of audience selection can eat up several minutes (in showbusiness this is called “dead time”). The entertainer selects a volunteer. Invites that audience member to come to the stage. Depending on many factors (like the space between the volunteer’s seat and the stage), this journey can feel like minutes.
At a virtual show, each and every guest in your audience of 100 can directly participate in the entertainment. All of them, simultaneously. This rarely happens at an in-person event.
At a virtual event, the entertainer spots “Tom” who would be a great volunteer, the performer instantly knows Tom’s name (since Tom isn’t 50 feet away in a dark auditorium) and in two seconds—not two minutes—Tom is “spotlighted” for the entire audience to clearly see.
12. GLOBAL REACH
For many virtual events like job fairs, you get to streamline your hiring process. You get to source the best talent from around the world. You can get your brand in front of thousands across the globe, you get to reach much larger numbers with key information. You can interact via videoconference with a wide pool of talented candidates. Then just shortlist those most compatible with your organization.
Extending your reach from local to global doesn’t just draw top talent from around the world and connect you with the right candidates regardless of geographic constraints. Such a reach applies as well even when your hosting a close-knit gathering and just want to spice it up with some entertainment.
13. You can measure success
Micro-engagements (reactions), run opinion polls, true viewer engagement stats — get crucial feedback in real time allowing constant and never-ending improvement from event to event.
14. Opportunity to have increased participation from developing countries
15. Participation is higher.
Participation is higher because bashful people feel less intimidated (no need to stand on stage and see hundreds of faces looking at them).
16. More questions at networking
There are more questions at networking because for many, it’s more comfortable than face to face.
17. Have a recording of the event
You can replay key learnings easily and immediately after event. The recorded webcast can be reprocessed, reused, and repurposed throughout the year.
18. More flexible as you get to listen/attend at your convenience
19. Opportunity to curate/target a showcase of solutions to attendees
20. Non-discriminatory
21. Mothers
Those with crying babies and infants can attend. Having a baby used to be a reason not to attend an event. At a virtual event, it’s easy to attend a virtual event even if you have a baby. You can easily mute yourself or even shut off your camera whenever you want, and still be there at the virtual event!
22. Disabilities
Those with disabilities which preclude them from attending in-person events can attend. Virtual events give people with disabilities an opportunity they wouldn't otherwise be able to experience.
23. Short people
Tall people no longer have a leg up on those short of stature. Everyone is on equal footing in a virtual gathering.
24. Soft-spoken people
The soft-spoken have an easier time being heard (it’s as easy as moving the mic a bit closer to the voice).
25. More likely to gain a greater international audience
26. More likely to get junior/early career people who are cost prohibited
27. More likely to get diverse roles in organizations attending
28. Accessibility
You are more flexible with how attendees access event: e.g., mobile phone, desktop, from the boardroom. I’ve seen attendees who were attending a meeting while sitting outside a coffee shop, and even in the back seat of a car!
29. Easily monetize the event with tickets
30. Access to procure higher level guest speakers
You have access to previously less accessible speakers and presenters, due to less time commitment.
31. You can more easily archive all your events.
32. Syndication
You’re able to syndicate your live stream to an industry publication or organization and allow broader use
33. Sponsorship
Expand chances of sponsorship, offering smaller bundles where each session is sponsored
34. C-suite executives
You’re more likely to get senior executives attending, who are always crunched for time.
35. Feedback
After virtual session, you have the opportunity to run a quick survey immediately and get instant feedback.
Virtual events are an engaging way to connect with your audience. They allow you the chance to be more interactive and engage in conversation without constraints of time or location.
You have the choice of attending a live event or participating in all-inclusive virtual conference. Virtual conferences offer attendees an interactive, multimedia experience that is as close to being there without actually going anywhere.
This type of technology has changed the way people interact with each other and attend events through video conferencing platforms, chat rooms online for remote participants can enjoy them too!
There are many benefits associated with this new form of communication including saving time on traveling costs by not having to fly across country just to get your feet wet at another industry's event; overcoming any language barriers you may face while working internationally; making sure low attendance rate doesn't prevent potential prospects from meeting their future business partners because they're unable (or unwilling) travel.
You can give your group an experience they can't get any other way. Our team at Finch Entertainment has been working with clients all over the world for hundreds of virtual events, and we've seen first hand how online events have helped them grow their brands' customer base as well as improve employee engagement rates.
Contact Jon Finch today for a fun, interactive, and memorable virtual event!
