India is struggling with the second wave of the global pandemic, Covid-19. Restrictions have been imposed in various regions. Uncertainty is still looming & when things will be back to normal is still unknown. But, the hard reality is large public gatherings seem nearly impossible for the near future. Leaving people with uncertainty!
The events and activation industry was adversely affected by the sudden outbreak of COVID-19. Live physical events have been completely stopped due to the disruption caused by the global pandemic. Conferences, fests, social gatherings, live physical events, trade shows, exhibitions, expos now seem like a dream.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the event industry faced various challenges right from event cancellation to sustaining with minimum revenues. With the lockdown 2021 restrictions imposed worldwide, the situation has gotten even worse.
Now, with the deadly 2nd wave of COVID-19 global pandemic, the situation has clearly gotten out of hand. Physical events and even hybrid events are paused completely. But, it has not stopped the event industry from generating more innovative, creative, and brilliant ideas to keep the wheel of events spinning. The event industry came up with more brilliant and innovative ways to drive successful events over a digital medium.
Event professionals have geared up to battle with the outrage of covid-19 pandemic 2nd wave. Here is what our co-founder has to say about his plans to deal with this challenging situation:
Gautam Seth, Co-Founder Dreamcast:
As the world started to normalize in early 2021, we were planning to pedal back to hybrid events along with virtual events. But, the strong second wave of the pandemic has changed our perspective completely.
We have been organizing virtual events for the past year ever since the initial lockdown and night curfews had been imposed. And believe me, we received phenomenal responses from brands and organizations. Today, almost every top leading brand right from HSBC, Nescafe to Johnson’s & Johnson’s has transformed their physical events in a virtual space. As brands want to launch their products and reach their audiences and organizations want to conduct the necessary meetings, conferences, and town halls amid the chaos. And that’s where we offered the best workable solution to keep the ball rolling- that is- an all in one virtual event platform.
Organizations and brands around the world have completely adapted to the trend of virtual events. Although initially, organizations were skeptical about the concept. But, with time they leveraged the power of virtual events and hosted large-scale events with us effortlessly. Definitely, virtual is the future of event industries due to its endless possibilities, extended reach, cost-effectiveness, and substantial ROI.
We at Dreamcast, offer every possible solution to our clients that do not make them miss the essence of physical events. We have restructured our planning for the coming years and are set to face any challenge that comes our way. In this game-changing era, one thing’s for sure that the virtual component will not go out of the limelight even when things will be back to normal. We have planned out the hybrid approach as well. We take steps every day and strive to build a platform that meets all the requirements of clients amid this chaos, says Mr. Gautam Seth, co-founder of Dreamcast virtual event platform.
Here are the few common questions asked by event experts during these challenging times:
- What measure did the event industry adopt during this pandemic crisis?
- Are virtual events a covid-driven fad or will become mainstream in times to come?
- What innovative measures the event industry is accepting to keep the events going?
- What will be the path experiential industry adopts?
Well, the answer to all these questions is innovation, creativity, and technological advancements. With the change in dynamics in the year 2020, it has resulted in a swift decline it the physical event business revenues. With the change in times, the event industry did not stop and pivoted a way to offer a workable solution to organizations and industries globally. The concept of a virtual event isn’t new. But, the outbreak of a global pandemic, resulted in a sudden spike in virtual events. An exponential hike in the percentage of virtual events has been recorded last year and it is not going to settle anytime soon.
Virtual event solutions have helped many organizations from dipping down amid the halt of pandemic and keep generating business revenues. When there was a complete stop and lockdown was imposed, virtual event platforms came as an aid to many.
Virtual event platforms are upgrading every day to offer the best possible solutions to brands and organizations. To replicate the essence of live physical events right from networking to engagement tools has been embedded in virtual platforms to deliver real-life event experiences to attendees. Virtual event platforms have introduced gamification features to boost excitement and engagement at the event thus engaging attendees with the event throughout. To break the monotony of long virtual sessions, various innovative ideas like social walls, photo booths, leaderboard challenges, have been curated by tech professionals.
With the 2nd wave of COVID-19, the event industry is ready to battle back and offer more innovative solutions to the world that can be experienced enjoyed right from the comfort of homes with utmost safety.
