EventX held its “Event Trends in Asia 2021” webinar on January 21 which amassed close to 1,000 attendees from 33 different countries around the world and in Asia. The event was attended by the leading events experts in Asia including Sum Wong, CEO of EventX; Joseph Lin, CEO of Viveport HTC Taiwan; Stuart Bailey, Chairman of HKECIA; Tay Lin, General Manager of PICO Hong Kong; Ryan Phan, Marketing Manager of Reed Tradex Vietnam and Patrick Tan CEO of Global Link-MP Philippines.
In this webinar, our guest speakers shared their industry insights about the latest event trends in the region from virtual to hybrid events, virtual reality in events, and the state of Asia’s event industry and its future.
We also asked our event community how they are running their events today and their plans for the future which we released in a separate report, Leading Event Trends in Asia 2021.
We’ll see a rise in hybrid events as a solution to build interactive events from anywhere. However, hosting virtually means event organizers and marketers must invest in the right event platforms that can help them build extended event experiences and not just “a one-time event”. As a result, we’ll see a trend in on-demand content which will help build community in the new normal. Sum also highlighted the value of good content and social media leverage to attract more audiences.
VR in events is one of the technologies that can elevate how we work and experience entertainment today. It is used more commonly used today to immerse audiences more interactively in performance events like concerts, film festivals, and fashion shows as it can bring 3D experience and build motion-sensing avatars. We’ll also see an increase in demand for VR technologies as it can be adapted to any virtual event. In company meetings, for example, it’s becoming a solution to visualize product launches through VRs simulated 3D models.
We’ll see more events turn to virtual-only this year as the lockdown continues but in turn, this will help create a desire for people to attend physical events as it takes place minimally all through the year. In some markets like Vietnam, which can host in-person events, we’ll see that they’ll never go back to hosting only-physical events as hybrid events ensures safe events, draw more audiences while cutting down on event planning and production cost.
Virtual event is the only quantifiable event type, while some event organizers can’t fully migrate online, it will be the preferred choice of event today. In virtual events, organizers can collect attendee behavior and data and instantly separate “real buyers” from potential buyers. For instance, during a virtual event show, event organizers can see the real number of attendees and serious buyers which is something that an in-person event can’t simply capture. Aside from that, one of the unparallel advantages of hosting virtual events is its global opportunity for organizers and exhibitors to build cross-border events and attract a global audience.
Are you or your organization interested in organizing virtual events? Click here to learn more about EventX.