The virtual event

Note: this article was originally published in March 17, 2021, when virtual events were in full swing and in-person events were a rarity in the financial and investment industry.

In the old, pre-Covid days, an “event” in the financial industry meant an in-person gathering.

Yet we did have some virtual ones. They were called webcasts and usually were short things where you passively watched something onscreen. They weren’t considered “real” events like conferences, networking drinks and awards dinners.

Now, of course, virtual events are pretty much all we have. And event organizers have scrambled to transform them into exciting, productive “virtual experiences”.

Some have succeeded more than others, but overall it’s impressive how fast and how far the virtual events space has evolved over the past year.

Listed below are virtual event innovations that range from the logical, to the groundbreaking, to the somewhat weird. The list is not ranked by importance or frequency – these are developments we noticed while researching and inputting thousands of financial industry events into the FiLists database. Some of these innovations have been widely adopted, while others exist only at the fringes.

Avatars

Some events have featured participants as avatars, like in Minecraft or Roblox. However, instead of building or shooting things, attendees visit virtual sponsor booths, chat in small groups and sit in a virtual audience. One event even featured a DJ-led dance party where your avatar dances with others.

Holograms

One large financial event in Asia found a novel way to create a hybrid in-person and virtual conference. To overcome issues with some speakers being unable to participate in person, the organizer featured holograms of speakers for an in-person panel.

Virtual Reality

A US conference for financial advisors and fund managers offered participants the option to participate using an Oculus Quest VR headset. Attendees could get a front-row seat for sessions, play sustainability-themed VR games and visit virtual sponsor booths.

Exhibition Booths

Since we're no longer able to wander exhibition floors, many conferences have attempted to replicate an exhibition booth or floor virtually. You can visit the virtual booth, get information and talk to a sales rep.

Networking

Many virtual events now offer online functionality to reach out to other participants for 1:1 video chats, and some use “AI” to match participants. Others feature virtual floors and roundtables where participants can join small group discussions.

Drinks

What would an in-person event be without the de rigueur networking drinks? This practice has transferred over to virtual events, with events incorporating virtual happy hours, sommelier-led wine tastings and bartender-led cocktail mixing.

Wellness

On the other hand, event organizers seem to be more aware of wellness. We are noticing more agendas peppered with virtual stretch breaks, yoga sessions, guided meditations and workouts.

Replicating

Like the movie Gremlins, where one furry animal becomes many, some event organizers have divided a conference into a series of smaller virtual discussions spread out over a few months or a year. This is likely a reaction to the challenge of keeping participants tuned in over long stretches of time.

Merging

We are also seeing merging happening – where an organizer takes two or more of what were normally in-person conferences and combines them into a larger virtual event. The goal is to create a giant, multifaceted event that attendees and sponsors are powerless to resist.

Breakouts

In-person conferences had an established cadence – presentation or panel, audience Q&A, then some mingling or trying to meet the speakers until the next session begins. Impromptu interactions are harder to do in a virtual event, so organizers have increasingly used small-group discussions and breakouts to keep participants engaged and facilitate networking and relationships.

Entertainment

Last but not least, event organizers have worked hard trying to implement unique virtual networking and entertainment. For example, how about a virtual horserace? Or a virtual escape room? Or a virtual live band? Not for you? Then maybe some trivia? Or virtual cooking? Or a magic show?

Time will tell which innovations stick and which are things we'll look back at and think, well that was weird.

However it's clear that virtual events have gone through transformational changes and some of these changes will impact how in-person events are run. We will cover our predictions on the interplay between virtual and in-person events in a future paper.