Event Industry News

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Top 7 Event Technology Trends for 2023 — Are You Ready to Take the Leap?

Pulling an unfathomable stunt, the event industry adapted to and embraced sudden and unprecedented changes, that consumed the world in the past couple of years, by overcoming the odds. Not only did it survive the pandemic-induced social distancing, but also emerged stronger and flourishing with path-breaking events, be it virtual, hybrid, or in-person and now Metaverse. And, the success can be clearly imputed to the lightning-fast development of intuitive event technologies that surfaced along the way.

Although hybrid and online events proved their mettle during the global crisis, they are now facing tough competition from the long-awaited in-person events, which are back in action and rapidly rising to their former glory. And, amid all these transitions, technology remains a constant which is only pushing the industry towards disruptive innovations.

Why Do You Need to Follow Event Technology Trends?

The tech progress witnessed over the last few years has highlighted how the event industry can weather any storm when enabled with the right solutions. Event technology, since its inception, was majorly confined to automation of tasks at in-person events, with its capabilities branching out at a comparatively slow pace. The need to explore and expand the potential arose when geographical distancing and virtual events created a higher dependency on technology. Managing engagement of attendees, increasing outreach, simplifying data analytics, and taskforce management for event planners needed to be powered by cost effective technologies — while increasing access and opportunities beyond geographic boundaries.

However, tech solutions aren’t some magic potions and with so many innovations all around, it’s imperative to justify why the technologies are crucial in today’s landscape, and how they can help cut back some of the costs and add value to events.

The event technology trends we are talking about are already making a red-carpet entry in the events universe per se — in-person, hybrid, virtual and Metaverse, and in 2023 they are set to positively impact event thought-leadership funnel, performance, results, and the industry’s future.

Top Event Technology Trends for 2023

1. Branded Event App — Having information, updates, and details of events handy at one place or source not only captures the attendees’ undivided attention but also saves their time, ensuring a better and more interactive experience. Event Apps are here to stay and the brains behind them are working to evolve features every single day with a sharp focus on personalization, networking, notifications, and security, accessible right from mobile phones. Serving both sides — the planners and the attendees — a branded event app is, by far, the most sought-after technology for events of all formats — in-person, hybrid, or virtual.

2. Gamification — Virtual fatigue has crept into events sooner than expected and tackling attendee engagement is becoming more important than ever. Gaming mechanics or competitive elements/challenges in the usual modus operandi can deliver an immersive and interactive experience, making attendees feel more involved. Gamification is undoubtedly the best way to keep attendees hooked on current events and ensure their return in future events, because who doesn’t like to show their skills, participate in competitions, enjoy a little limelight, and also WIN some brownie points (sometimes actual incentives)!

3. Live Streaming — Live streaming, especially during hybrid and in-person events, will be one of the most popular event trends of 2023 used extensively for expanding reach to a wider audience through multiple channels, across different demographics, while also generating revenue. In addition to usual live streaming, being able to stream pre-recorded videos during the event at a pre-decided time, avoiding any hiatus or technical glitches, adds so much to the event experience, and the latest technologies are enabling that seamlessly. An example is Simulive which is hosting pre-recorded sessions or streaming them to social media with a live interactive experience, while also sharing them on demand later. In today’s era of event tech revolution, you only have to decide the reach and the target audience, while the technology is already holding the fort!

4. Augmented and Virtual Reality — Integrating AR/VR in events through avatars and holograms can transport virtual event attendees beyond screens to an in-person event experience. These technologies are, in fact, on the verge of unveiling new dimensions for events, with innovative tech solutions like customizable open Metaverse platforms based on Web3. Led by the remote culture, virtual events are here to stay owing to the comfort, convenience, and cost efficiency they provide to the attendees. However, failing to keep up attendee engagement and interest can result in lower attendance, higher costs, and unfavorable results. The rising attendee expectation is carving an additional strategy niche for event planners where delivering immersive experiences through AR/VR has become imperative. Surprisingly, the technology also holds the potential to boost the in-person event experience. Such events can use VR/AR for demonstrations of products that are not transportable, giving a tour of the manufacturing facility located in a different continent, or meeting the top management through avatars or holograms right at the event venue. Imagination here has no bounds!

5. Multilingual/Live Translation — With events conquering geographical barriers and proliferating attendee reach across the globe, using technologies that support translation in multiple languages can pave the way to success, making events more inclusive and far-reaching. Although this forward–thinking feature has its own challenges, it’s worth integrating in events. Imagine the draw of attendees if they know that language isn’t a barrier at an event, and how it can enable event planners to take up the courage of organizing in-person or virtual events worldwide to gather audiences of different dialects.

6. Contactless Check-In — Pandemic or no pandemic, contactless check-in at events is a default setting now, and the sharp drop in long check-in queues and waiting time is the new cool. This has added benefits like cost reduction by eliminating wastage of paper (used in physical tickets) and omitting the need of hiring additional staff to support the check-in process. Attendees can simply scan their e-tickets at all entry points. Automated entries at event booths or rooms also map the movement of attendee data which helps in post-event/during-event data analysis to find out what the attendees are liking or which booth is attracting more crowd. This, in turn, helps in changing or boosting engagement strategies, real-time or for future events.

7. Environment-Friendly Events — Speaking of in-person events, flying over continents to attend an event, deploying teams for post-event cleaning, and disposing of prints, catalogs, and badges, not only are humungous tasks at times but also put a fair amount of burden on the environment. Consequently, the industry in 2023 is looking for more sustainable and environment-friendly event solutions. Going digital instead of printable, enabling highly functional hybrid events to prevent transportation footprints, and managing during-event technologies with recyclable and biodegradable options for staples like disposables and food footprints, all backed by robust technology are going to be not just popular but crucial trends. With discussions intensifying on reversing climate change, greener events supported by advanced event technologies will gain a heightened focus in the days to come.

Embracing these top event technology trends in 2023 and defining an umbrella strategy can tremendously enhance event experiences, which ultimately cater to the foremost agenda of the event which is offering a wholesome immersive experience to the target audience, enabling them to connect with a community they identify with.

Make your 2023 events more impactful, far-reaching, and value-adding with Eventcombo. Explore enterprise solutions at — https://bit.ly/3BX2tUO

Source — Eventcombo — Best Virtual Event Platform

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A New Era for HR — How the Industry Is Leveraging the Metaverse’s Infinite Possibilities

While the global Metaverse market size was estimated to be 63 billion USD back in 2021, a whopping 45.4% of market revenue was accounted for by North America itself. As per forecasts, the market is expected to register a CAGR of 43.2% during the period of 2022 to 2030, then why is the biggest tech-job layoff by Meta linked with Metaverse failure? Will the Metaverse also take the fall for the impending recession expected in 2023 and further layoffs? Or are there greater possibilities yet to be explored and understood?

Haven’t we all pictured HR industry in the Metaverse with visuals of bots and virtual employees replacing humans? Interestingly, just a few months back it seemed too early to assert the possibilities of this technology even with the simultaneous high-velocity rise of AI and ML. In the present day, the Metaverse is already preparing to unquestionably augment all working models going across geographical boundaries.

With the Metaverse integration, the HR industry will undergo a modular shift and become a game-changing facilitator of all HR processes. Facebook (Meta) Metaverse for recruitment of more than 10,000 people in Europe is already underway, and it makes a statement for the future evolution of the HR industry.

Metaverse Is Already Here The transition from Web 1.0 to 2.0 was smooth and almost obscure, with people adopting it in day-to-day lives as if nothing had changed. Even though the Metaverse is in its interim phase, things are quite different with the Web 3.0 transformation and it is destined to bridge the gaps in technology and real-life experiences and become a dominant facet of technology.

