The main objective of organizing an event for business or social purposes is to gather and engage with people. Therefore, most organizations host the most common events, live and in-person, as they serve the purpose efficiently. But now, various events and platforms are available to host your event.
For instance, you can host a virtual event, in-person event, hybrid event, live streaming event, etc. And to host these events, different platforms are available, for instance, in-person, virtual meetings, conference events, hybrid meeting platforms, etc. So now you must wonder if these many options are available for hosting an event. In-person events vs. virtual events, which one should you choose?
Overview Of Virtual Event
We are sure you must have been a part of at least one online event. For instance, it can be an online meeting, a webinar, a corporate conference, a trade show, etc. all these events are virtual. Virtual events take place online; you don’t have to visit a particular location or venue to participate in such events. All attendees join the event online rather than in person. Virtual events are changing the traditional way of holding on-ground events.
But the fundamental elements of virtual events are the same as in-person events.
These events can incorporate a variety of subjects and produce successful results. The process of figuring out how long it will continue, identifying a target audience, selecting speakers, timing the event, and determining its frequency can maximize the desired outcomes for your company.
Overview Of In-Person Event
Even today, in-person events are most popular in the virtual world, and many organizers still prefer in-person events over other types of events. These events are significant and can assist you in involving and interacting with your audience in real time in an in-person event. However, virtual events lack personal face-to-face interaction is the main reason for the popularity of in-person events. There are a lot of online event solutions that can help you digitize your in-person events and make them more manageable and accessible.
Parameter To Compare In-Person And Virtual Event
1. Cost
From a financial perspective, virtual events are cost-effective. When hosting a virtual event, you need a smart event management platform to handle the whole event procedure from beginning to end. Still, when we talk about in-person events, you will need much more money than virtual ones. In-person events are expensive. You need a proper venue and set up for the in-person event.
For hosting an in-person event, you do not have to decide on the venue. You have to choose a location that is accessible to everyone, and you have to figure out the accommodation, traveling expenses, and catering during the event, but in an online event, you save on all these expenses; all you need is a smart event solution that can create an experience for your participants.
2. Engagement
Engagement is an essential component of any event. There are various advantages of having your attendees come together and form relationships through physical engagement, such as handshakes, eye contact, and face-to-face chats, in a world where many of us spend a lot of time in front of screens. But at the same time arranging a physical event can be expensive and it is one of the major drawbacks of hosting an in-person event.
Budgets for marketing that would otherwise be diversified can be fully devoured by the cost of hiring the venue, employees, catering, entertainment, and the cost of employee travel. It is easy to see why the expense of organizing physical events is viewed as a significant disadvantage when contrasted with the comparatively low cost of setting up a virtual event platform.
Whereas when we talk about engagement in virtual events there are various ways and platforms that organizers can use to engage with the audience. The world still needs handshakes, even though virtual event providers have developed talking technology that makes it interesting and engaging for attendees to chat during the event. However, networking can be more convenient virtually in the area of the shopping experience.
3. Flexibility
Flexibility can promote more participation. Not everyone can join the event in person and in that case virtual events play a more important and flexible role. For some people traveling for an event can be exciting but not for everyone. And it takes time and funds to arrange flights and other modes of transportation, organizers also have to figure out the accommodation for the speakers and attendees at times. There can be a chance that due to delay in transportation or because of other reasons attendees, speakers, or other people who are part of the event may not be able to attend the event and in those cases, virtual events can be beneficial as attendees can join from anywhere and they don’t necessarily have to be present there but when it comes to the in-person event this option is not available.
In-person events are mostly not recorded once they are finished, attendees can’t revisit it but in the case of a virtual event, attendees have the option to revisit the experience whenever they need to, improving both their value as well as the summit producer’s return on investment. When we talk about flexibility virtual events are on the stronger side.
4. Ticketing And Registration
Both in-person and virtual events can have online event booking systems. There are various event registration platforms that not just provide registration and ticketing service for virtual events but also for in-person events.
If you are hosting virtual events everything is digital and it is easy for organizers to track everything their attendees do. In the virtual event, the process of registration and ticketing is much easier and organizers can also collect all the necessary data online. In the case of on-ground events if organizers are using the traditional approach ticketing and registration can be chaotic but if you are using a digital platform for it the process can be a little easy and seamless.
Whatsapp can also be a great online ticketing platform, because of an industry shift a lot of event solution platforms are promoting ticketing and registration service through WhatsApp automation.
The Bottom Line
When we talk about virtual and in-person events they have different features and approaches. You can organize a virtual or in-person event according to the demand of your event. You can either host an in-person event in the traditional way or you can also use your in-person event ideas and add some digital features to it to make it more advanced.