DAYTwo
Wednesday November 28th
EIBTM LAUNCHES FIRST HYBRID EVENT In the manifesto of their book Hybrid Reality, Ayesha and Parag Khanna state: “What human civilisation needs more than anything is not greater IQ or EQ, but TQ: technology quotient”. No one can deny how our increasing reliance on technology is drawing us from a point of co-existence with technology to a point of co-evolution with it. Technology is ubiquitous, and is no longer there simply to process our instructions. Instead it has developed a life of its own whereby we respond to it as much as it responds to us. In the meetings industry, this is reflected in the rise of hybrid events – a meeting that combines a ‘live’ in-person event with a ‘virtual’ online component. While hybrid events have not yet reached a “critical mass” according to MPI’s first hybrid events research, they would certainly seem to represent the future for our industry. Hybrid events today provide a platform that allows remote participants to be involved in events that they would otherwise not be able to attend: virtually visiting different areas of the event, watching the education sessions and participating in them and communicating with other delegates (both live and virtual). But while we’ve all heard about hybrid events, what are some of the real success stories in the genre? TedActive is the first to spring to mind. The simulcast event that is tied to the main TED Conference, and it weaves real talks (that are given by real people), social activities and collaborative activites into the experience. These activities help TEDActive participants establish communities and create a unique experience of their own – beyond simply watching the simulcast.
And it has some fancy features to add to the virtual experience: The main conference room has a wide range of different seating options. There are beds, bean bag chairs, lounge chairs and any number of screens on which to watch the TED Talks. The environment is designed to breakup the big room into smaller groups of four, eight, 20 or even 60 people. If you get a bed – your simulcast screens are on the ceiling. The event attracts more than 500 people.
Live sessions streamed across the globe
As one of the many firsts that you will be experiencing in EIBTM this year, the IBTM Hybrid Conference offers a day full of topical keynote and interactive sessions delivered direct to your computer.
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Reed Travel Exhibitions goes to India Reed Travel Exhibitions announced yesterday that it is launching IBTM India, which will take place at the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai from September 12th-14th, 2013. IBTM India will provide an integrated platform for the Meetings and Business Travel sectors to come together and do business, share knowledge and network in the business and financial hub of Mumbai. Scheduled to take place over two and half days, this event will provide a tabletop format for exhibitors to meet with Hosted Buyers. IBTM India will join six other events in the RTE portfolio on five continents including AIME in Melbourne Aus-
tralia (owned by Melbourne convention Visitors Bureau), EIBTM in Barcelona Spain, GIBTM in Abu Dhabi, AIBTM in Chicago, USA, CIBTM in Beijing China and Business Travel Market, London, UK. The first IBTM India will have 100 Meetings and Business Travel suppliers from international and Indian hotels and venues, national/state tourism boards,
travel and destination management companies and airlines, along with other suppliers including technology and event management companies. A proportionate number of top-level decision makers will be hosted as buyers from key markets around the globe, all of whom will be pre-qualified to ensure they are planning to place business in India.
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