From the beginning of modern times, it is common to see big enterprises celebrating events, generally as annual meetings, attended by CEOs, workers, suppliers, clients and all kind of professionals directly or indirectly associated with the business.
The objective of these big assemblies is to unite people by creating spaces to share experiences, bond and foster team spirit. And, without a doubt, it is a very effective way to achieve these aims. However, the new rhythm of an increasingly globalized market, the irruption of technology and the uncertain economic situation are changing the mindset of the heads of the companies.
Thus, several directives have questioned if it is profitable to celebrate this kind of events and if it offsets the huge economic deployment and the resources necessary to carry it out. For that, more and more companies search for an alternative solution that can get the same results -or even better- with a lower investment.
As mentioned above, the last economic recession and the uncertain situation in which we are immersed are two defining factors of this recent change, and they have caused many companies to consider how to save money on event organization.
With this new perspective in mind, they have found their best alliance in virtual technology, a field that has strongly irrupted in numerous sectors that are key for business development, such as meetings and corporate events.
The benefits of virtual meetings are countless in comparison with presential events. And that is, setting some key factors aside, such as the increase in audience or a better measurement of ROI, events based on 3D virtual platforms achieve an essential aim: savings.
No matter if it is through an online videoconference, webinar or web conference, they have the advantage of simultaneously connecting numerous people no matter where they are. This allows great cost reduction regarding organization, and the complete absence of investment in transportation, travel, or space rental.
Sustainable Events: Your corporate social responsibility towards the environment
While it is clear that behind most decision making there is an aim for business optimization through cost reduction, there is another important factor that is responsible for this change in mentality and which promotes virtual events: sustainability.
And that is, when we take a look back and calculate the amount of resources invested in a big assembly or an annual presential meeting, the fact that most of them negatively impact the environment cannot go unnoticed.
As fact, a statistic carried out by MeetGreen states that in an event of a few days long with 2,500 assistants, 62.500 plates and 75.000 glasses were used (both plastic), together with 87.500 paper napkins, and 90.000 cans and bottles.
This consumption of paper, plastic, and glass poses a severe hazard for our ecosystem, and, for that, sustainability should be present when organizing an event. The good news is that it is possible, as long as we take advantage of the benefits that technology offers for our corporate needs.
Virtual meetings and events are a clear example of that, as they offer the companies a number of important environmental benefits, among which we can highlight:
- Lower water, light, and gas consumption: once we have eliminated the need for big physical spaces to organize these meetings, the expenses of these resources decrease drastically.
- Reduction of environmental impact and environment preservation: we avoid producing tons of waste that are usually generated during big meetings.
- Decrease in CO2 emissions: presential events attract a great number of people and, with them, vehicles. This contributes to atmospheric and acoustic pollution.
Moreover, beyond the environmental benefits, virtual platforms are a key opportunity for development and benefit businesses’ visibility. These are emerging as the most effective tools for carrying out team building activities, formation for remote workers, webinars, or any other kind of online meeting.
Despite all these benefits, there still exist companies that think that event, congress, or assembly organization is already complex enough as it is to further assume additional compromises, but this is an erroneous belief. This should be approached from another perspective: changes are a great opportunity to support innovation and develop alternative action points, which at the same time, would directly and positively impact the reputation and the image of the company.
Likewise, nowadays we can find in the market suppliers in charge of the designs and start-up of virtual events, with innovative proposals that do not leave their assistants indifferent.
In the case of Virtway, which offers an advanced 3D technology for entrepreneurs, employees, and clients to reunite in a virtual space that allows an almost real interaction between them, despite the long distance.
Their applications allow maintaining real-time conversations with all the assistants, send messages, express emotions through animations, and even be represented by extremely realistic 3D avatars which mimic the physical aspect of each participant.
Without a doubt, now is the time to take advantage of technology in pursuit of a common goal: taking care of the environment and committing to sustainability.
