The initial phase of the global pandemic shocked nearly every industry, with in-person events effectively grinding to a halt. Industry conferences that millions of people had relied on for networking, training, and generating business were suddenly gone. Fortunately, companies, organizers, and supporting event platforms were agile, quick-footed, and resourceful in their efforts to shift events to a virtual environment. But it was an accelerated and forced trajectory without the benefit of extensive planning. In fact, Bizzabo’s research shows that 76% of marketers had never executed a remote event before the pandemic forced them to.
Not all forced changes end poorly, and we’ve all come to realize there are many advantages to virtual events, such as convenience and inclusion. With COVID-19 restrictions lifted and socializing becoming normal again, most event organizers flirted with or went back to in-person gatherings to varying extents. No matter the circumstances, hybrid events are becoming the new standard for how we attend events and with some innovation, it can be far more beneficial than exclusively interpersonal events. Below, I take a look at some of the key pain points and missed opportunities with hybrid events and how technology can help make up the difference.
Virtual Events’ Pain Points and Missed Opportunities
According to a study by membership management software company WildApricot, the number of organizations operating virtual events doubled during the pandemic. A surge of online events brought newfound convenience for attendees but presented engagement challenges for organizers.
Attendee participation has always been difficult to navigate, and without proper tools, distance only made it more challenging. Bizzabo’s findings show that organizers continue to see engagement as one of the most concerning topics, with 67.7% of the surveyed participants saying that it is much more difficult to keep an audience engaged in an online environment. Markletic reports that of the marketers they surveyed, 49% said that the biggest contributing factor for a successful event is the engagement of the audience.
Most event organizers aren’t capable of fully taking advantage of burgeoning video-based sessions either. Important attendee insights, such as which sessions were viewed most and the most frequently watched topics, are pulled from online surveys that produce mixed results and can introduce some biases. Video analytics is one of the easiest ways to glean accurate viewership insights for decision-making, increase engagement, and extend the value of recorded panels or keynote sessions, and yet it is one of the most underutilized assets. Artificial intelligence (AI) in events is helping change this by tapping into video’s full potential.
How AI Can Amend Engagement Issues
In-person events and conferences are inherently engaging. People go out of their way to attend these shows, some invest in a physical booth, and others present and view sessions where it’s the sole focus. In an online or hybrid environment, organizers must integrate technology that makes on-demand session content more dynamic and easier to navigate, as well as allow for attendees to react and engage with others. Simply sending a video recording of post-live session content is more like “checking a box” than a vehicle for repeat viewership. By indexing the content and making it easy to navigate topics and allow commentary on certain segments, you can create a much more streamlined and engaging experience. This is exactly the type of benefit AI can bring to events.
AI is capable of analyzing visual and audio cues, using natural language processing and emotion detection, to turn videos into a searchable format. While this is certainly an emerging area, it can ingest data surrounding body language, speaker tone, and talk time, and use visual aids to help understand important moments. Thanks to companies like AWS, vertical-specific ontologies (i.e., medical) exist where machine learning algorithms can understand complex jargon. Attendees can search for the most memorable parts of the session, and simultaneously help organizers glean insights into what their customers are interested in to inform future decisioning. Since every person has different interests, it’s important to help tailor and personalize this content.
Attendees crave the “togetherness” feeling that in-person events have, so mirroring that same element in post-show content will benefit organizers. That’s why reaction emojis and blooms have expanded beyond Facebook Live and SMS into live remote events and virtual meetings to reinforce both live and asynchronous togetherness. Pairing this capability with video indexing can foster a new level of engagement.
The capability to create searchable long-form video is here, and with the different ways that AI can categorize it and make it valuable, organizers must take advantage. Even though the shift to hybrid events is forced, technology is making it the ideal way to host conferences. Event organizers and businesses will be able to understand more about their clients and attendees by taking advantage of hybrid environments.