The potential of virtual events is yet to be realized
By John Failla, CEO, Tesoro
Reprinted with permission from min's b2b - March 17, 2008
Virtual events have experienced growing interest from all forms of media companies in both consumer and business to business markets as they try to evaluate if the medium is for real. In a related development, the March 3 live web event held by Oprah Winfrey and author Eckhart Tolle (the first edition of a ten part "course") may eventually be viewed as a watershed event as more than 500,000 people simultaneously logged on from 139 countries.
The central challenge for media companies is determining the right business model for virtual events in their market. While companies as diverse as Nielsen Business Media, Meredith, and an association in the Healthcare Technology market have claimed success with virtual events, they continue to evolve and refine their models. Why are they and others making the effort to figure it out? The potential promise that virtual events offer publishers to organize communities is the answer.
As is usually the case when new media implementations imitate old media forms, virtual events to date have tried to simulate traditional physical events in the form of conferences, trade shows and job fairs.
In my view, these early implementations will evolve towards virtual event models that optimize the unique capabilities of the web. Current virtual event software platforms are essentially a series of web applications woven together into an integrated web interface allowing users to simultaneously "Learn, Interact and Find". While these applications individually have been used by publishers as webinars, chat groups and directories, virtual trade show platforms offer an integrated platform that can be leveraged to create a complete experience for readers and a direct connection to readers for marketers. Virtual event platforms are essentially web publishing platforms that leverage the unique capabilities of the web.
In consumer markets, virtual events allow readers to interact like never before and learn about specific areas of interest. At the recent Folio Summit, Meredith President Jack Griffin referenced their successful virtual event in the Scrapbooking market and noted that the users' ability to interact via chat with like minded peers on a wide range of related subjects proved to be an extremely compelling feature. While this application of virtual events would appear to be a logical extension of enthusiast titles, the potential to offer patients of a particular disease state the opportunity to learn about their condition, chat with others who share their condition and find products and services that can help them has yet to be realized.
In business to business markets, a range of virtual event models from conferences to trade shows to job fairs are being developed in numerous markets. In some markets, participating in conference sessions that qualify for CEU's are a potentially compelling driver, while the eventual goal is clearly to take users from a virtual event conference session directly to exhibitor booths on a virtual trade show floor featuring alternative products that they just learned about.
What's clear in all markets is that we are in the early stages of development of this new media form and its potential for organizing communities and achieving commercial success is yet to be realized. The potential of this medium will be realized by media companies who are able to optimize audience participation and revenue streams because they have found a way to meet unmet reader needs and created a more efficient way to connect their readers with marketers who want to engage them.
John Failla is CEO of events consulting business, Tesoro Events; he can be reached at 914.819.0693 or by email at john@tesoroevents.com.