Companies like Facebook (Meta), Microsoft, and NVIDIA have jumped on the Metaverse bandwagon and are much more advanced in developing an immersive digital world for significant HR features and models. While Accenture ranks among the top ten Best Companies to work for in the Fortune 500 list, at present all the thunder is stolen by their venturous stride towards onboarding employees in the Metaverse.

How Can the HR Industry Leverage the Metaverse? 1. Boosting Remote Work Efficiency — Remote working has become a norm and widely accepted practice for all professionals today. More than 85% of the remote workforce wants to continue working remotely forever and nearly half of US employees (49%) are experiencing virtual meeting fatigue. The Metaverse will not only resolve this but also improve sensory modality and increase attention with immersive presence in meetings and conferences especially in hybrid and remote work cultures. A person can do a hand-shake, work on a project together, or share documents by hand with a person sitting virtually beside him, no matter where one is geographically placed. Apple has invented a virtual meeting platform that would enable physical hand movements for more interactive meeting sessions.

2. Augmenting Cross-Boundary Hiring — Hiring across boundaries can be simplified with promising opportunities that come with the Metaverse. In context of hiring off-shores, all current technologies still face glitches like trust, performance monitoring, and policy implementations. The Metaverse can redefine the complete hiring process from shortlisting, interviewing, and selection to complete onboarding, training, and development without HR professionals worrying about geographical boundaries and limitations. Leading tech megacaps are putting money into the idea of proposed immersive workspaces in the Metaverse to provide more hands-on experience in upskilling employees through simulator-based training.

3. Prioritizing Mental Health — Remote working came with the disadvantage of a steep rise in mental health concerns due to isolation and no engagement with managers or co-workers. The burnout caused by inability to unplug from work, lacking workplace inspiration, missing a supportive environment led to as high as 75% of HR leaders acknowledging their people are experiencing burnout. The HR industry is at the threshold of discovering path-breaking and pioneering solutions through the Metaverse which can address the mental health of employees with high-functional immersive working spaces. When the employees and workforce in Metaverse are able to work/interact like they would in physical office spaces, HR professionals will be equipped with solutions to pro-actively assist employees on areas that impact mental health like appraisals, harassment, etc.

4. Virtual Workplaces — Building a virtual workplace or headquarters in virtual reality already sounds astounding. Moreover, it is highly interesting to know that the Metaverse technology is being explored with options for engaging without requiring specific headsets or VR tools while providing access from any device, even mobile phones. This would give a new meaning to a virtual workplace where a person need not stay glued to his work desk to stay in the Metaverse. New employee onboarding and virtual office tour offered by Deloitte demonstrate just some of the numerous possibilities the Metaverse can offer around immersive experiences.

5. Recruitment Fairs, Events, Meetings — Although an effective alternative during the pandemic, virtual recruitment fairs missed the core attribute of face-to-face interaction and exploration of human intellect. However, if hosted in the Metaverse, the HR professionals can tap and engage potential leads personally, invite suitable candidates, and explore the other talent pools while saving substantial costs of organizing fairs at multiple geographic locations. As nearly 79% of working professionals believe virtual meetings are equally or even more productive than in-person, immersive meetings can work as a catalyst to elevate the employee experience.

6. Equitable Workspace — Virtual workspaces in the Metaverse can provide an accessible and equitable environment for the employees with no disparity based on their geographical placement. An in-office like infrastructure, work opportunities, and better access to data will be available to all. Whether a new mother is planning to return to work after maternity leave, or someone is looking to make a big switch in their career, the Metaverse can offer open opportunities of seamless synergy between all HR collaterals. Implementing policies and compliances, and adopting reformative changes can become faster, parallelly at all locations promoting an unprejudiced work culture.

The concept of the Metaverse is riveting and can open untrodden yet strategic possibilities for an immersive experience in an alternate digital verse. The technologies for remote work management have significantly handled and stabilized the disruptions in the past two years. With a collective movement by all tech giants across the globe, the Metaverse will only expand the possibilities while adding a personalized human touch which is missing in the current tech infrastructure, especially in the HR industry.

Source — Eventcombo — Best Virtual Event Platform

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Are You Losing Sleep Over Your Event Budget?

When we say a well-organized and goal-oriented budget can make or break your event, we all know we are not exaggerating.

Kickstarting event–planning with a budget eases decision-making at every step. However, laying that very foundation at the outset can be tricky as there often is a constant dilemma due to different variables like

Choosing a great venue to impress attendees or inviting well-known keynote speakers

Sourcing from a good local caterer or bringing in a celebrated chef from outside the region (an idea wrapped up in the planner diary for years!)

Investing in a fancy hotel or spending handsomely on marketing

Such options are just the tip of the iceberg which continues to haunt event planners through multiple event phases. Also, the resurrection of in-person events has been surprisingly quick and so have budget escalations. As the cascading effect of pandemic-induced slowdown and current global inflation trickles down to invisible costs, event professionals are restless and overwhelmed more than ever.

Why Is It Crucial to Create an Event Budget? Before we start on how to create an effective event budget, let’s focus on the WHYs behind it 1. To determine costs for staffing, accommodation, caterers, entertainment, signages, and every event expense cluster. 2. To mitigate bottlenecks by identifying probable contingencies that may arise in due course and planning reasonable fund allocation. 3. To be able to bargain with vendors well in advance to increase the odds of bagging maximum discounts and strategize long-term commitments with them. 4. To report and convince stakeholders about event budget approvals and prevent last-minute sanction requests. 5. To develop the right marketing plan which becomes easier when the budget figures are available. It allows room for prioritizing marketing collaterals from the very beginning. 6. To attract sponsors who are more likely to trust and agree when the event strategy and takeaways align with their dollar and cents reports.

Moving further, now the spotlight question for event planners is how to create an event budget that is easy to

Implement

Follow

Track

Improvise

A Complete Guide to Creating an Event Budget Glaring Excel sheets, chattering keyboards, and event planners rummaging cluelessly through event data after locking an event with a client is a usual vista.

Honestly, there is no rule book or step-by-step event budgeting guide that can walk you through the process. The concepts of budgeting are pretty much relative to event dimensions that differ for every event organizer. However, understanding the basics of event budgeting can help planners organize profitable and impactful events.

To begin with budgeting, as a first step, you need some well-researched data Past Event Stats — Analyze which activities missed the budget, which process surprised by being cost-effective, and which activities did not garner attendee attention. Current Trends — Explore, explore and explore. New venues, hospitality, trending topics, and event technologies. Contacting Vendors — Even if it is the first time and there are no figures to start with, use industry samples or directly ask vendors to create your base data.

The hardest part of event budgeting is to understand where to start.

Having reasonable baseline numbers is imperative to draw a realistic budget. Say, one chooses to use energy cost estimates from 2020 to create budgets for 2023. While the energy costs have skyrocketed in the interim, won’t it blow up the budget even before it starts?

To create a tractable event budget, it crucial to cover the following primary pointers 1. Event Goals and Strategy — A robust and holistic strategy that encompasses all event goals is the foremost requirement to start on the right track with budgeting. Unless the goal, let’s say brand awareness or generating leads, is not locked even a million-dollar budget cannot help in making the event successful and measuring specific outcomes. Also, defined objectives are pre-requisite for purpose-driven allocation of budgets for different expense categories.

2. Variable Event Costs — Event planners have some obvious arrangements to make, like the spread of food and beverages, hospitality, transportation, and accommodation. Incorporating sustainability elements in all cost-centers, which is also now the foremost focus across the event industry, also helps. Also, there are costs that are not essential to an event but can play a key role in elevating attendee experience. Given their changeable attribute, the chances of curbing expenses in these categories can go higher with negotiations, pre-bookings, and proper research.

