Virtual Events- Coming to a Location Near You
It seems like all of the hype around live conferences has sizzled out…while some still attend these long drawn out networking events, money and time savings is on the forefront of leading to mass adoption of virtual events. The worldwide virtual conference market is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 56% between the period of 2010 and 2015. This prediction has been made by Market Research Media Ltd, a leading market and technology research company, in its recent research report “Virtual Conference & Trade Show Market Forecast 2010-2015“. In the estimates made by the report the worldwide virtual conference and trade show market is predicted to reach $18.6 Billion over the period of 2010 to 2015 (and yes, I did say billion with a B).
Image Courtesy of Market Research Media
One of the big advantages of virtual events is that they are able to provide a host of reporting mechanisms on the fly, unlike traditional live conference events. Thus ultimately being better able to qualify and track leads. Interaction between the participants is much more straight-forward and saves wasted time that is spent with unqualified leads. Although the more personal interaction is taken out of the virtual conference scenario; great relationships are still able to be built. Not to mention the big factor of cost, which is much less than traditional face-to-face conferences. The fact of the matter is that event marketing has changed… now there is no need for the hefty price tags associated with fancy displays and travel costs in getting representatives to and from the trade show.
