BtoB Media Business - October 2012 - (Page 12)

VIRTUAL EVENTS Virtual evolution Experimentation with digital environments continues as face-to-face events bounce back By Charlotte Woolard T he same market factors that have depressed events revenues during the ongoing economic slump also strengthened the foothold that virtual technologies have in the b-to-b landscape. Media companies provided digital destinations where their brands and third-party marketers could connect with an audience without incurring expenses for plane tickets and hotel rooms. “We saw a sharp upturn in virtual events around the financial crisis of 2008,” said Dennis Shiao, director-product marketing at virtual platform provider INXPO. “But now that economic conditions are coming back, we’re seeing healthier growth of physical events that may have been cut in the past.” For most media companies, however, the face-to-face resurgence has not led to abated interest in virtual environments. Even as the events market rebounds, publishers are still working to revise their virtual strategies and improve the digital environments that have become part of their portfolios. They are building digital extensions of their in-person events, adding interactive features to live-streamed webinars, overhauling their virtual trade shows and stretching into custom content production. Every company has its own approach to the platform. Hanley Wood has experimented with a variety of event models. The company has retired concepts that didn’t perform well and moved forward with perpetual environments such as Hanley Wood University and Hanley Wood TV, interactive platforms in which marketers can sponsor con- tent—including video and webcast sessions captured at live events, said Andy Reid, president-digital and head of strategic development at Hanley Wood, a housing industry media company. The company has seen particular success with its virtual show homes, which attract both b-to-b and consumer audiences to digital extensions of real-life model homes developed for the annual International Builders’ Show. “The number of virtual experiences is continuing to grow,” Reid said. “In spite of the downturn in the construction industry, we’ve seen meaningful growth [of revenue from virtual environments] year-over-year.” The virtual show homes exemplify Hanley Wood’s strategy, which is not to create a digital replica of a real-world trade show environment but to extract one specific piece of event content and build a virtual product around it, Reid said. The virtual homes invite visitors to see a deeper layer of the model homes built for the live event, extending both the function and the reach of the concept. Event attendees can view the project in person, then join a broader online audience to see behind the walls and look at installations. The virtual model looks very different at UBM Studios. Launched specifically to pursue virtual opportunities, the UBM unit creates hybrid and standalone virtual environments for the company’s media brands, and also produces custom digital environments, communities and webcasts for marketing clients. Virtual-only components New technology, tools boost virtual experience K ate Spellman was promoted to president of UBM ing expectations. We rolled out a couple of mobile apps in Studios, the digital and virtual events division June, and we jumped to a handful across UBM; and we of UBM, in March 2011. have 20-plus now and more in the pipeline. Mobile is Media Business: Where are you seeing new develsomething to really watch. You can be walking around opments boost engagement in virtual environments? the show and looking at a keynote, or finding the Kate Spellman: We’re seeing it in gamification. booths you want to go to or watching content that you What has been interesting is the level of executives who missed. use the gaming. We had an internal meeting in ShangMB: Have you had success with a paid-attendance hai, and we shared that (meeting) through all of the divimodel? sions. The activity at a senior level was amazing. It gets Kate Spellman: We’ve done a few (environments) that are people engaged, and it is being used as a learning tool. Spellman paid for via the attendees, but that is less than what you We are also seeing it in “badging” and social would normally see. It’s hard to get the attendee to pay. President, media. Last year, you were able to tweet without leav- UBM Studios They are not used to paying for online or for events. Now if ing the platform. Now we are taking social media to they pay for (in-person) events, it’s easier to tie it into (an the next step, using tools that show the activities that people online) conference fee. (UBM TechWeb’s) Blackhat is a good exin the industry are doing—things that you may feel that you ample of that. I’ve got good content. People will pay a lot of monshould be doing. It’s that transparency, seeing where your ey to go see that content (in-person), and they will pay to see it boss went. online. But it’s the behavior that you’re already used to that is driMobile applications in the event space are really exceed—C.W. ving so much of that. 12 | Media Business | October 2012 | mediabusinessonline.com http://www.mediabusinessonline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BtoB Media Business - October 2012

BtoB Media Business - October 2012
Table of Contents
Upfront
Cover Story
Special Report
Sales & Marketing
M&A
Production
People
Benchmarks
Endnote

BtoB Media Business - October 2012