Virtual events have come a long way over the past several years, evolving from cartoonish (and sometimes creepy) environments to streamlined 3D cyber-venues. The question is, are publishers ready to include virtual events in their stable of revenue streams and lead-generation tools? 

Virtual events are similar in structure to face-to-face events but are staged on a virtual platform in real time—usually a 3D digital environment where attendees can move avatars or icons of themselves throughout an “auditorium” offering a series of webcasts, an “expo hall” with sponsorship booths, and “lounges” where attendees can network via chat capabilities. 

(About 47 percent of attendees head straight for virtual event auditoriums where the majority of webcasts are available, according to Mark Szelenyi, director of product marketing for On24, which produces webinars and virtual events. This indicates that content delivery may be more in demand at virtual events than networking opportunities.)

Virtual events typically last anywhere from a half-day to several months, and a 90-day archive period is the norm so that information remains accessible and attendees, sponsors and publishers can continue to interact.

While the event is virtual, the sponsors, presenters and attendees are all very real. Sponsors demonstrate their products, editors create the content, speakers present, and marketers promote the event, just as they would a face-to-face conference. 

Publishers have seen the value of avoiding the travel and production expenses of face-to-face events, as well as the revenue and lead generation opportunities that virtual events offer, but many have balked at the circus of avatars, social media widgets and 3D landscapes bubbling up with creative technology.

Since attendees are in the driver's seat, many virtual event companies have measured engagement (or lack thereof) with their products and adjusted accordingly.

Do I really want an avatar?

Take avatars, for example. The word “avatar” references the Hindu idea of incarnation, and is a fitting term for a virtual world persona, although virtual events companies use various terms. For virtual event attendees, being associated with an avatar can be distracting, and companies like InXpo have responded with what director of marketing Cece Salomon-Lee calls “photo avatars”. Attendees can upload their head shots to indicate themselves in the platform. Head shots are familiar, and don't jar an attendee's business persona.

VenuGen takes a different approach, offering “photorealistic avatars” that can “make eye contact” and whose gestures can be controlled by the attendee via their keyboards. As with InXpo, users upload their head shots, but VenuGen's technology converts the image into an avatar, counting on user fascination with rich 3D animation for engagement.  

While most of the virtual event activity in publishing is happening on the B2B side, Szelenyi suggested that B2C trade shows can be revitalized by focusing virtual events on niche enthusiast audiences. On24 partnered with Nielsen Business Media's Photo District News to tap into prosumer audiences with a series of photography conferences earlier this spring—the first of which generated more than 15,000 registrations.

The program ran from 11 am until 3 pm, with track sessions available for an additional fee. Michael Kushner, director of streaming media at Nielsen Business Media, says the event gave photography enthusiasts the opportunity to interact with and learn from professional photographers and experts, who were more easily recruited as speakers since they didn’t have to travel to an event venue.

User-generated innovation

As audiences become more sophisticated, they are demanding a more personalized experience, according to Salomon-Lee. InXpo's open API allows publishers to integrate their existing event technology (a registration system, for example) into their event. Both InXpo and On24 offer social media integration, allowing attendees to drive traffic to an event via hashtagged tweets and journalists to report on event sessions straight from the event platform.

It's video where engagement is high, but at the moment, so is the cost of integrating it into a virtual event. Salomon-Lee predicts a 25 percent increase in requests for video components in virtual events next year, as bandwidth issues are resolved and webcam use becomes more widespread. Demand for On24's live streaming video component is up about 5 percent from last year and largely being used for keynotes and other high-profile speakers, according to Szelenyi.

Blend in

Some event planners are opting to blend face-to-face and virtual models, with engagement continuing through the digital components. Blended events can mean a sample of a webinar shown at a live show to generate interest, or videotaping key speakers at live events to showcase in a virtual event, for example. Nielsen’s Kushner suggests that, like all integrated media, this blend could turn out to be the most effective event model.

Experiential marketers are using blended events to engage consumers, according to Cassie Hughes, co-founder of Grow Marketing, which creates experiential marketing programs. “At Grow, our most successful strategies include creating offline events that pull in consumers with a compelling experience,” she says. “We then provide them with a reason to go online to continue the brand experience.” For example, Grow created a "Just Start" Lounge for Intuit to introduce consumers to online tools that will help them launch a business.

“The tools to create their own businesses lived online, but the offline experience allowed the brand to fully engage with prospective consumers and the entrepreneur in us all,” Hughes says.

Future iterations

Virtual world creator Linden Lab announced this week its secure Second Life Enterprise Beta product (starting at $55,000) in an effort to reach businesses with virtual events, prototyping and simulation solutions, and there are plans for an apps marketplace in Q1 2010. Companies like IBM already use Second Life technology to host virtual events.

Some elements of virtual events, like Second Life’s avatars, may seem silly or frivolous at first, but each iteration of these platforms brings publishers closer to cutting travel budgets and generating online revenue. 

Some experts believe the future of virtual events is leaning toward personalization, and Second Life Enterprise offers a toy box of prepackaged landscapes and event center choices that publishers can use to customize their virtual events. Publishers can choose the theme of their event space and attendees can personalize their avatars. 

For On24’s Szelenyi, the future of virtual events also includes streaming content to mobile devices.

Before getting started

Here a few things to think about before producing a virtual event: 

• Give your team 12 to 16 weeks of lead time, Kushner advises. Organizing a virtual event should be similar to organizing a live event. They still take editorial and marketing resources, as well as speaker commitments (although Kushner noted it is often far easier to recruit speakers for virtual events because of the lack of travel time—just make sure they are available for an hour or so during the event for live Q&A). 
• Cap the number of leads sponsors can receive during a given event so that they will have incentive to sponsor another virtual event. After they reach their maximum amount, if they want more, charge them extra for additional leads, vice president and publisher of BtoB magazine Bob Felsenthal advised attendees of this week’s ABM Executive Forum.  
• Leave time slots between sessions for trips to the exhibit hall, according to Kushner. Incentives like prizes and drawings are effective in driving traffic to sponsor booths, and short surveys can be used to collect attendee data, according to Robin Klombers, InXpo’s vice president of client services. 
• Keep banner ads and sponsor booths up during the 90-day archive period in order to drive traffic to sponsor sites and generate goodwill in your partnerships, according to Kushner. Sponsors can even use that time to have virtual launch parties or other events in their booth.