Food & Beverage Costs — Managing costs from a food footprint perspective is not only a ground-breaking move towards sustainability but also puts a break on unnecessary experiments on cuisines, food wastage due to low attendance, and over-sourcing from a remote location. The US Department of Agriculture reports that the food price index increased 11.2 % in 2022, with the expectation of climbing another 3–4% in 2023.

Staffing — Labor shortages triggered by the pandemic, along with the great resignation and recession have spiked costs, especially in the hospitality sector. With most industry workers moving to other industries in search of opportunities in a more stable environment, cost of hiring staff for events has significantly moved up. Also, as the entire event experience is dependent on staffing, decisions for number of staff required and facilities serviced through them is crucial for focused budget allocation and planning.

Logistics and Accommodation — Adopting sustainability, cost-efficient models, and planning intelligence can be the key to cut-off quite a large list of expenses in this group. Opting for a venue that uses solar power for energy, are close to airports (reduces logistics costs), and source local food (reduces food costs), along with flexible booking options, can be game-changers. Post-pandemic planners are hesitant to book too early due to uncertainties, whereas on the other hand many hotels now bill surcharge for last-minute bookings. It is highly recommended to make sure these aspects are openly discussed and inked before making any bookings.

3. Contingency Budgets — Prudently, 15–20% of the budget must be set-aside as a cushion for emergencies. There were no contingencies, said no event planner ever. Hidden costs and sudden crisis may come knocking without warning and to make sure the event flow is not affected, keeping a separate vault (fund) is absolutely essential.

4. Marketing and PR — Event promotion and PR costs depend on the type of event — whether it is a large event or an internal meet. What is the attendee demographic? Will it require more paid ads? Such questions must be addressed before allocating the marketing budget. Also, if the ticket size is big, event promotion budget will need more fuel to convince people to register and attend the event.

5. Event Technology — Penetrating deep into all event aspects, event technology is now available for almost all processes, be it attendee matchmaking, accessing digital marketplaces, live streaming, or budget management. Allocating event budget towards latest event technologies is crucial for an event’s success as they can seamlessly

Automate spends

Track pre-negotiated prices

Provide a holistic view of overall budget

Notify if the budget for any single element crosses the limit

Save costs through online check-ins, reduced staff requirements, etc.

In a nutshell, planners need to invest in event technologies that reduce efforts and bring ease of operations.

6. Mandatory Costs Whether the event is in-person, virtual, hybrid, or in the Metaverse, there are certain costs that are fixed and the trick lies in the negotiating skills of event organizers. Some of such areas include:

a. Speakers and hosts b. Music and entertainment c. Agency or event planner fees

Event industry professionals are battling everyday with rising costs of events. Achieving target ROI is harder than ever and sharpening planning and negotiation skills are crucial. With the changing trajectory of the industry, integrating event processes with these event budgeting tips can form a checklist or a foundation for elaborate budgeting for professionals who are new as well as experienced in event budgeting.

Source — Eventcombo

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6 Ideas to Start Making Your Events Sustainable in 2023

Net-zero sustainability trends, climate-positive initiatives, and eco-friendly approaches are intensifying rapidly in the event industry as we are moving back to in-person events. The annual ICE report states 59% of industry stakeholders believe sustainability remains the biggest challenge for event management businesses going into 2023.

Sustainable event management is about making events greener with nature-conscious processes at cost-neutral basis. While virtual events have instilled the idea of sustainability in events, the responsibility to continue the practice through in-person events becomes even more important.

Efficient sustainable event management, when done the right way, is capable of

Expanding event reach to a wider audience

Establishing brand identity

Scaling down carbon footprints

Reducing costs

The Difference Between Sustainability and Environment-Friendly Often mistaken for eco-friendliness, it is important to know that sustainability is a broader term that includes multiple smaller concepts. Here, the key concern is most people interpret sustainability only from an environmental perspective while omitting social and economic considerations.

Also, there are certain misconceptions that state an environment-friendly approach costs more. Well, here is the catch! Sustainable events take into account the environment, keeping a close tab on strategizing all efforts to reduce the overall costs of events or incorporate cost-neutral green practices.

Based on preconceived notions, there are some obvious questions about what exactly is sustainable event management. To understand event sustainability, one needs to start with its basic principles which begin with accepting the responsibility of embracing

Pro-environment practices

Social responsibilities

Thriving economic practices

Keeping these principles as a preface facilitates organizers and planners to cover multiple areas of sustainability while hosting events. Here are some ways we can improve sustainability which you can start implementing right away.

1. Look for a Venue with Green Credentials — The event venue is a significant determinant for hosting sustainable events because they are the biggest resource-consumers, be it water, energy, or even food (if you use their catering). As the concept has been recently grabbing more attention, finding venues that are accredited might seem challenging. However, with rising number of in-person events the onus to choose venues that adhere to sustainability concepts such as water filtering, waste sorting stations, and solar energy systems, lies on event planners’ shoulders. Suppose the geographic location of the event is cost-optimum but the venues do not have accreditation certificates, in that case, you can include sustainable practice codes in the request for proposals (RFP) and supplier contracts. Sending RFPs in advance also facilitates better negotiations.

2. Avoid Single-Use Plastic — As the world arms itself in the war against single-use plastic, biodegradable and recyclable products are the strongest weapons for winning the green initiative. In the United States, 73% of plastic waste ends up in landfills, which takes up to 500 years to decompose and in-person events have long been facing backlash from environmentalists for being large centers of plastic waste. Solutions like offering water stations instead of plastic water bottles, a complete ban on plastic spoons, straws, or even single-use plastic event décor can help in maintaining sustainability protocols. It is very crucial to understand that fancy and expensive things aren’t mandatory. Instead, investing in reusable cutlery, signages, and décor resolves both environmental and cost concerns.

3. Go Digital — The world survived digitally during the pandemic and the event industry evolved, establishing a new era. Contactless check in, QR scanners, digital tickets and registration forms are already picking the pace across all event formats. Using digital notepads, white screens, and electronic signages instead of vinyl banners (to reduce prints) can contribute significantly to sustainability of events. Digital notepads or screens are one-time purchases and their reuse can reduce the cost for future events. Event planners can go one step further with event apps for the distribution of event information to create an innovative, better, and more sustainable experience for all.

4. Reduce Food Waste — Minimizing food wastage is the primary social and environmental responsibility of all. Food wastage isn’t just about the cost paid to the caterer. Considering the amount of energy and costs that go in harvesting and transporting, in absolute terms the highest procurement cost can be attributed to food. Managing food footprints in events is possible with intelligent and conscious menu planning. To save big bucks and control food wastage

Have a spread that is resourced locally

Ask for dietary requirements and confirm final numbers beforehand

Under cater (about 10–20%) depending upon the type of attendees

Create a practical menu that doesn’t require managing restrictions like meat preferences or allergies

Check for food donation options in the local area.

Food budget in events is a big bite and going reasonably lean on catering can help you offset the cost of waste disposal.

5. Plan for Waste Management — Waste management can be challenging and requires robust fore planning to ensure it does not break your event budget. As attendees flock back to in-person events, the demand for on-site waste management and off-site waste disposal has immensely increased. Talk to your vendors and caterers if they have a composting sites or recycling plants, and in case they don’t, connect with charities or non-profit organizations to donate leftovers.

Encourage your guests to support green initiatives throughout the event. For instance, carrying own-refillable water bottles and metal straws is gaining popularity. The hosts can create a campaign for guests to follow such practices and get incentives.

