Guilty. I named The Virtual Events Group in the heat of the pandemic moment when all anyone wanted was advice on how to move forward through an indefinite period of cancelled live meetings. At VEG we met that need by creating a huge database of tools, platforms and services, the newsletter you're reading, a monthly meetup and a thriving community. 

In truth, this is a company that’s devoted to making better meetings and events wherever they happen. In a convention center, a virtual platform, a metaverse, or Mars. Should we rebrand?. Methinks not. But just in case, let me know if you have a better idea. (Please don’t include the word hybrid in it). 

The Singapore Tourism Board is projecting an uptick for the business to business events sector but it’s not rocket science to understand that from rock-bottom going up is the only way to go. It will take innovation, ingenuity and rejiggering to make the predictions stick. You can read the full report but here are a few infographic tidbits. 

In pre-pandemic years, they say, the global business events sector was thriving. In 2017 it supported 26 million jobs and contributed US$1.5 trillion to global GDP, which would rank it as the 13th largest economy globally, surpassing Australia, Mexico and Saudi Arabia¹.

Our discussion groups on our various social media channels about whether B2B events will, or should ever, return, are hot. On one side we’ve got some really solid revenue-oriented data from Robert Weissman who believes no one will ever turn a profit in a virtual meeting. His opponents make eloquent arguments for the rich world that virtual events are creating.

Robert Weissman writes “It’s really not too surprising. Since the beginning of “virtual” attempts have been made to equate consumer behavior at entertainment/sports with professional behavior at b2b events. The subsequent results have always indicated a very false equivalency; regardless of using it either as a theoretical predictor of virtual, or in this case, live behavior....which obviously affects the decisions of both types of organizers. Two main reasons:

“1.Consumers use their own discretionary income to attend sports/ent. They are true fan(atic)s. This is typically done on their own time (as well as dime)...usually nights and/or weekends. With the possible exceptions of parents or spouse, permission from a third party is not required.

“2. B2b professionals are generally subsidized by their company and/or Uncle Sam. Participation generally entails multiple week-days away from work. They ask permission from their employers for time and their own money to attend.“

Sharon Weisman points to a recent article from Modern Retail that provides ammo for the rise of virtual shows. The article quotes Paul Lee, CEO of NHN Global, the parent company for the online wholesale marketplace FashionGo, who says that livestreaming has been one helpful tactic to get people buying. “Especially under a traditional trade show model, vendors pay significant sums to exhibit their products. The average cost of a 10 x 10 booth space sits at around $14,000 across all trade shows, making it a significant moneymaker for trade show operators and a non-negligible investment for brands. Because online exposure looks different, to pivot to digital, traditional trade show operators would have to rethink — and likely lower — those prices, meaning that many show operators are likely to resist a digital option.”

(Is this the battle of the Weissman/Weisman?)

BizBash buys Hubb in the latest example of growth by acquisition. Hubb, an events management technology, will provide BizBash with a treasure trove of registration data. 

On24 Releases Grim Earnings Not pretty. One of the few publicly traded events platforms, shares of On24 fell dramatically after the company issued disappointing financial guidance, warning the Street that increased customer churn is going to hurt results in the near term.

Meet Michael Kolowich, someone I’ve known since I was a young pup editor at PC Magazine. Michael’s heart was always in video production and his latest company OpenExchange is making waves by providing a secure, end-to- end events solution.

Are you an AR person or a VR person? Could this be the beginning of a rift in how we want to experience alternate realities? I took a look at Niantic vs. the Metaverse in my recent column over at Techonomy.

The “I can’t believe they think this will work” department. Zoom announced a new program geared for classrooms called Focus mode. The teacher can see all of the students, but the students can only see only the teacher. It’s supposed to help the kids concentrate, but I’m not so sure that staring at a teacher who’s trying to address multiple kids is a great idea.

Baby Steps for Zoom Health. With egg on its face, Zoom recently settled a lawsuit for $85 million. The class action suit alleged that the company shared users’ data and misrepresented encryption claims. If you’re interested in the case, Ars Technica has a good summary. But redemption is possible; at the recent HIMMS Health conference Zoom announced a new mobile client beta release that allows patients to be able to join telehealth appointments directly from their mobile browser (iOS for now) in a new HIPAA-compliant setting. Patients won’t need to download Zoom or a telehealth app. They’ll simply get a link from their provider. 

Read Mike Elgan’s piece in ComputerWorld. He believes the days of wasteful spending on business travel are (sadly) over. And it’s not because of the pandemic. Meanwhile, pity the poor event planners who will need personal injury attorneys for their whiplash. For them, planning a physical event is like putting a coin in the slot machine, while planning a virtual event is like getting a degree in computer science, and planning for both of them at the same time is traumatizing. Encore’s study of 1500 corporate and association planners shows how much opinion varies.