A lesson in resilience: The abrupt digital transformation of society conferences in 2020

Abstract

The pandemic can be seen as an opportunity to revisit the justification for conferences and how they should be run to avoid elitism, climate impact, and diversity. 2020 saw a wealth of different approaches to events, including financing, technologies, scheduling, and the meaning of the term ‘live’. Engaging attendees and providing networking opportunities are considered the main obstacle to virtual events, but can social networking lessons help resolve – or even improve – this? It may take some time for online event programming to achieve the right balance of flexibility versus ‘buzz’ to meet a conference's key objectives: knowledge sharing and peer interaction. Live broadcasting is on the rise, but the on-demand video model is gaining popularity as it ensures high-quality presentation recordings and consistency of experience. Over time, technical challenges of online meetings will resolve, with competition leading to more reasonable pricing, customers becoming savvier, and vendors learning from experience.