We make event experiences happen.

The New Way we do Meetings and Events

AVCOM, the premium event production agency, celebrated 40 years in business in 2020.

11.11.2022

AVCOM celebrated 40 years in business in 2020 but I’ve seen more radical changes in the past 2 years than in the previous 38 – except, perhaps, for the Dodo-like disappearance of the overhead projector, a staple of our early years in business!

In just 18 months, digital events have gone from an esoteric add-on, or peripheral up-sell – much discussed, little used – to a front and centre powerhouse, driving the entire meetings and events industry, and much social intercourse too, with Grannies now as comfortable on Zoom as their grandchildren are on Fortnite.

It’s the new way we do meetings and events and, good news, our options for communicating a message, engaging with a community, putting out a new strategy, whatever it happens to be, have just multiplied significantly.

Our Hybrid Education Series

Over the next little while under the We are Hybrid campaign, AVCOM will be putting out quite a bit of content on the new ways we do meetings and events, starting with this blog post and culminating with our White Paper on Hybrid Events. After 18 months online, we know for certain that digital works and works very effectively, but it will always lack the vibrancy, the energy, the excitement of live. It’s horses for courses and AVCOM can help you select the right horse for the right course.

The world of sports provides a pretty good analogy for what’s happening in terms of meetings and events. Typically, you might have 50,000 spectators live in the stadium but an additional several million virtual attendees or viewers (and even more watching on-demand, after the live event). It’s a single event but there are two distinct audiences, and they experience the spectacle in different ways.

One Event, Two Productions, Two Audiences

Live, you’re in the heart of the action, the sights, sounds, smells, tastes. You’re elbow to elbow with other fans. There’s banter, chat, slagging. You mightn’t have a perfect view of what’s happening on the pitch, in fact you might miss a spectacular goal, but you’re uniquely part of the total event experience. You’re in the field of dreams, where grown men are often reduced to tears and willingly pay thousands to ticket touts for the privilege to be there.

Watching remotely, you’re in your living room. The fire is on. You’re stretched out on the couch. You can see perfectly on your mega-screen and the commentator tells you precisely what’s happening. He has a pundit in the box beside him to provide expert elucidations. All the action is available in real time and then in playback. You grab a beer. Why would you schlep across the city to sit in a damp and breezy stadium when you can participate from the rarefied comfort of your own home?

The same content, two totally different audiences, and experiences. Our job at AVCOM these days is to help you figure out how best to present your precious content so as to maximise its impact on your target audience.

These days you have far more choice than ever as your meeting is not limited to the here and now. The new way we do meetings and events is here, there, everywhere and AVCOM can show you how.

Give us a call to find out more.