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NEWSLETTER 114
 
VIRTUAL EVENTS GROUP
 
The US had 7,426 trade show and conference planning companies in 2022. (Ibis World
 
 
 
 
 
 
January 26 | 3PM | Zoom
 
Where the Jobs Are:
Adapting to the New Normal
 
OK, procrastinators. It’s not too late to register for tomorrow’s Virtual Events Group meeting. As a matter of fact, your timing couldn’t be better. With layoffs and rightsizing becoming the talk of the media, we’ll talk with three fabulous experts about the skills they see as most necessary for events to thrive.
 
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Do We Need a New Lexicon
 

Sometimes a name gets in the way of progress. Names can create a viscerally negative reaction. Last week, CoinDesk’s Michael Casey wrote a compelling essay on why Crypto might need a rebrand. The word carries a lot of baggage so maybe calling it just something else can help sway sentiment. (Though, as my editors pointed out, what are we going to rebrand next? Ponzi schemes?)


Can you eliminate associations with fraud, bros, and mismanagement with a name change? It’s worth a conversation. Recognizing the potential power of a new form of decentralized money without intermediaries is important enough to try talking about it using a different vocabulary. 


This got me thinking that we might want to consider rebrands of other names that have simply become “old and in the way,” causing more confusion than elucidation.

 
 
 

My top four rebrands


Hybrid Event — A hybrid is a nice word to blend two things (like in-person and virtual).  But, no one knows exactly how to do it, and everyone walks away unsatisfied, from planners to attendees to bean-counters. Maybe we should be calling them come as you like events, elongated events, or even special event clubs. The idea is that the content, contact, and networking are available when you want them.


NFTs — The name conjures Bored Apes, bored rich people, and ugly artwork. NFTs will probably have their biggest impact as loyalty rewards, VIP-benefit unlockers, and plain ole tickets for entry. Call them digital collectibles or special offers and they might be rejuvenated.


Metaverse — Ask 10 people to define it and you’ll get twenty different definitions. For consumers, it’s simply an immersive web. For enterprises, it’s a digital twin. Time to distinguish between Web3 and the metaverse, and to make the metaverse less sci-fi and more real.


Global Warming — We already pivoted from this term to the more exacting term climate change. Can we do better? Is it global weirding?

 
 
What words do you think could use a lexicographic makeover?
 
 
AI: The Great Destabilizer for the College Educated
 

We’ve always had technologies that put people’s jobs on the line. Remember switchboard operators: rows of humans (mostly women) plugging cables into connectors to complete calls? That’s just one example. “In the next five years,” writes Annie Lowrey in this month’s Atlantic, "it is likely that AI will begin to reduce employment for college-educated workers. It may be the first time that such a large swatch of the population will find their jobs augmented or replaced by technology."


Today, AI is  a very good solution as this Washingoton Post article make evident.  But, this technology is different because it learns. It’s expected that AII will be able to perform tasks that were previously thought to require a high level of education and skill. This could lead to a displacement of workers in certain industries, as companies look to cut costs by automating processes. Read this sobering Oxford study that estimates that 47 percent of U.S. jobs might be at risk.

 
 
 
Zoom’s Incomprehensible Pricing Plans
 

Events require a certain fluidity. You’re never entirely sure how many people will show up. You’re always improvising the format; is it a webinar featuring speakers before an unseen but theortecially engaged audience, or is it a meeting where you want hundreds to interact? Or maybe it’s a full-blown event with ticketing and analytics.

 

Rather than work with you towards flexibility, it feels as though Zoom’s pricing plans are trying to put you in a box, asking you to predict the future. (Well, at least sign a year-long contract.) 

Reading about Zoom’s product offerings and pricing can feel like trying to read a magic eight ball. For meetings, for example, you can choose between Basic (the free account), Pro (the one that gives you up to 100 users in a room), Business (up to 300 people in a room), Business Plus (more storage) and Enterprise (a whopping 1,000 people in your meeting). But Zoom’s Webinar product has a different pricing model and its Zoom Events product has a pricing model that is different from all the others. Last week, they introduced a new variety called Zoom Sessions. Despite its name, Sessions is limited to single-session events but provides the opportunity to have some branding and analytics. The very name Zoom Sessions adds another layer of confusion to Zoom pricing because, let’s face it, everything on Zoom is a session of some sort or another. It’s time to invite the Zoom team to our sessions to explain how mere mortals make sense of the pricing plans. It’s also time for Zoom to start thinking about an à la carte plan where you pay for the platform but can adapt its features to your purposes.

