Please don't give up on virtual events

I have a plea, as the world opens up, please don't give up on virtual events.

Why??Because the virtual world, was and is a lot more inclusive and a lot more accessible than the business as usual in-person norm.

And, importantly it brought a lot of good things and opportunities for many people who normally would be excluded.

I can’t deny that it is brilliant to be back in-person. You know, I was out last week at the Archiboo awards, sadly I didn't win, but the event helped me to put faces to many names that I've only ever met online. And it was lovely. I could see people, give people a hug and genuinely had that spontaneity of working a room and spotting people randomly including some of my podcast guests who I’ve only ever talked to online.

And actually, if you think about it, last Thursday there were three big architectural industry events all happening on the same night; that’s how much things are back. It's really is an interesting time. What event do people choose to go to? Are people tired of virtual events or will they still sign up but not attend if a better in-person event shows up?

It's tricky. And as we're all planning for next year and figuring out what to do and how to navigate the new world. I think my plea, is that people still do some things, virtually. Please don't give up on it. It served us so well for 18 months so please don't abandon it and jump ship now.

What we do need to think about though is how do we make things more inclusive and accessible, and make the best of both worlds.

I'm a single mum to a six-year-old, and I have to admit, for six years, I didn't really go out, I was busy being mum. When I started my business in February last year, the month before the pandemic. My plan had been to go out and to do lots of networking that I literally hadn't done for years, to meet people and start building relationships that way.

But lockdown soon put paid to that. So, as things were quite quiet. I started to build relationships online, post online on LinkedIn and also do things behind the scenes including direct messaging people to build connections virtually and getting to know them that way.

As the whole world went virtual, it also meant that people who have things like caring responsibilities who I spoke to were saying that those meetings and events that they never could get to, suddenly they could take part. Events where 60 people would normally attend in-person suddenly had 600 attendees.

Now, the world is opening up, what this blog is about, is how to make the best of in-person events but not at the expense of virtual offerings. It's great bumping into people, it's great seeing people and it's great having spontaneity. But also how do we bring out and use the best elements of the virtual world?

And I think that's what's something that we've all got to grapple with and figure out a way to do it. Because, I mean, in a way, doing things virtually opens up a world of possibilities, and even the world. It's not just the city you're in or those people who could make it that night. Virtual opens up the whole country and even the world. And for me, that's a massive opportunity that people aren't necessarily tapping into.

So, before we all race back to go and do what we've always done, let's make some time to think about bringing the bits best bits of virtual back and keeping them as part of our everyday. It's so, so important for us all to be more inclusive and accessible. When I think of the Archiboo awards last week I loved meeting people face-2-face but I really enjoyed them too last year when they were hosted live from host Amanda Baillieu's front room.

Okay, they weren't the same, the atmosphere wasn't there, but you know what it was quite nice, watching it from the comfort of my own home. For me, it would have been nice to have shared the awards last week with my son who was at home - he wanted to see if he could watch it online but he couldn’t. Whereas last year he could have watched it and seen what I'd done. So, I guess that's something to bear in mind, virtual literally opens up a door on the industry. And in some ways that's what we need, we need more people to be talking about what we're doing and seeing what's going on and understanding and engaging with the built environment.

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I'm Ayo Abbas, a built environment marketing consultant who delivers strategy, content and campaigns for companies that want to stand out from the pack. DM me to find out more about what I do.

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