Poll: The Pros and Cons of Virtual Events

Virtual events have become mainstream since the coronavirus pandemic started and don't seem to be going away anytime soon, though 75 percent of Americans want some in-person alternative moving forward, according to a survey released Saturday by Coupon Follow.

The survey also found:

• Around half of the people reported attending a virtual event for the first time since the pandemic.
• Forty-three percent found themselves attending a virtual event they wouldn't have otherwise.
• The most preferred virtual events were work training and education at 54 percent. In contrast, the least preferred was dating at 14 percent.
• A big takeaway was three out of four people wanted virtual events to offer some in-person alternative moving forward; one in four said they plan never to attend an in-person event again.
• 49 percent believe certain events should always be virtual.

Ruben Castano, CEO of 6Connex, a company helping businesses with virtual environments, learning management, and webinars, says his company has taken off since the pandemic.

"Over the last few months we have seen our business of virtual events grow by 1000%. We have been working overtime and hiring non-stop to keep up with the demand," Castano said, according to Forbes. "Interest from colleges, sports teams and requests from international businesses is something we didn't anticipate growing so rapidly, but we are thrilled to assist as the event world reconvenes online."

Similarly, other platforms in the digital domain have also seen good fortune. Webit, a company focused on digital conferences, says it's trying to offer customers a different experience amongst all the other digital platforms.

"For 3 months Webit has transitioned from one of the world's largest tech and innovation in-person festivals into a global thought leadership network hosting 3 virtual summits per week," Webit's executive chairman Dr. Plamen Russev said. "Currently Webit Virtual is the biggest series of virtual events globally boosting over 12,000 live attendees per event (episode) and hundreds of thousands of view and hosting some of the world's brightest minds."

Even as in-person events become more popular again, the space that virtual events have staked out may continue to be a regular part of our lives.

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