The event industry has experienced the shift and in-person events are back in the limelight. Virtual and hybrid events have been mainstream lately but now in-person events are back, and event planners and organizers have started preferring in-person events over virtual events. Both in-person and virtual events have their pros and cons and you can choose the format of the event according to your audience and event preferences. Today in this article we are going to explore why in-person events are better than virtual events, how you can enhance your in-person events, and in-person event examples. So let’s dig into the topic.
Overview Of Virtual And In-Person Events
Virtual events are those events that take place online, which means there is personal contact. You host an event online and your audience engages with you virtually in real time. While in-person events are more personal and promote the direct in-person connection between both the host and attendees. These kinds of events have various benefits.
Reasons To Prefer In-person Events Over Virtual Events
So if you are wondering why you should prefer in-person events over virtual events here are a few reasons:
1. Face To Face Interaction
The major disadvantage of virtual events is that these events are online and they lack personal touch but that is not the case with in-person events. In-person events promote personal connection. Organizers and hosts can meet their attendees in person and it creates a better impact.
With in-person events, hosts can better understand how attendees are responding to the event. And a lot of individuals prefer in-person events because they are more fun and make personal interaction easy.
2. Create Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is essential for all brands, some organizers and brands host events just to raise awareness about the brand. In-person events can create buzz about the brand better than virtual events. During an in-person event, all your attendees are present in the venue and brands can use it as an advantage, they can tell a story around the branding. In-person events take place at a specific event and it gives brands and organizers a chance to create a more branded experience for their attendees by using visuals, banners, photo booths, etc for the branding.
3. Better Networking Opportunities
With in-person events come better networking opportunities. During the virtual event, attendees can engage with each other but only through screens. And in in-person events, if attendees want to interact with other attendees having the same ideas and thoughts they can personally interact with each other.
In-person events provide better networking opportunities, attendees can interact with the hosts, and they can even network with presenters and sponsors of the event, so from the networking perspective in-person events are better and individuals usually prefer in-person events over virtual ones for networking.
4. Target Audience
Yes, virtual events have more attendees than in-person events. But here the quality of the audience matters more than quality. In-person events can filter down your audience. Because for an in-person event the attendees have to present at a physical event at a specified date and time so all the participants that will be attending your events will be interested in your events.
They want to be part of the event and they are there for the purpose so in-person events bring better quality to the audience.
5. Attract Sponsors
In-person events attract sponsors. With in-person events, sponsors find an opportunity to interact and engage with their target audience. They can promote their product or service better during the in-person event.
If they are promoting any particular product they can give live demos, the audience can ask questions personally, and they can see the response of the audience in person and that is the reason for in-person events attracting more sponsors. The sponsors can do the branding for them through banners in the venue, they can create high-quality visuals to run at the venue, etc.
Tips To Enhance Your In-Person Event
Here are some in-person event ideas to enhance your in-person events.
1. Select an In-person Platform
The first thing that can elevate your in-person event is an in-person platform. You should choose an in-person platform with some amazing features to make your traditional in-person event more digital and to improve the experience of your audience.
Set a specific budget for your event platform and decide the features that you want in your platform and start looking for the platforms that fit your budget and offer all the features that you are looking for. In-person events have features that can help organizers host question-and-answer sessions, polls, and votes; they can even use these platforms for buying tickets and for making payments. You can customize your platform according to the theme of your event.
2. Choose Online Registration & Ticketing
For an in-person event to make the user journey convenient and seamless you should offer online registrations and tickets. With online registration, most of your attendees will be able to buy the ticket before the event and you will also get the revenue from the tickets before the event.
With online registration, your attendees will not have to wait for hours in the queue to get the tickets. You can use an in-person event platform for the ticketing or you can also go for WhatsApp business automation for offering tickets and registrations.
3. Allow On-site Registrations
Offering online registration and ticketing options for the event will surely make the process of registration and ticketing simple but there can be a possibility that your attendees might not book the ticket in advance or decide to join the event suddenly due to any reason.
In that case, you will have to offer them on-site registration, you can use an event platform for providing quick on-site registration. On-site registration can increase the footfall of the event.
4. QR-Based Check-ins
To make your in-person event more advanced and tech upgrade you can have QR-based check-in at your in-person event venue. When you are offering online registration and tickets you can offer QR-based check-in. Your attendees can get digital tickets and they can use these tickets to scan and check in to the venue. These digital tickets can remove the hassle of the event. Your event attendees don’t have to be in the queue to show their tickets and then enter the venue. They can scan their ticket and enter the venue itself. It will save the time of both organizers and attendees.
5. Stream Your In-person Event
Live streaming is a popular tool for promotion so you can also use the live stream for the in-person event. The in-person event platform that you are using should support live streaming. With live streaming, you will be able to promote your in-person event on a larger scale. Organizers can also use social media platforms for live streaming, through multi-streaming they can live stream their event on various platforms to save time. Live streaming can enhance your event value. You can also save your live stream to share on social media channels.
In-Person Event Examples
Here are some popular examples of in-person events:
1. Conference
One of the best examples of an in-person event is a conference. Conferences are a popular way of attracting a huge crowd at the same time. A conference is a gathering in which a group of individuals takes part to discuss and talk about a specific topic. There are different types of conferences like trade conferences, academic conferences, peace conferences, press conferences, etc. This conference can last for hours, days, or days depending on the size and scope of the conference.
2. Trade Show
The next example of an in-person event is the trade show. Trade shows are those shows in which different companies and brands showcase their new launches of products and services. These trade shows mostly take part in person because they are interactive. Personal interaction matters a lot in trade shows. These trade shows attract an audience that might be interested in the product and services that these brands and companies are offering. These kinds of events can build effective communication between the hosts and attendees.
3. Seminar
You must have heard of the seminar or might have attended one. Seminars take place in person and these are like a meeting of the people who have gathered to talk about a particular topic. Seminars usually have one or two hosts that maintain the flow of the conversation during the session. Companies can also host corporate seminars to enhance teamwork and communication between the team.
4. Product Launch
Product launches are yet another example of an in-person event. Many brands and businesses host product launch sessions. These are great to launch and promote any product. Organizers can host a successful product launch by inviting some influencers, bloggers, press, and other people who can make an impact on the brand. Product launch events attract the target audience of the brand.
The Bottom Line
Nowadays in-person events have overshadowed virtual events. They are versatile and allow organizers to create a branded and personalized user experience. Virtual events have their own set of advantages and disadvantages but still, there are various reasons to prefer in-person events over virtual events. From conferences to trade shows you can host an in-person event for any such occasion.
With virtual events there is no personal touch, the organizer can’t see the expressions and reactions of the attendees but during an in-person event, they can see how the audience is reacting and engaging.
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