ON POINT ARTICLES
3 TRENDS BOUND TO STAY BEYOND THE PANDEMIC Opinion: José María Ávila, VP BD for Iberia & Latin America, KENES Group
Although the spectrum is very wide with market differences
delegates across all of our conferences. This new audience
between countries, most events are still being organised
provides added value to the interactions taking place at
virtually, especially the scientific and medical ones. There are
the meetings. This brings me to the next trend:
places where commercial or corporate events are being held in-person, but these remain the exception. Association clients
Delegates want to network
cannot afford an eventual worsening of the situation that
Participants are of course interested in content, but they
would force them to cancel or reschedule. Virtual events offer
want more than attending a session out of their congress
that safety net they need at the moment.
experience. They want to have the opportunity to interact with each other. We need to develop and deploy platforms
From our observations and conversations with clients, I fear
and tools that allow networking among participants.
that the return to face-to-face events will not take place before 2023. Of course, we expect 2022 to be a year of transition,
Hybrid events
during which it is very likely that certain events in specific
The two trends above will ensure the success of hybrid events.
locations and countries could and will be held. I anticipate
Events will not only be conducted face-to-face, but they will
that the first quarter of 2022 is going to be a very
have an online component with different venues, speakers
complicated period.
connected through technology and virtual platforms. If we are able to provide the right tools and find a way to maximise
We are also seeing some interesting trends, that we will
interaction and networking, we will be able to capture the
need to capitalise on. I will share 3 with you:
international audience that has joined our virtual events on the longer term, and enhance the reach of our content.
Higher number of international attendees With no travel and accommodation expenses to worry about, attendees are more likely to join an event. We are experimenting an important increase of international
28
| September 2021
This will be the future, and we are getting ready for it.