6. Design Transportation Management — CO2 emissions are at an all-time high, and in-person events claiming their place back on the map call for immediate measures. In fact, most people are eagerly looking forward to completely going back to offline events. What can event organizers do about it? Well, a lot actually. Choosing a venue close to airports, offering eco-friendly transport systems, e-bikes, and carpooling can cut down instant emissions. Also, you can set a limit for CO2 emission for each event and target to reduce it with every new event.

Suppose a delegate has to fly across 3 continents to attend the event. As an event planner, you must think — can it be done as a hybrid event to save transportation footprints? You can also choose an event venue where public transport is readily available and incentivize their usage.

With growing cognizance of stakeholders, the focus on tailoring sustainability in line with business models is becoming imperative for event professionals. Every effort made towards greener, resource-optimizing, community-supportive, and cost-effective event contributes to sustainable events. When proactively embraced by everyone involved in or affected by the event lifecycle, especially the industry- leaders, sustainable event management can change the face of the industry while making the world a better place to live in.

Looking to explore Metaverse? Dive into the very first Web3 open marketplace — Eventiverse™

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5 Ways the Metaverse Will Change the Way We Work

Throughout history, the advancement of technology has made our lives easier.

Mechanization has improved working conditions, automation has given us more free time, and computing has facilitated global communication.

Where once we had to dial up a switchboard and ask to be connected, we now have virtual PBX systems that give us multi-channel solutions to all our communication problems.

So, what is the next step in technological evolution?

According to many experts, it’s the Metaverse.

Stephenson’s Metaverse was a virtual reality that people could access via goggles or terminals and live out their lives in cyberspace.

Now, global tech pioneers are clamoring to bring that fictional vision to life. To create a virtual/augmented reality universe where people from all over the world can come together to share a reality, work together, have events, learn, socialize, and do so much more.

At Facebook Connect 2021, Mark Zuckerberg defined the Metaverse as, “an embodied internet where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it.” He went on to say, “we’ll be able to feel present like we’re right there with people no matter how far apart we actually are. We’ll be able to express ourselves in new, joyful, completely immersive ways.”

How Will We Embody the Metaverse? VR (virtual reality) technology already exists.

Currently, its main use is in gaming; you put on a headset, grab your controllers, and enter a digital world where you might solve puzzles, fight bad guys, or be thoroughly jump-scared.

The Metaverse is set to expand this virtual world to every aspect of our lives.

1. Learning–virtual classrooms and training courses.

2. Socializing–remember Zoom happy hours? Imagine a more immersive experience where you share a virtual reality with your friends and family instead of just a screen.

3. Healthcare–virtual appointments, as well as VR training for healthcare professionals.

4. Entertainment–attend concerts and conventions without the expense of travel and accommodation.

5. Fitness–virtual gyms with personalized trainers, or beautifully crafted worlds that allow you to feel like you’re running or biking outdoors.

6. Commerce–virtual stores offering highly-personalized shopping experiences.

And finally and perhaps most transformatively, work.

Five Ways the Metaverse Will Change the Way We Work

1. Virtual workspaces The COVID-19 pandemic changed a lot of things about the world, –but especially how we work.

It’s safe to say that we’ve all learned a thing or two about ourselves these past few years.

There is a renewed focus on mental health, workplace health and safety, and work-life balance emerging. We’re more aware of our vulnerabilities than ever. We understand that our mental and physical health suffers when we’re anxious, isolated, and restricted.

This has led to a deeper craving for flexible working environments, and a widespread need for more remote solutions to our jobs.

The Metaverse is a solution to our modern working expectations and needs, providing an opportunity to improve your digital employee experience.

You can don a headset and enter a virtual workplace where your team can come together, look each other in the eye, and collaborate.

You can be at work, developing your phone system with international calling, from the comfort of your living room.

One example that already has legs is Meta Horizons. Being a pioneer in the business of virtual reality, Meta has developed thousands of digital worlds around their Meta Quest headset. You just create an avatar and jump right into your new workplace.

Other companies are developing similar technologies, paving the way for all industries to offer their staff hybrid working environments with more flexibility and collaboration than ever before.

Imagine being able to put on a VR headset and enter a conference room filled with your colleagues from all around the world. It looks and feels like you’re physically embodying that space, with no screens, microphones, or keyboards to detach you from that experience.

2. Diversify Workplaces The Metaverse is anywhere and everywhere.

It will allow companies to hire from a global pool of talent, bringing together people from all different walks of life.

Diversity is conducive to innovation, so imagine what a worldwide team of people could accomplish if given the right tools to seamlessly come together.

From email services to VoIP apps, technology is vital to the way we communicate. The Metaverse goes one step further by breaking down the walls of time zones, geographical locations, and even language barriers.

3. Education and Training The Metaverse offers a new way to train professionals by providing an unprecedented level of immersion.

Whole battlefields can be created in the Metaverse, allowing soldiers to hone their skills in a safe environment that also prepares them for real-life situations.

Virtual manufacturing lines where staff can be trained on machinery without risk to themselves and problems can be discovered and rectified without wasting precious resources.

Industries all over the world are adopting virtual reality for education purposes. From pilot training to testing a mobile app to seminars, virtual worlds offer you an entirely immersive learning experience.

The Metaverse is safer, allows for better trial and error, and produces less waste.

4. Conferences, Conventions, and Meetings The Metaverse offers a new way to host people, from the smallest meetings to the biggest events.

The costs and logistics of planning work conferences can be vast. There’s the location, travel, accommodation, catering, and safety of putting dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people in one space.

Virtual events considerably lower costs and alleviate safety concerns, but they can suffer due to a sense of detachment. Actually, being there is an experience that can’t be replicated through a screen.

The Metaverse allows you to walk around, speak with your peers, attend seminars and talks, and even visit booths.

And there are tools to make your stay even more productive. You can record events and replay them at your convenience so that you never miss a piece of important information. Talks can be AI transcribed on the fly for more efficient note-taking. And live language interpretation makes language barriers a thing of the past.

5. Creating New Jobs New technology creates new jobs.

Building VR hardware and coding virtual realities are just a couple of new avenues of employment.

JP Morgan has opened a bank in the Metaverse called Onyx, which moves banking to a decentralized blockchain. Boeing has stated that their next line of planes will be developed in the Metaverse. BMW has created its Omniverse, where cars are designed and virtually manufactured to improve safety before they’re brought into the real world.

The Metaverse could alleviate many pain points related to remote employee onboarding and management, opening up new ways of approaching HR.

The Metaverse brings us new challenges such as hybrid working environments, where employee onboarding and training are entirely remote. This forces us to consider new ways of approaching HR and employee management.

It’s no wonder that brands like Microsoft, Nvidia, and, of course, Facebook/Meta are investing so heavily in the Metaverse.

But there are problems to solve.

1. Environmental Impact Sustainability is on everyone’s mind, and the computing power required to run virtual worlds is vast. The development of cloud application architectures can cut down on the hardware required to run web3, but power consumption is still a problem.

2. Hardware Currently, VR hardware is heavy and bulky. The headsets are known to cause nausea and headaches in some people due to motion sickness. To seamlessly inhabit the Metaverse, the hardware involved needs to be much less intrusive and debilitating.

3. Cost VR headsets can range anywhere from $200 all the way up to $2,000. For most of us, even low-end hardware is a big expense. If proponents of the Metaverse want widespread adoption, manufacturers will need to find ways to make access more affordable.

4. Security The Metaverse is uncharted territory. With any unmapped landscape, security threats are new and emerging.

Virtual worlds blur the line between digital space and reality, which could lead to online scams becoming more efficient, more personal, and more consequential. Increasing amounts of our personal data could put us at risk as we inhabit these new worlds.

