virtual events « Beyond Credits

7Dec/094

The Future of Conferences (and CLE) Probably Isn’t in “Virtual Events”

I have a confession to make. I don't like "virtual events."

I don't know quite why I call it a confession. I just have a feeling I'm supposed to like them. People I meet who know that I have blogged about conferences, and often about how technology is reshaping them, are always surprised--perhaps even suspicious--to learn that I don't care for their "virtual" counterpart.

First, let me say what I don't mean by "virtual event." I don't mean the grassroots virtual event that sprouts thanks to engaged attendees. That type of virtual event is something to aspire to.

Nor do I include online education, like webcasting, etc., and its integration with various online social tools to improve engagement. That's all great, too.

When I say "virtual event," I'm talking about this:

virtual

You might recognize this as one of the booths at the Virtual LegalTech Show on November 19.

I'm not picking on LegalTech. In fact, I think LegalTech has been an industry leader when integrating the use of online tools with its legal events. Its New York conference last year was one of the first legal conferences to really take off on Twitter and it seems to always be working on new ways to engage its tech-savvy attorney market.

What I'm picking on is the "virtual" platform and its effort to simply recreate the live event in an online format. LegalTech didn't come up with this, of course. It's simply another online tool they're trying out. A variety of companies offer the virtual platform, and I've had my eye on some of them for the last year or so, but so far I'm not buying it.

See those people milling about in the picture? I think they're supposed to make me feel connected. Instead, they make me feel like I'm playing the Sims, only the Sims is more interactive. How about the chat box you can see on the right? When I "went to the booth," I received some type of welcome message in a long list of other welcome messages (with occasional responses) that went something like: 'Hi, Alli. Thanks for stopping by. Let me know if you have any questions." This exchange might take place in real life, but here it feels like I'm back in an AOL chatroom, circa 1995. And why do I need to hear loud background noise--mimicking the sound you might hear when you walk into a bustling auditorium--to let me know when I'm in the exhibit hall? It doesn't make me forget that I'm actually just staring at my computer.

Maybe I simply lack imagination, but I think we can educate, engage and [in the case of sponsors] market online without needing to simulate the real-life experience with features that only remind us of the limitations of online events. In many ways, the online experience isn't inferior and when we let its form develop and stand on its own, we might even see that some things are better online.

What do you think?

Tagged as: virtual events 4 Comments

16Feb/094

Are Attendees and Individuals Redefining the "Virtual Event" As We Know It?

I've been preparing to moderate a panel on virtual technology for the Green Meeting Industry Council's annual conference at the end of this month, so I've been thinking a lot about virtual events. Watching a couple of conferences online over the last couple of weeks (MeetDifferent and Legal Tech NY) got me thinking about a very basic question: What is a virtual event?

At first glance, the answer is obvious. There are any number of virtual event providers we can look to. Companies like Unisfair and ON24 give us the platforms that house the events we've come to know as virtual events. They give us modern day chat rooms and online exhibit halls in an attempt to replicate the experience of a live conference or tradeshow.

But as more and more individuals begin building their own online communities through blogs, Twitter, and other tools, we're also seeing the creation of informal virtual events. Attendees are tweeting, blogging, and engaging each other and non-attendees in a new way. They're meeting fellow attendees before the conference, spreading the word and talking amongst themselves during the conference, and continuing to share information long after the conference ends. Things they only had time to Twitter during the conference become blog posts. Those blog posts are shared and commented on and act as catalysts for new posts.

This raises challenges for organizers (from what I've seen, people are far more willing to tweet or blog discontent than to voice it in the conference room), but it also opens up a lot of opportunities.

And don't think it's not coming your way. I work in an industry known for its late adopters, but we have an ever-growing group of exceptionally savvy lawyers leading the charge. The recent Legal Tech conference I mentioned above was all over Twitter and has inspired countless blog posts and videos. It's not the norm yet, but I did meet up with a fellow Twitterer at a recent in-house family law conference we did (he sent out a tweet that he was at the conference so I tweeted back that he should stop by my office if he had a moment). It's coming.

What do you think? Are these informal, events-focused online communities that are cropping up around live events becoming "virtual events" in their own right?