Sumanyu Soniwal. Founder and CEO, Wiztales the most promising and fastest growing company in Experiential Event-Tech Space in India.He aims at transforming the event industry with the most upbeat technical solutions. By launching Wiz365 The most powerful Virtual Events Platform, Sumanyu is leading the new normal for the event industry.
The events industry is ever-evolving and with the adoption of technology, it is seeing tremendous growth over time. Event organizers are exploring innovative methods to drive engagement and collaboration with participants to keep the show going. Badly hit by the pandemic in early 2020, event organizers took the challenge head-on and brought “virtual” events to the mainstream in early 2021.
Webinars, live masterclasses, product launches, and live streaming sessions are now a regular day-to-day affair. The event destination is virtual, but the work which goes into it remains the same. It involves studying the brand, identifying its target audience, devising the event concept, and coordinating the technical aspects before actually launching the event specifications. The process involves a team leader who plans and executes the event with the help of an extended team. To create a successful event, all three elements i.e. creative, technical, and logistical elements should be coordinated and streamlined beforehand.
In the post-pandemic world, we see that virtual and hybrid events have taken centre stage as it removes the geographical constraints, and allow guests/participants to attend the event from anywhere. This gives participants a sense of freedom since they can pick and choose the activities they want to indulge in or even speakers they want to listen to.
Whether it’s a simple webinar or a mega event, both need an equal amount of planning. Any event needs overall event design, brand building, marketing and communication strategy, scriptwriting, logistics, budgeting, negotiation, and client service. The goal of innovation in these events is generally to create a unique experience for the guests, which not only ensures that they have a great time but also makes them eagerly look forward to the next event on the calendar.
An event includes a lot of moving parts from backend operations, speaker lineup, creativity, ticket sales, and marketing-related activities to make an event successful. But the difference is that every event planner strives to go outside the box with novel ideas in order to provide participants with memorable experiences. This approach to giving something new plays a major role in the success of the event.
Here are a few technological innovations that are enhancing the event experience:
- Drones/ AR and VR – Drones are being used by most event organizers to capture the view of the entire event. They are used to monitor large-scale events, and can be equipped with cameras that can reliably detect any security violations or signals of disturbance in crowded locations. It’s all about incorporating technology into a continuous event, from augmented reality to virtual reality devices, live broadcasting to interactive activities and making the event more interesting.
- Venue Design – Venue design is essential and significant in events, however, unlike traditional physical events, virtual events are not constrained by geography. Event planners are using diverse 3D models to create unique experiences, such as launching a product on a cruise ship or playing music at a virtual carnival, among other things. Participants can share their unique experiences on social media with their friends and contacts, making an event viral and successful.
- In-person Experience – Hybrid events have recently received a lot of attention, and event planners and organizers must consider both the in-person and virtual event experiences. Ticketing and event check-ins, Q&A and polls, agenda and speaker sessions, and so on, all require ease of use and can be delivered through specialized apps and websites.
- Extended Reality – Many event organizers can take advantage of the newest technical breakthroughs in the augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) area to create unique experiences for brands and events on metaverse or virtual hubs. Today’s virtual reality and shopping experiences are device agnostic and do not necessitate large investments in hardware. A simple browser-based virtual reality or shopping experience can be created for participants to interact with other participants/speakers, walk around, shop in virtual worlds, and have a real-world experience.
The Way forward?
Event companies are now prioritizing modernization as it helps the industry to offer exciting new formats. The next-generation event is all about enhanced creativity with high-tech innovation. Event professionals are all set to redefine the world with virtual and hybrid events and participants are all set to experience it all!