These issues haven’t curbed the Metaverse’s appeal, though

Across the top 10 virtual platforms, $1.9 billion worth of virtual real estate has been purchased.

Tech experts are working tirelessly to locate and solve problems, develop better hardware, and make virtual worlds more enticing than ever.

The Metaverse will very likely change the future of work, commerce, education, and entertainment forever.

Source — Eventcombo

[eventindustrynews]

The Art of Data-Driven Storytelling in Events

The most primitive form of communication, used over centuries by humans, is the use of visuals and stories. No wonder, everyone is intrigued by data-driven storytelling which is gaining unprecedented prominence across industries. The growing market response is supported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates that reveal a 22% demand growth for Data Analysts through 2030, which is much higher than the average.

Speaking of the event industry, the changing trends and expectations are making data-driven storytelling more and more significant in designing events. From developing marketing campaigns or pitching the C-suite attendees, to actually executing the event followed by detailed analysis, in every step, data depicted by stories is easy to comprehend, consume, and understand.

Why is Data-Driven Storytelling Important? To do something with perfection and conviction, the most important requisite is to ask WHY, because until the WHY behind the context is unknown, the roadmap to the goal cannot be created.

Why does the event industry need to transition into using more data-driven storytelling?

Why does data-driven storytelling have a greater impact?

Humans are hardwired to make decisions based on logic and emotions, and a coherent storyline can bridge the gap between these two in a way that rattling numbers and dual-tone spreadsheets cannot. Data stories ensure that the data is understood in the right context by the right people, making them capable enough to process complex business information.

Components of a Good Data Story Irrespective of where you are using a data story, be it for an in-house round-table presentation, communicating with customers or your workforce, narrating a brand story, event marketing, or product promotions, data stories can leave an indelible impression. While visualization and AI can deliver decision-driving-worthy information to users, adding the feature of storytelling can simplify it even further.

Data — Accurate and complete data is paramount, to begin with. What differentiates big data from the right data is that the latter is sorted as per user perspective and ramified into descriptive, predictive, and diagnostic. A mammoth amount of data collected over an event life-cycle might not be relevant for everyone until classified in line with the requirements of the decision-makers or the target audience.

Visuals — Visualization has been popularly changing data interpretation for more than a decade as it renders life to the data. The reason is apparent — exquisite visual representation of an event’s data enables faster analysis and prompts corresponding actions, making data an influential element rather than just a bunch of plain figures and charts.

Narrative — The insights on data are communicated through a solid narrative, verbally or in writing. In the concept of data-driven storytelling, the narrative is the decerning determinant of its rightly-hyped lasting impact on the users, as it efficiently communicates the context with data insights, while inspiring and initiating a call to action from the customer, internal teams, or management.

Data-Driven Storytelling in Events Events are intrinsically data-driven stories, whether they are in-person events or virtual, where data is shared with attendees in the form of information, visuals by way of keynotes or exhibition booths, and narrative by way of product features/know-how.

Now imagine how much potential the data, collected throughout the event, have to redefine decision-making for organizers, planners, and attendees.

1. Understand Your Target Audience — The objective of data-driven storytelling differs with different sets of audiences. It is possible that out of the same data, different stories need to be narrated as per the audience type. For instance, let’s consider attendees of an upcoming event and the previous event. In this case, the data can be woven into a story by, say, the sales team in the context of their current strategy by identifying what changed between the current and previous event attendees. Also, the same set of data can be spun into different stories based on the targeted ROIs.

2. Follow the Storytelling Curve — Like all stories, it is highly crucial to contextualize the data and create a compelling narrative with a broad context. The path is — to understand, visualize, and craft. If you are creating a story for the marketing team, it can branch out into many sub-narratives. Let’s just say a marketing budget report’s insight into a specific problem or opportunity (like low-performing google ads and leads) raises the interest of the listeners. Further, when the story deep-dives into solutions (how to gain more leads through emails or Twitter ads) and countermeasures, the decision-makers will have a clear picture of what to do and remember the actions recommended.

3. Strictly Monitor Sample Bias — To have data graphed out is great, however, it is equally critical to monitor it is not biased. Biased data can skew into a conservative narrative or worse, exhibit a predominantly inaccurate and prejudiced story. It is rhetoric to mention that the conclusions must not be drawn beyond what the data states and supporting the claim with insights is a must. Keeping a check on the sample bias with an open mind is a critical part of weaving data stories. Suppose, event organizers are comparing the attendee count on a YOY basis focusing only on ads and marketing. The aspects of the post-event survey, if not included in the narrative, will obviously lead to wrong conclusions.

Data-driven storytelling is gradually becoming an imperative in events, that requires heightened focus. With the event industry market size estimated to grow at a CAGR of 11.1% from 2022 to 2028, and the competition electrifying with every passing day, the key to success lies in the hands of those who master this art. Also, considering the vast amounts of analyzed data required and demanded by all event collaterals, channelizing the data into weaving powerful stories is something that truly has the potential to transform event experiences.

Explore a new dimension for events and so much beyond https://bit.ly/3WNo2PH

Source — Eventcombo

[eventindustrynews]

Revamp Your Town Hall Experience with Eventcombo

Whether the reason is a remote workforce or multiple departments and hierarchies spread across diverse locations, the possibility of top management’s one-on-one interaction with teams for assembling updates, conveying results, and sharing feedback are often rare in many organizations. And that’s where virtual town hall meetings take the wheel as a company event to drive organization-wide alignment and construct a powerful channel to make employees feel connected and valued.

As more and more organizations are going global virtually, with teams dispersed across continents, establishing a meaningful connection has become challenging. Being a part of meetings/events where the CEO discusses company statistics and plans future goals like an in-person round table with the staff cultivates a sense of belongingness. Also, in today’s fast-paced world where enterprises face drastic changes, be it in terms of market demands or employee expectations, virtual town hall meetings can help companies bond with their employees and navigate projects and goals with an aligned and shared vision.

A Quick Checklist for a Classic Virtual Town Hall Framework Event technology and event planning go hand-in-hand. Whether you choose to do a traditional town hall or bring innovative facets to the meeting, crossing out the classic town hall checklist ensures an interactive and immersive experience.

Some enterprises choose to hold one every week, and some do it monthly, quarterly, or bi-annually because town hall meetings are organized based on needs, situations, and company sizes.

1. Planning Time Zones — As town hall meetings are about hassle-free collaborations and engagement, it is tricky to fixate on a common time that works for all the teams settled in different time zones. The only thumb rule is the town hall should add value for the whole company, which is only possible if all the members can participate.

2. Planning the Meeting Agenda — It is paramount for the town hall agenda to be specific, enlightening, and not repetitive. As everyone spends an hour or more of their schedule, the context should be downright explicit and discernible, because honestly, every attendee expects interaction and not conference room presentations. To make things interesting, inviting a guest speaker, having the CEO talk about new company objectives, and discussing change-management work surprisingly well garner attention.

3. Invitation to Employees — A town hall invitation must be employee-centric too, to make them feel valued, heard, and involved. For concluding a town hall successfully and rewarding the efforts of organizing the event, it is essential that employees and teams are enthusiastically inclined to be a part of it. Reminders through push notifications highlighting the agendas and possible key takeaways are crucial.

4. Inviting Q&A in Advance — Two-way communication is pivotal for an exemplary interactive event as no one wants awkward pauses or one-way communications (you’d know what we are talking about). However, to make the Q&A session seamless, having questions collected in advance may help. Anonymous Q&A with CEO can be fun and intriguing at the same time.

