Virtual events with client – not ego – first

Column  21.10.2020

With the coronavirus there has come a torrent of various virtual event providers. New ones keep springing up like mushrooms: there are 3D exhibition halls, livenars, webinars and many more. Everyone is boasting in meeting rooms and hallways about their investments in technology, and debating who’s got the biggest and greatest virtual event – or the biggest boast.

But where is the client? Buried under all the technobabble? What is the real value of virtual events for the client? Where do the euros for the client and their company come from? How does one build lasting virtual events instead of one-hit corona-wonders?

One has to go back to the basics and look in the mirror. You must define what areas and services are the core elements of your product, what the client needs to accomplish their goals. Write down a single sentence that expresses the benefit the client gains from participating in the event. The coronavirus won’t be around forever, and in the long run it alone will not carry virtual events with no real value to offer. That is why it is extremely important that after defining client value we teleport into a parallel dimension that offers all the same virtual events, but where the coronavirus never existed. That is when all the opportunities we can build around client value will be revealed.

Balance is the key

Once we possess these magical elements of value and the budget for a virtual event, we can start planning the technical implementation. There is no wrong technology, and nothing is too much or too little, as long as everything is built around client value. If a VR world is the solution, then go for it. Let’s break the coders free from the shackles of routine and let creativity flow freely. The most important thing is the balance of implementation: content and technology cannot replace one another.

Once technology and content, client value, finally balance out, we can start talking about packaging, i.e. what kind of wrapping paper and string will we use. Never make empty promises, including now, even though we stand at the threshold of a new and exciting era. Empty promises will remain unfulfilled. Every nook and cranny of the web is full of marketing mumbo-jumbo and worn-out clichés. So let’s stick to the point. Don’t make promises of cream cake if all you have is store-bought cookies. Honesty is exceptionally refreshing in marketing as well.

Creating all these new things will cost a fortune. There must be a price tag, but based on what? The price can only be based on the ability to provide the client with truly memorable moments, as well as profit –  not empty boasts.

Maiju Kari

Digital Marketing Specialist

Tampere Trade Fairs

The author is the team leader of virtual events at the Tampere Trade Fairs.

Virtual Subcontracting provides meetings – honestly

In the 30-year history of the Alihankinta Subcontracting Fair it has become apparent what really matters at the fair: meetings. For this reason we set out to prioritize meetings also while building the virtual event. Even though a 3D world and interesting speeches are important, networking with new people as well as seeing fami

liar faces are the core idea of the trade fair. See you online, the Alihankinta virtual event will be held 8.–10.12.2020.