Covid-19 has forced everything and everyone to reinvent themselves. And the trade show and live events business is no exception.
For some time now, the debate on virtual – or rather digital – and physical events has been heated, and which ones best meet the needs of a constantly evolving society and business.
Technology and in-person events can go hand in hand
The recent, sudden transition from physical to digital events, motivated by the health emergency, is not entirely surprising, if we consider that trade shows and events have long since adopted the use of technology to improve results and increase the attendees’ satisfaction, be they visitors, sponsors and exhibitors.
Digital will go with in-person events in the future. It’s already happening. Technologies, if used properly, can favor, enrich and facilitate the human and personal relationship, not replace it.
Meet John Naisbitt, the man that predicted it all
That’s precisely what John Naisbitt, American best-selling author and renowned social forecaster, said in his book entitled “High Tech – High Touch: Technology and Our Search for Meaning”. Published in 1999 , Naisbitt took up the concept already expressed in his 1982 book “Megatrends”, when personal computers were emerging, the Internet was still the restricted privilege of some universities and perhaps very few people at that time would have predicted its current spread.
“High tech – high touch” is a formula I use to describe the way we have responded to technology. Whenever a new technology is introduced into society, there must be a counterbalancing human response – that is, high touch – or the technology is rejected. The more high tech, the more high touch”.
Seventeen years after the publication of his first book, it was the development of new communication technologies that brought this topic back to the fore. More than twenty years after its publication, that topicality is even more relevant. “High tech – high touch” sounds like a reprimand, a warning to take into account the human factor and the values of personal connection in every use of technology.
Let’s take a look at post-pandemic world
Those who thought that the Internet and social media would have greatly affected attendance at trade shows and threatened their existence probably forgot the value of human contact, of interpersonal relationships, of the unique level of involvement with the attendees that they are capable of creating. And trade shows have moved on, adapting to the new reality and integrating Internet and social media to give greater support to the needs not only of exhibitors and visitors, but of all the stakeholders.
The same will happen in the post-pandemic. There will be a new normal, most likely, which will be the creation of fully integrated online and offline experiences. As prominent industry exponents and leaders have said, in-person events will remain our anchors, but we will have to continue conversations using online platforms to offer connected experiences for a global audience, that will last long into the future.