5. Test Drill — We cannot press more on the fact that a test drill of the event is a must. The content, presenters’ papers, graphics, event software, connectivity, equipment, and everything that goes together must be tested, with a plan B for all collaterals in place.

6. Keeping Attendees Engaged — Sending out invitations followed by thoughtful push notifications is helpful in setting the right expectations for attendees. Live polls, Q&A sessions, open discussions on concerns with top management, and sharing feedback are expected town hall activities. Adding games and fun activities, celebrating achievements, and recognizing employees for their good work are great ice-breakers for the teams.

7. Choosing the Right Technology — Having said that, how would you differentiate a typical white-screen meeting from an immersive virtual town hall? The right technology and event software can do that with a clear boundary between a bland event and an unforgettable one.

Eventcombo’s Annual Town Hall 2022 Eventcombo, the leading provider of 360-degree immersive event technology driven by a forward-thinking team, recently organized its virtual annual town hall meeting in 2022 where teams from different geographies joined and thoroughly enjoyed. Hosted on its very own virtual event platform Fireworks™, the event delivered a memorable experience that was weaved around two main agendas

a) To bring together all team members and experience an interactive year-end meeting to reflect upon the year’s successes, milestones, and learnings, and plan for the coming year.

b) To organize an experience-centric virtual corporate event in real-time through the Fireworks™ platform.

Revamp Your Company Town Hall with Fireworks™

1. Multiple Event Modes — Choose different modes that work for your organizational town hall structure and desired experience.

2. Recording — Build a library of town hall recordings for post-town hall follow-up. You can share the recording with teams on demand and create a rippling impact.

3. Virtual Lobby — Display your complete town hall agenda, speakers, and schedules for attendees for easy navigation and increased engagement.

4. Interactive Live Streaming — Q&A, live polls, digital keynote speaker, live or pre-recorded sessions, and downloadable collaterals like PDFs, white papers, and images can push the whole experience a notch up.

5. Unlimited Custom Rooms — The town hall often initiates private conversations. Private chat rooms to carry forward one-to-one meetings/discussions surfacing during the town hall are a breeze when unlimited custom rooms are available with Fireworks™ Pallete.

6. Maximum Engagement with Gamification — Climax the town hall fun and entertainment by organizing contests and incentivizing them through a point-based system.

Virtual town hall meetings have the potential to rediscover and improvise virtual workspaces with better conversations, which eventually bridge the gaps in the company culture. All-hand, meetings are essential to bringing together scattered teams. Ensuring these meetings don’t become boring one-way conversations, the cutting-edge event technology platform Fireworks™ can certainly steal the show.

Find out how to conduct your next virtual town hall meeting https://bit.ly/3Y1Mkqu

Source — Eventcombo

[eventindustrynews]

Eventcombo Introduces New Attendee Event App — Changing In-Person Events Forever

Delving further into technology led by convenience and robustness, Eventcombo introduces a new attendee Event App experience. Changing the face of how In-person events are perceived and experienced.

Event organizers are always on the lookout to make things simpler and expect significant capabilities to be available at their attendees’ fingertips. Event App does just that with some extraordinary enhanced tools designed from an attendee’s perspective. Loaded with features and a product of the revolutionary juggernaut, the Event App is set to make events more impactful, far-reaching, and successful.

The Event App is created with a vision to torchlight the course of integrating attendees into the onsite event experience with a hyper-personalized dashboard and real-time operational feature updating.

Single sign-on into the Event App dashboard opens a profusion of directly manageable features.

1. Reach Out to the Audience with Unlimited Push Notifications — While the average email open rate is as low as 21.33% across industries, the push notification read rate is 50% higher than email marketing. As it is tactical to keep your audience updated in real-time, having unlimited push notifications to schedule for later or send in real-time is an absolute game changer. With the Event App, it is surprisingly simple to send pre-event reminders, during event reminders, countdowns, and other important updates directly to attendees’ mobile phones.

2. Personalize the App to the T — Eccentric personalizing options make the app look like a part of the brand’s extension. The Wrapper feature enables customization of the background of the app dashboard for full private labeling without the cost. Users can create a theme, use company-approved images, backgrounds and logos, and add a creative brand tone to the app. Also, the app dashboard offers customization for button designs, font, and color, to deliver a leading attendee-navigation and interactive UI.

3. Achieve 360-Degree Attendee Engagement — The app has an impressive pool of top-interactive features serving multiple purposes, starting from attendee engagement to acing the event’s success metric.

4. Powerful Live Feature Tools — Manage, create, and edit unlimited live polls during the event with an easy-to-operate dashboard UI and release live poll results instantly. Create a higher speaker and content engagement strategy with elaborate moderator features to handle/prompt Q&A anytime during the event or speaker sessions.

Not all surveys may fit every attendee class. The app feature allows you to create unlimited surveys with unlimited questions. Design surveys that gather precise and constructive feedback without any package limitations. Allow/disallow chatting with attendees, viewing attendee profiles and connecting offline with fellow attendees Matchmaking — allow attendees to connect based on mutual interests and business drivers

5. Go Incognito with Attendee and Sponsor Lists — The Event App offers an option to hide attendee and sponsor lists with a single switch button at the organizer’s end.

6. Invite to Event App — Send invitations to log into the Event App through the ‘Invite to Event App’ feature, attendees can easily jump into the event without requiring a login and instead use a secure magic link

7. Direct Attendee Features — A complete venue map can be embedded to enable attendees to navigate through the event. Also, attendees can upload their own banners with profile pictures in the app. They can also have all their upcoming event list, event information, and session schedules on their mobile phones, making their event-attending process seamless.

Integrating Community by Eventcombo

In addition to the above, what else sets Event App apart from others is the integrated Community model. Each event can be linked to the Community feature of EventcombEventcombo to take networking beyond events. The community members can use the Event App community extension as a closed social media group to post about the event, share reviews, and exchange ideas. Consider it a private LinkedIn for the Event, exclusive to the organizer that can be coupled with any event they organize. You can view member profiles, and their posts and derive information for networking.

Simplifying interactions and integration for event organizers, planners and executors, the Event App is an indispensable part of event planning.

Get the Event app to upgrade your next event experience. Available for Android and iOS users.

Source — Eventcombo

[eventindustrynews]

The State of Virtual Meetings in the Metaverse: What HR Needs to Know

For years now, virtual interactions have been made possible through video games such as Roblox and Minecraft. Things are about to change, though. The metaverse is about more than just fun and games.

The term “metaverse” first appeared in a science-fiction novel called “Snow Crash.” In Neal Stephenson’s 1992 novel, humans used avatars to interact with each other in a 3D virtual space.

In the novel, a katana-wielding hero jumps between the real world and the metaverse to save humankind.

In our world, though, it’s more likely to be used to host a virtual business meeting discussing an inventory forecast, for example. Less exciting, perhaps, but much more useful.

Virtual worlds are currently under construction. Organizations and individuals have spent nearly $2bn on virtual real estate in the last 12 months. People explore these worlds and interact with each other via AR and VR technology.

These technologies aren’t new. The origins of VR go way back to the 1980s. AR goes even further back to the 1960s. A Harvard computer scientist first tinkered with a rudimentary head-mounted display in 1968. What’s new is how these technologies are used in combination with the internet.

The biggest ambition of the metaverse is to close the gap between real and virtual worlds. Businesses have relationships with people from all over the world. They’ve been communicating, often video conferencing for free, using various technologies for years now. The metaverse stands to change how that happens.

Imagine if you could tour a factory in China before lunch, then meet a client in Switzerland that afternoon. That’s what the metaverse can allow you to do. You can put on a headset to see a live feed from a drone you’re piloting in the factory. Then you can meet in a virtual office with your Swiss client. It’s possible to do all this from your own office or even from home.

