Pandemic numbers redux. FOMO has been replaced with FODO. Many live events are slated for Q4 but I’m already hearing “no thanks'' as I extend invitations to speakers and exhibitors. On one hand, a major events company tells me it’s seeing 80% of exhibitors coming back to in-person in the fall. On the other, the ANA released research in MediaPost on a survey of 1000 of their members saying that 70%+ will not be going to an in-person meeting in 2021. Cognitive dissonance at its finest.

Regardless, virtual event platforms must do better as we face another year of virtual business. According to a recent Forrester Consulting survey of key decision makers of marketing event strategies, 66 percent of firms are struggling to achieve the same success from virtual events that they would get from in person events, with 94 percent having experienced issues with their current virtual/hybrid events software.

Tumult, thinly disguised as strategy, ensues. Some virtual events platforms are adding features and functionality to become more hybrid-friendly. Others are slashing their prices playing a market share game.

Case in point? Streamyard, a live video streaming platform recently acquired by Hopin, just added pre-recorded video capability. (Pre-recorded is always a nice glitch-free option.) It’s offering the feature free with a free lifetime discount (explained here, since nothing is free). Its parent company Hopin is offering its platform at no charge for events with up to 100 attendees.

The word metaverse is this year’s replacement for the word blockchain. 

What do the Moon and Metaverse Have in Common? It’s all about the exploration mentality. Read my column in Techonomy to understand how these two pioneering destinations are open for business. 

Who’s drinking the metaverse kool aid? Facebook is so fixated that Zuckerberg has bet the future of his company on the fact that we’ll want to spend our time in these new immersive worlds. (Perhaps he needs to garner some good will in this world first.) 

Facebook has 700 new job listings for its metaverse teams. It created a cross-disciplinary talent lineup from across the Facebook empire with top names from Instagram, Oculus, its gaming group, and other related ventures. 

Zuckerberg calls the metaverse the successor to the mobile internet. Not to be sidelined, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella has been envisioning an enterprise metaverse. Even Shopify is talking metaverse, as it now allows its users to create NFTs and sell them on the site, and believes shoppers will buy in virtual reality. 

We’re likely to see a font of metaverse experiments this year. Everything from concerts, to business meetings to shopping, to political debates and yes, events, are all held in a digital twinned world that exists only in cyberspace.

Feeling the need to brush up on your metaverse? Keep up with Matthew Ball (recommended by Kevin Kelly and the authors of Recomendo) for some of the best explanations and insights for what this all means. 

And for Pollyannas who believe the metaverse will be marketing free, keep reading metaverse expert Cathy Hackl, who will be our guest at our November meeting. In this interview she teams up with Anheuser-Busch for a look at opportunities for branding and marketing in the metaverse. 

Julius Solaris, an events industry leader, made an abrupt exit from a key executive position at SwapCard this week. A few days later he posted this on LinkedIn: “The level of trauma endured by event professionals over the last two years is something that we will need to deal with as soon as possible. Businesses shut down, careers wiped out, forced pivots to virtual, relationships lost. These are just the tip of the iceberg. Before we talk about hybrids, we will need to talk about mental health.” 

The responses to his post have been many and mostly supportive. Mental health is very much in the news as the pandemic continues with no end in sight. Managers would do well to raise the issues and discuss the uncertainties. 

Nextech AR Solutions is betting their holographic future on NFT sales. Its spinoff HoloX will be creating holographic avatars for sale this fall. 

Still haven’t mastered your Zoom? The NYT’s Wirecutter dishes on how to Zoom like a pro.

Ray-Ban and Facebook finally get around to launching those AR glasses we’ve been hearing about. Nicknamed ‘Orion’ the glasses are supposed to be a full-fledged phone replacement as opposed to Snap’s Spectacles that are tethered to your phone. I see shades of Google Glass. 

Talk is cheap but practical advice is in short supply. Read the Associations Now article on best practices for maximizing revenues in virtual booths.