Why do we call events virtual when they are very real?
Elaine Dellar
Founder and CEO of Dellar Davies Ltd; event management and production specialist
Dellar Davies has just completed a three-day event that started with rehearsals in a London-based Studio last Friday morning and concluded with a live closing Q&A session yesterday evening. Nothing about the past week has been virtual – believe me, it was all very real!
I’ve been very fortunate to run an online event filmed within an extended reality (XR) broadcast studio, where the physical environment was indeed virtual. It was an amazing experience and one I can’t wait to repeat. But…the event itself was real – the learning, the interaction, the wealth of insights for attendees were all actual – as was this week’s #CruiseForward event for @CLIAglobal.
I appreciate that the event industry has coined the term ‘virtual event’ because it has become commonplace to refer to online events in this way. Indeed, the platform we use to deliver these events is a virtual venue – a virtual event portal – which brings all the content and attendees together in one place. But I fear we’re in danger of downplaying the value of online events when they are not lesser versions of in-person events or low-value substitutes that aren’t worthy of paying to attend – they can still be a live, immersive, entertaining, valuable and interactive experience.
Sponsors and attendees will find that a well-designed and professionally delivered online event is every bit as meaningful and worthy of a financial contribution as an ‘in real life’ event. They certainly involve just as much thought, hours of preparation and dedication from the content producers, technicians, event organisers, moderators and speakers, so I’m adopting the terms in-person, on-air and blended from now on!
Thank you CLIA Global for appointing us to work with you once again – we appreciate your support right now more than we can express in words!
Founder and CEO of Dellar Davies Ltd; event management and production specialist
4yThank you Andrew Walker, CMP, CED. We love working with you and I agree, the ability to extend your audience reach and bring together a line-up of speakers that would be virtually impossible for a live event, means this type of event has a role to play way beyond the current crisis. An exciting blend of both lies ahead! Thank you again for trusting us to support you with your event.
Personal Travel Consultant
4yYou are so right, Elaine...while the venue may be virtual, the event is very much live! And way more complex to organise, bringing together speakers from all over the world, either from their offices or homes, with variable internet connections and technology available to them...not to mention a wide range of expectations about what is involved to make it happen, since we’re all so used to be on Zoom these days...but this is on a whole other level! Of course, being online means the reach is incredible, allowing for participants to join from in our case over 50 countries! Many would never have the opportunity to be there in person. Thank you to you and your fabulous team for the incredible support you provided us yet again! It’s a pleasure to work with all of you.
Founder and CEO of Dellar Davies Ltd; event management and production specialist
4yYou too Natalie. Well done!
Director, Events at CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association)
4yIt was so good to work with you and the team once again!
Event Designer & Producer of live, hybrid and digital events - Creative Director at The Content Studio
4yIt was such a pleasure to be able to work with your team again Elaine Dellar! And agreed - it was all very real! Can't wait to collaborate again soon.