Embracing The Virtual Conference

VIRTUAL SUMMITS and the Future of Business Gatherings in a Post-COVID Era THE $1.5 TRILLION GLOBAL BUSINESS EVENT INDUSTRY has seen events either closed, rescheduled, or gone virtual since COVID-19 Our communities are embracing virtual as most people stay home – How are conferences affected by this shift? BIG CONFERENCES, BIG PROBLEMS For years, TECH AND OTHER INDUSTRIES HAVE REVELED IN LARGE EVENTS but with increasing difficulties for attendees, HAS THAT ERA ENDED? HEALTH CONCERNS TWITTER HAS STOPPED ANY NON- ESSENTIAL TRAVEL INDEFINITELY In February 2020, F8 facebook. announced it was canceling its annual F8 tech conference due to coronavirus fears Even the World Health Organization - including nixing CEO Jack Dorsey's World Health Organization has canceled its annual conference appearance at SXSW in March, amidst coronavirus fears which itself was later canceled LACK OF FOCUSED TOPICS In 2017, "3,000 attendees would come J.Gold Associates for one thing and 1,000 would come for something else. If you're developing for PCs, do you care about Al or self- driving cars? It's gotten so broad" Intel canceled its annual (intel) Developer Forum conference which had attracted thousands of attendees for nearly 20 years Jack Gold Principal analyst at J Gold Associates With stress levels high, attendees are vulnerable to the spread of illness and burnout Jet lag, alcohol, overscheduling, and tight travel deadlines all contribute to feeling overwhelmed during a conference DATA SECURITY "Coronavirus is a prime opportunity for enterprising criminals because it plays on one of the basic human conditions - fear" h2n 1279 With everyone looking for health and safety instructions for public events, conference-goers may be susceptible to phishing attack emails HOMELAND GECURITY US Department of Homeland Security RISING EXPENSES In 2020, Attendees must also budget for ticket prices for the most popular tech conferences will cost Travel, accommodation, and work missed UP TO $4,000 Many conferences deliberately sell as many tickets as they can to increase their revenues, which can lower the relevance to attendees The cancellation costs of more than 10 major tech conferences resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak has surpassed $1.1 BILLION COUNTING THE COST OF CANCELED CONFERENCES Annually business conferences generate more than $1 TRILLION IN DIRECT SPENDING - Including airfare, hotel stays, dining, and transportation MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS Barcelona, Spain SXSW Austin, Texas ЕЗ Los Angeles, California GOOGLE I/0 Mountain View, California 109,700 $480 MILLION $350 MILLION 280,000 66,100 $75 7,000 $20 MILLION in direct losses Attendees in 2019 Attendees Attendees in 2019 MILLION in direct losses in-person attendees in 2019 in 2019 in direct losses in direct losses Streamed to 530 events worldwide For individual vendors and attendees, missing a single conference can mean huge losses in income and future opportunities ILOSTMYGIG.COM These numbers don't include losses related to - a website that tracks local businesses losses as a result of cancelling SXSW – Attendees' spending at local shops and attractions Business generated from networking at events Profits for $4,285,037 the companies IN LOST INCOME has verified hosting each event Includes caterers, photographers, musicians, film crews, and more As communities go online in the wake of coronavirus, CONFERENCES ARE FOLLOWING THAT TREND – AND REAPING THE BENEFITS EMBRACING THE VIRTUAL CONFERENCE By 2021, it is projected that video, including web conferencing, WILL ACCOUNT FOR OVER 80% OF ALL INTERNET TRAFFIC The Benefit Of DIGITAL COMMUNICATION UNIQUE FEATURES: BENEFITS OF ONLINE CONFERENCES: 86% LIVE STREAMED V Eliminate travel costs Talks, Discussions, and Panels V Reduce environmental pollution of participants in online meetings report equal or higher levels of engagement compared to in-person V Reduce the price of admission Attendees fill out a profile describe their interests V More targeted event focus and an algorithm matches V Allow conference organizers to invest more into speakers them with others SPENDING IN TYPICAL CONFERENCES: After The Virus: 20% 20% 20% LESS % THAN WILL LOCAL CONFERENCES BE THE NEW NORMAL? Venue Food and Equipment Program design and speaker fees beverages People May Be Reluctant to Pay for Travel & Other Costs EVEN BEFORE MASSIVE UNEMPLOYMENT, 40% of Americans were unable to cover an UNEXPECTED CHARGE OF $400 Even Tech Giants Are Embracing The Future Of Virtual Google Cloud Next Google is in the process of transferring its Cloud Next conference into an entirety virtual experience called Google Cloud Next '20: Digital Connect WHEN WE GET BACK TO REGULAR LIFE, ELOCAL PEOPLE WILL EEVENTS EVEN NOW, 15% OF TRAVELERS PLAN TO AVOID PUBLIC TRANSPORT AND LARGE CITIES, EVEN AFTER RESTRICTIONS ARE LIFTED 15% In-person business events generated $845 BILLION IN SALES IN 2016 Sources: Businesses and communities are ilostmygig.com adapting to the new normal, and these changes could be permanent - EMBRACE IT. bmc.com/blogs/tech-it-conferences globenewswire.com/news-release/2019 insights.eventscouncil.org/Portals/0/2016.pdf nytimes.com/live/2020/coronavirus-covid-19-03-17 himssconference.org/updates/himss-update-coronavirus bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2017/04/17/intel-idf-2017-cancelled.html wired.com/story/amid-coronavirus-fears-startups-rethink-virtual-conference developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2020/02/27/important-f8-2020-update hbr.org/2020/03/how-to-get-people-to-actually-participate-in-virtual-meetings Presented by: vox.com/recode/2020/3/3/21162802/tech-conferences-cancellation-coronavirus Data Connectors Cybersecurity events | Since 1999 gamespot.com/articles/e3-2019-attendance-falls-compared-to-last-year/1100-6467795 startups.com/library/expert-advice/are-tech-conferences-worth-the-effort-and-the-money inc.com/arianna-odell/conference-burnout-can-happen-to-anyone-heres-how-to-avoid-it.html nbcnews.com/news/us-news/coronavirus-scammers-are-seeking-profit-deadly-virus-n1156126 mwcbarcelona.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/22220-MWC19-Post-Event-Report-v9-HR.pdf DEVELOPED By N NOWSOURCING zdnet.com/article/coronavirus-tech-conference-cancellations-e3-nab-gartner-dell-world-and-more federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2017-report-economic-well-being-us-households-201805.pdf secretservice.gov/data/press/releases/2020/20-MAR/Secret_Service_Coronavirus_Phishing Alert.pdf mpi.org/blog/article/report-global-economic-significance-of-business-events-has-reached-$1.5-trillion cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/executive-perspectives/annual-internet-report/white-paper-c11-741490.html#_Toc484813989 techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/google-io-by-the-numbers-every-stat-mentioned-at-the-event-1321710 learning.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/business/en-us/amp/learning-solutions/images/workplace-learning-report-2019/pdf/workplace-learning-report-2019.pdf crn.com/news/cloud/google-cloud-next-conference-goes-virtual-over-coronavirus-fears/10/03/1924458/0/en/Global-Events-Industry-is-Projected-to-reach-2-330-billion-by-2026-AMR.html U.S. DEPARINENTOF