Evessio were privileged to be joined by Andy Mihalop, Vertical Marketing Lead at Meta in joining Evessio's CEO Gary Clement's session on the metaverse and what this means for events. Andy provided great insight into exactly what the metaverse is and the impact this will have on the events industry. Meta isn’t the only company working to create roadmaps into the new virtual worlds. Whilst experts anticipate the technologies won't be fully developed for another 5-10 years, many businesses are already incorporating this into their future business operations in preparation for the arrival of the metaverse. Companies are already building infrastructure right now, from software, hardware, and telecoms in preparation for the shift.

What is the Metaverse? 

There's a lot of marketing hype surrounding the metaverse but what does it actually mean and how does this impact events?

Simply put, the metaverse is a virtual 3D network centered around social connection and digital networking. The metaverse incorporates augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies to create immersive digital environments. The metaverse can be defined as a simulated digital environment that uses AR and VR, to create spaces for rich user interaction mimicking the real world. The journey of the metaverse started in 2003 and now Microsoft announces plans to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion.

The inevitable metaverse movement, which focuses on digital interaction, experience and networking, is why the metaverse is expected to have a significant impact on the events industry. The word metaverse seems to have come out of nowhere and now everyone in the corporate events industry is talking about it. Previously augmented reality and virtual reality were associated with the gaming industry. It was identified that virtual technologies could enhance the corporate digital event experience. Perhaps the acknowledgement that digital, whether being completely digital or an aspect supporting a physical event is here to stay. The economic, attendee accessibility, sustainable and analytical benefits have established a concrete future for digital events. After a couple of years of hosting successful digital events, many event organisers have identified what works to create growth and success.

As event technology continues to advance, we as consumers are becoming more demanding, and our expectations from technology are higher. Zoom meetings weren't enough to provide a great digital experience, so virtual venues such as the Awards Room and Events Room by Evessio were created. A digital event isn't just about bringing people together in a video call; It's about providing a platform where attendees can stream engaging content and easily network with each other. There is a continuous hunger and desire for new technology and the next best thing. Attendees are constantly seeking events and technology that provide new and exciting experiences. It is suggested the metaverse is the solution to catering for the growing need for immersive virtual communications.

How popular is the metaverse at the moment?

The success within the gaming industry is why events are tapping into and exploring virtual reality technologies to create new experiences.

• Roblox has over 43 million daily active users.
• Fornite has more than 80 million monthly active users and more than 4 million concurrent players every day. Decontraland has around 6,000 unique players.
• Sandbox over 30,000 monthly active users.

The Global Metaverse Market Report 2022 estimates the market will reach US$758.6 Billion by 2026 with Meta, Microsoft, Google, Roblox, Nvidia and Unity Software are fastly leading innovations.

What does this mean for events?

Ultimately the metaverse offers unlimited space to interact. Events of any size can be replicated in a digital form which is a game-changer for digital events. There is more pressure now on face to face events to justify why they have encouraged travel and gatherings in person. If you are hosting a face to a face event what are you going to do that you can’t do with digital? How can you justify doing it in person and not online? People do want to attend physical events, but there's got to be a tangible experience that they can't get online, otherwise the event should be hosted online. The metaverse bridges the gap between digital and physical events. Capturing the sustainable and accessible aspects by reducing unnecessary travel and still providing an immersive experience.

The metaverse isn't going to replace in-person events, it's a tool to maximise the interactive experiences in a digital environment where organisers choose to host digital events. It's taking networking and communicating abilities in digital formats to the next level. It allows guests, hosts, attendees, speakers and colleagues to feel like they're in the same room as each other if physically they are on the other side of the world. An attendee can walk into a virtual venue for an exhibition, awards ceremony or conference as they would a physical event. Exhibitors will be able to create virtual exhibition stands and attendees will be able to locate and walk around the exhibition hall virtually.

For businesses that host multiple company meetings and conferences, the metaverse can help increase morale and support a positive company culture where companies operate remotely.

Data Capture

It's already been proven that digital event software provides data capture and analytics that you can't replicate in physical formats. Virtual rooms provide powerful insights into attendee engagement at events. Understanding attendee movement, behaviours, interactions and interests are extremely powerful and enable events to better market to their audiences in the future. Virtual platforms allow you to see exactly how many people attended, what talks were attended, how many conversations were had and the length of conversations. The virtual rooms show you how many people signed up, attended and dropped out halfway through. The metaverse takes data capture one step further by enabling event organisers to view where avatars move around the room, who they talk to and which content they engage with. These metrics and analytics are not only beneficial to the organiser, but they are also extremely desirable to sponsors. Ultimately ongoing sponsor partnerships come down to relationship management and return on investment. Digital data provided from an event enhances targeted marketing and measuring results. This information and insights allow you to better market to attendees and continue to host successful events year on year. More meaningful data enables events to provide relevant and interesting content by understanding what was popular and what wasn't.

There are undoubtedly going to be huge benefits to the events industry. Digital events whether hosted on their own or providing a digital aspect to a physical event are here to stay. The metaverse is all about enhancing communications and digital experiences, businesses who embrace the metaverse for their meetings and events will hold a competitive advantage.

Incorporating the metaverse doesn't mean that you have to completely redefine current business operations but simply how the metaverse will sit within and support current processes. Think of it as the next step to providing inclusive and immersive virtual events. Digital attendees want to feel like their event experience is valued and just as important as those who attend in physical formats. Ultimately the metaverse is a new and exciting way for businesses to connect with their communities.

Claire Singleton

Marketing Manager

Evessio

Evessio for Universities

Claire is the Marketing Manager at Evessio, an industry-leading event management platform for awards, conferences and exhibitions. Claire has years of experience and specialises in marketing event software, marketing events and sponsorship. Claire has a proven track record of re-branding events and implementing strategies that doubled event participation.