According to most professionals, virtual events won’t take substitute physical meetings, but they are becoming an important communication tool. Their flexibility, dynamism, low cost, and networking power are reasons why their use is growing.

1. The 100% virtual event

This is not just about moving an on-site meeting to the Internet; it is a whole new way of communication which uses the Web 2.0. This type of meeting suggests a full virtual immersion: the guest chooses a character, has the ability to move inside the virtual audiences, to attend conferences in real time, and interact with others guests (networking flourishes here).Or even take a little air in a virtual terrace or eat a virtual canapé.

IBM saves $320,000 with a virtual meeting in Second Life
IBM held two of its most important events in the Second Life virtual venue. First they organised a 200 members conference; and after seeing its success and budget benefits, they turned to Second Life again for their general meeting.

Irving Wladawsky-Berger, IBM president, confirmed that 75% of participants thought it was a success. And the company saved about $320,000... and avoided jet lag, as IBM says!

Connecting with Blackberry experts
Stream worked with VisualMente to transmit the Blackberry, Connect with the Experts, conference that took place on 24th and 25th of February, 2009. On the first day, there were 14 sessions in three different tracks; and on the second day, three presentations in German. Participants could choose a character (Sims-style), hang out in the VisualCity developed by Visual and view the conference slides with synchronised audio stream provided by Stream ES. More then 400 people participated. To see the sessions, visit www.blackberryvirtualevents.com.

2. One foot on site and the other on the Web 2.0

It is an extension of the live event to Internet, which goal is to reach the audience that can not attend physically. The online componente can take place in parallel (as a closed scheduled conferences) or as a post event (a collection of the sessions which can later be download from the Web).

Sapphire 2009 breaks online records of audience
For its 2009 edition Orlando, the educational and commercial event Sapphire SAP was completed with a virtual event aimed at businessmen. The online part of this event beat its own record of attendance with 18,000 people enrolled.

Its program includes more than 200 online sessions related to marketing, business planning and strategies. Internet users can download the full sesions videos and product demonstrations that were presented during the fair. Attendees could also contact experts, ask questions, or attend to product demos.

3. And in our industry...

Last week saw a series of virtual events in our industry: MPI organised a Webinar (online conference with PowerPoint slides and live commentaries) about the role of the company event planner, MeetingNews proposed another meeting about the events in the pharmaceutical sector. Here some more examples...

Virtual Edge Summit 2009 jumps into the Web 2.0
In real and virtual formats, this event will be held on 28 and May 29 in and from Santa Clara, California. Its purpose is to answer doubts about the advantages of virtual events as a new way of business communication. The physical appointment will be in Santa Clara Convention Center. The virtual meeting will be at: http:// virtualedgesummit.com. It will analyse digital trends, IT, and offer professional support to participants.

While our industry is taking its first steps into the virtual world, its benefits are obvious: networking, it´s easier to involve international audience, lowers costs, communication is faster, etc. But its disadvantages are still clear: humans, for now, still seems to communicate face to face and its actual effectiveness is still to be proven…But all these new experiences may educate people to this new tool.