 
 
 
Zoom’s pricing locks you in to thinking very specifically about a year’s worth of events.
Image Credit: Zoom
 
 
One of our member companies, Engagez, is taking a different tack. It’s based on the understanding that we all need different kinds of meeting setups for different moments in our event lives. EZ Live, the company’s latest offering, is a meeting solution that can also act as a webinar, deal with multiple live streams, and bring audience engagement. It’s your choice, and the pricing is similar to Zoom’s. Here’s an interview with Robert Petrossian, the Founder and CEO of Engagez, who explains the need for a comprehensive platform that’s as flexible as you need to be.
 
 
Nikon Goes Creator with the Z 30 Camera
 

Your mobile phone will only take you so far. Nikon’s got a new mirrorless camera that focuses on the features that creators really need. Definitely check out the Z 30.  

  • For YouTubers and Twitch streamers: Crisp 4K video, crystal-clear audio, and a powerful battery. With the Z 30, creators can record all day long in 1080p with a USB Type-C cable and a power source.

  • For Snap Stars and Instagram icons: The Nikon Z 30 includes eye and face tracking, selfie controls, and remote recording options. Plus, Nikon’s electronic image stabilization technology reduces shakiness—so you can record on the go.

  • For TikTokers: The LCD screen tilts all the way out and flips around so you can make sure you’re the star of your shot. And if you need to post ASAP? The free Nikon SnapBridge app allows creators to wirelessly share between the Z 30 and their smartphone or tablet.

 
 
 
Scuttlebutt
 
 
 

Acquisitions
Last week we talked about PCMA acquisitions. This week, trade show organizer Emerald Events, producers of the Outdoor Retail Show, reported that they acquired Lodestone Events. Lodestone is a female-owned event production company focusing on a series of vehicle-based adventure-travel consumer shows. Emerald also recently announced Emerald Xcelerator, its new accelerator division.

 
 

Adieu, Altspace VR
Operated by Microsoft, AltSpace VR provided many of us with our first forays into the world of VR get-togethers. MS is shuttering the service, devoting it’s attention to using the next gen Microsft Mesh instead.

 
 
Image Credit: AltSpace VR
 
 

Celebrate the Call
See the phone in this image? It weighed 2.5 pounds, cost $3,900, and did nothing but phone calls. But it cut the cord and was the first mobile phone, the Motorola DynaTac. Martin Cooper, friend of Virtual Events Group, made that first call in 1973 from a street corner on 5th Ave in NYC. (He called his rival at Bell Labs by the way.) Here’s an invitation to relive and appreciate the magnitude of that call, 50 years later. Hope you can join us there. Watch the celebratory video. 

 
 
Image Credit: Celebrate The Call
 
 

AIs of the Week

 
 
 
Thank Yous
 
Thanks to Dealerscope for inducting Robin Raskin into the Hall of Fame.

Thanks to Next Media Partners for creating this fun intro video to the metaverse used at a recent keynote speech to the agritech community.
 
 
 
VIRTUAL EVENTS GROUP
 
Community Bulletin Board
     
Check out our community bulletin board as we’ll bring you special community news from our expert staff and friends.
 
 
 
 
UPCOMING
 
VEG Events
 
 
A Virtual Love Fest
February 16 | 12PM EST
 
It’s never too early to start thinking about February. If you love events, you’ll love our romantic interlude with Room3D.
 
 
 
 
 
 
The End of Events, The Dawn of Engagements
Mar 15, 2023 | 11:30am – 12:30pm CT
 
To succeed in the new world of data, experiential gatherings, and the element of delight, traditional events are due for re-invention. We have come not to praise Caesar, but dust him off a bit.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Robin Raskin | Founder
917.215.3160 | robin@virtualeventsgroup.org

Gigi Raskin | Sales/Marketing

917.608.7542 | gigi@virtualeventsgroup.org