How Could a Business Use the Metaverse? It’s safe to say the metaverse will have a heavy impact on conference room setup for video conferencing. It could eliminate it entirely.

How a business uses the metaverse depends on many factors. How big is the company? What industry is the company in? How many employees do they have? Nearly every business will find a way to utilize the metaverse in the future.

1. Building Virtual Office Space Larger companies will build their own virtual offices. This will provide a virtual space for remote workers. They’ll collaborate more easily than is possible with current remote working arrangements. As things stand, it’s an expensive undertaking. The computing power required makes it unaffordable for small-to-medium businesses.

2. Metaverse Office Space as a Service An alternative to building a virtual office is using a pre-built one instead. Meta, formerly Facebook, introduced Horizon Workrooms in 2021. Users can configure the space as they see fit. So this is flexible enough to be huddle room technology, as well as conferencing technology.

There are other companies exploring this space too. Some can provide bespoke designs for a virtual office. This is great for companies that wish to use the flexibility of remote working while maintaining a strong brand and work culture. These more tailored services come at a higher cost, of course.

What Does the Metaverse Mean for HR? We’ve been talking a lot about virtual worlds but at the centre of it are real people. The HR department still has a duty of care to the company’s employees. Additionally, it must be able to help the business achieve its goals. This is as true in the metaverse as it is in the real world. That said, the metaverse may prove to be a game-changer for HR.

1. Hiring Metaverse-Ready Personnel HR plays an important part in the recruitment of talent. Businesses will need to consider the metaverse when hiring. It’s still early days for the metaverse, so people may not be all that familiar with it.

Training will need to be provided to current and new employees. Expectations for how workers conduct themselves should be laid out. HR must have a role in drawing up policies around the use and implementation of virtual offices.

The metaverse will also be an excellent recruitment tool. HR will be able to conduct virtual interviews, allowing a higher volume of candidates. Orientation presentations will be more impactful for new employees if held in VR. Businesses will be able to test candidates’ abilities using virtual mock-ups of the tasks they’ll be undertaking.

2. Creating a Safe Environment The metaverse has a foundation built on the exchange of large amounts of data. An advantage of businesses creating their own virtual office is they control how they handle data. Data security is vital, and employee data handled by HR must be secured.

Those who use virtual offices built and run by others must check the provider’s privacy policies. Meta’s Horizon Workrooms, for example, promises to never use or store the audio of conversations that take place in their virtual offices. The only exception to this is if the user must send a clip as part of a bug report. They’ll then delete the audio after resolving the issue.

3. Considering Differently Abled Team Members Much of the technology that’s required to use the metaverse is designed for those with full use of their sensory functions. Businesses often have employees with differing abilities when it comes to seeing and hearing. HR teams must support these individuals to help them get to grips with the metaverse.

There are solutions available. Speech-to-text software can ensure those with hearing problems can take part in meetings. Those with sight problems can be provided with improved-quality headsets, such as those made by Acesight. These are designed with low-vision people in mind.

Even with the technologies available, in big meetings, there can be a lot of cross-talk. This can make it challenging for those with disabilities to keep up. HR should encourage leaders to be conscious of this issue during virtual office meetings. They must work with leadership and employees to build a framework for conducting effective large-scale meetings.

The metaverse will provide a better sense of togetherness for teams working remotely. However, it’s not equivalent to face-to-face interaction. Hybrid working can contribute to a sense of isolation. Employees can sometimes work in unhealthy ways, being unable to separate work and home life.

HR should conduct check-ins with those working through the metaverse for extended periods. They must find out if there’s anything the business can do to help alleviate undue pressures. This may be a simple matter of rescheduling meetings or offering advice for prioritizing work.

5. Avoiding Unconscious Bias There’s a risk that leadership may not be fully onboard with the metaverse. They may start to unconsciously favor employees they see face-to-face. This is a natural behavior, but HR must work with these managers to reduce unconscious bias.

To do this, managers should undergo training to highlight the risks. Employees should be encouraged to come forward if they feel they’re victims of unconscious bias. HR can then remind leaders that workers should be judged on the final product of their work and not on how they deliver it.

In the future, there’ll be an even better way for remote workers to be present in the office. There’s tremendous potential in holographic technology. This will further reduce the risk of unconscious bias.

Businesses that embrace a hybrid metaverse-based working model will need to cater for all types of employees. There are times when there aren’t enough workstations available in the office. At times like these, HR and management must have conversations with employees about their needs. Do they really need the office for a meeting? Can this be done virtually?

7. Dealing With Real Conflict in a Virtual Space One of the most crucial functions of HR is dealing with conflict. The metaverse eliminates petty squabbles over issues such as lunch theft. Those conflicts are usually about something else anyway. So, mediation will still be a necessary skill for HR personnel.

Using the tools of the metaverse, HR can provide virtual safe spaces for employees. It can be a comfortable place to discuss their issues. Also, it can be a space to bring together those in conflict to resolve any problems.

People can often feel uncomfortable with being face-to-face with someone they’re at odds with. A virtual presence can be less intimidating and facilitate franker conversations.

Sci-Fi No More The metaverse is upon us. It’s only going to grow and become integral to how we live and work. Virtual offices already exist and will become more common. HR departments must be ready. It doesn’t fundamentally change the job of HR personnel. However, it presents unique challenges as well as unique opportunities.

Source — Eventcombo

[eventindustrynews]

8 Tools and Metrics to Measure an Event’s Success

Success is a relative term. Everyone involved in organizing an event punch in days or months of hard work and dedication to deliver a smash-hit event. And, that is why assessing event performance is so crucial and requires analysis, based on specific metrics or performance indicators. Evaluating the bygone event is a post-event requisite that helps in introspecting and evolving for the next event. Although there is no straightforward way of determining an event’s success, measuring certain KPIs can surely give you answers to help improve and scale.

The Purpose of Evaluating an Event’s Success An event’s performance and outcome cannot only be measured in absolute numbers. To create a comprehensive success report, it is essential to identify the purpose of this evaluation and understand what defines a successful event. It is also equally important to decide the factors that are critical for aligning business objectives with the event’s goal.

Defining an event’s purpose or goal often requires correctly answering a set of questions. However, the dilemma is that as an organizer, you must also prepare the questions yourself!

Broadly, an event’s purpose, and hence success evaluation, can be derived from the following areas

a) Finance b) Marketing c) Branding d) Sales e) Attendees f) Sponsors

Tools and Metrics for Measuring Event Success Each purpose of an event can be linked to several metrics and tools that cumulatively determine the success of an event. Interestingly, each metric fits in like an element on the moodboard to deliver a complete overview when put together. These metrics are often divided into qualitative and quantitative categories to relate them with event-specific activities.

1. Attendance (Registrations or Tickets Sold) — The first metric is the number of registrations or tickets sold. This response and financial marker indicate a pre-event statistic that has several uses. Time-mapping the RSVPs or tickets sold before the event date can directly be linked to the performance of marketing campaigns and, of course, the ROI. Depending on when the RSVPs were made or tickets were sold (more on weekends or workdays) can also help identify the demography of the prospective attendees. If an event has ticket/entry categories, it is critical to notice and correlate the number of tickets booked to the categories. The output then must be further processed and compared with the attendee turnout numbers collected, based on actual check-ins.

a) If the turnout to tickets ratio is small it confirms that promotion, invites, content, and communication were on-point, and future events can follow the track. b) If the turnout to tickets ratio is significant it red flags factors like marketing, reminders, speaker panels, or even incorrect demography targeted. Thus begins the quest to find the answer to why?

