People should always be the priority

No matter how good the technology at our fingertips becomes, there will always be a place for face-to-face events.  
 
The
most important point we all need to remember and keep central to our
thinking in the events industry is that the minute we stop focusing on
the people attending, we are all doomed.
 
The battle we have
faced with the so-called ‘live’ events sector over the last three years
has come about because of the mistaken believe we are attempting to take
that all important face-to-face interaction away. That is simply not
true.
 
We’ve now come a long way in validating how online events
can and do work in successfully supporting live event producers, adding
to the value and the experience. Thankfully the message is now getting
across.
 
The fact is that the majority of our online events are
delivered to support existing live events or either to connect hubs of
people, who for budgeting or scheduling reasons can’t all be together in
the same place at once.
 
We have spent over three years
acquiring the knowledge to make the transition from live to online
events with a huge financial investment to support it.
 
This will
be an on-going process both in terms of knowledge acquisition,
especially with technology moving so quickly, as well as further
investment. It is a challenging but fascinating scenario.
 
–
Gavin Newman is the MD of iVent, a specialist event firm
offering a range of services including webcasting, conferences,
exhibitions, product launches and trade and careers fairs. Any comments?
Email conferencenews@mashmedia.net