2. Post-Event Survey — Undeniably, post-event surveys from attendees paint an accurate picture of everything that went right or wrong in an event. To understand the event experiences of the ultimate consumers, making the survey interesting is fundamental. If the survey isn’t heavy on the negative side, it indirectly indicates that the event was a success. The reason is universal — an unhappy or unsatisfied attendee is always more motivated to respond than a happy or neutral one. Negative surveys must be analyzed with a keen eye to figure out the issues that need correction in the future.

3. Social Media Actions — All the actions on social media before/during/after-event is a great event-feedback tool that can shed light on popularity and engagement metrics. Non-attendee participation during the event’s live streaming, likes, mentions, and shares on social media, can draw a quick success graph for the event. Also, it is essential to ensure that a relevant, easy-to-imprint hashtag is used in all promotions across social channels to obtain an accurate assessment of event performance.

4. Speaker Engagement and Attendee Interaction — Analyzing qualitative metrics can give long-term insights about executing future event agendas. Reporting tools that capture during-event details are paramount like a) Duration of attendance b) Time spent in event rooms or booths c) Specific room check-ins and checkouts

These reports can be linked to success metrics such as a) Speaker engagement b) Preferred topic/product discussions c) Attendee interactions d) Request/submission of networking details

5. NPS (Net Promoter Score) — The net promoter score makes things little exciting instead of point-blank asking attendees emotionally driven questions in a survey. NPS asks attendees to rate their experiences on a scale of 1 to 10 giving them the feel of power and being the decision-maker. The feedback inherently becomes even more specific and focused. Based on the ground-level analysis, it is pretty simple to set an NPS score before the event and compare actual scores to determine attendee-affirmed success.

6. Returning Attendees — Attendee data is hyper-important. In case of a company that frequently organizes events, the data of past event attendees is even more crucial. Simply comparing recurrent attendee data on a YOY basis can conclude the events’ actual growth. If the returning attendee number slows downward, delving into engagement factors becomes imperative.

7. Sales and Leads — An event does not magically escalate sales figures and funnels. The aftershock of events sometimes takes months to show results. A significant share of the increase is dependent on networking opportunities entwined throughout the event cycle. Also, quantifying sales and allocating lead generation to processes like speaker panels or marketing can help build a budget foundation for future events. Comparing increase in sales in every quarter is the real check on the success of events based on sales and leads KPIs.

8. Sponsor Feedback — Isn’t it one of the most significant post-event activities to get the accurate picture straight from the horse’s mouth? Approaching the sponsors for event feedback through surveys, evaluation meetings, and interviews provides honest and ground-breaking inputs. It is equally important to respect their feedback and own them constructively for continuing professional terms in future events.

These are some important KPIs for measuring an event’s success. But like events, the metrics or KPIs can also differ based on event type, industry, goal, or overall management’s vision. The tools mentioned here are just the tip of the iceberg, but are certainly enough to get you through reasonable measurement of an event’s success and set the course for diving deeper into more crucial insights.

Gain the edge with 360-degree event management platform and forward-thinking tools for your next event with some Fireworks!

Source — Eventcombo — Event Management Technology

[eventindustrynews]

6 Key Strategies for Managing C-Suite Attendee Expectations in Events

The usual waterfall of the series of activities leading to the main event is relative to many other things. While figuring out the target audience, the objective of creating a laser-focused strategy for addressing C-suite attendees’ expectations is often diluted. Integrating multifarious agendas catering to multiple audiences is crucial, but reaping real results from the event depends mainly on the engagement of the C-suite.   

Why the Spotlight on C-Suite Attendees? 

The whole buzz around the C-suite sometimes overwhelms and becomes daunting. C-suite are the most sought-after, most complicated to attract, and challenging to keep engaged. Given their leadership position, they are time-strapped and have calendars pre-mapped for months. Also, being THE decision makers, the outreach of an event heavily depends/focuses on the executive bench.   

It is a common understanding that networking is a 360-degree space and the C-suite can move the needle for your business which makes them one of the most relevant attendees for your event. 

Decoding Expectations of C-Suite Attendees   

‘Value’ is the foremost attribute execs look for in everything under the sun, especially in exchange for their time. Until they are sure to derive worth from an event, they wouldn’t step out (or switch screens in case of a virtual event).  Here are some insights on C-suite attendee expectations and how to manage them. 

1) Simplify the Event Experience: Time is money. An undeniable reality for the particular TA, they expect fluid movement in an event from start to end. The complete event cycle must be convenience-led, from a quick registration process to hassle-free entry and easy in-event navigation. Establishing credibility at the very onset is essential to get them on the attendee bandwagon. It is also necessary to assure C-suite attendees that the data submitted by them is secure. The event’s program should be covered in a precise manifesto for the C-suite to identify and be able to make decisions on which rooms, sessions, or booths to visit.   

2) Networking: A successful business has many cornerstones, and networking is one of them. Executives are inclined towards connecting with like-minded individuals who can work as catalysts for business and marketing, and help them gain knowledge and discover new technical competencies. Personal and intimate event formats like panels, roundtables, and exclusive forums are preferred over traditional event practices due to opportunities to interact in interpersonal space with peers. The focus of networking should not be limited to the event but also on forming connections that grow post-event.  

3) Personalized Invitations: A recent survey revealed that more than 60% of executives decide to attend an event based on how personalized the invite and communications are. A marriage of strategy and design is required to showcase the keynote speakers, a snippet of topics/agenda, and key takeaways using visualization and graphics in the invitations to draw them to the event. If your email or invite is not good enough for the CEO to click/tear open, they are less likely to be stimulated to attend the event. Managing the time window between impact and conversion is crucial and has to be anchored with a careful pro-C-suite approach. For that, hyper-personalizing every detail of the invite, like URL, email design and content, attendee designation, and maybe even their picture, will prevent pawning off the invite to other staff members.  

4) Thought-Provoking Content: The C-suite are in constant pursuit of riveting ideas, and nothing puts them off more than blatant sales pitches, especially at an event. The content of the event is expected to address industry problems, emerging solutions, and evolutionary technologies. They like listening to panelists who share foresight into the future and lead conversations and discussions that drive innovation. Outcome-led data-driven storytelling, providing unconventional and eccentric solutions, can initiate long-term, post-event relations with executives.   

5) Relevancy: The aim is not just to have C-suite invitees on board but create an inclusive and value-adding experience for them. Cross-industry C-suite should be invited if the event agenda, speakers, and other guests are relevant. The event’s quality assurance is judged based on its relevance to products, technology, innovations, speakers, and other executive attendees. The content must enrich their thought process with meaningful information and knowledge to make the event important enough for them.  

6) Relatability: Engagement with peers and co-executive leagues is also a major draw for any event. The presence of attendees or speakers ranking in industry leadership with opportunities for meaningful interaction with them is what gets the C-suite to attend the event. Having a few executives and thought leaders from the industry as speakers or contributors can significantly impact the C-suite attendee turnout. It’s crucial to design an event by: 

   a) Aligning the event strategy with the deliverables of speakers and contributors   

  b)Co-create agenda that caters explicitly to C-suite, making the event relatable from their perspective 

Executive positions in the management hierarchy are earned based on role-specific skills of leadership, critical thinking, collective experience, and adaptability. Such professionals look for augmenting experiences that can foster their proficiencies. Delivering on the expectations of C-suite attendees at an event doesn’t just add to the success of one event but also ensures their attendance in future events.  

Source - Eventcombo

[eventindustrynews]

Employee Moonlighting – Decoding the Big Debate

Moonlighting is a new entry in Webster's new world dictionary which defines the practice as - holding a second job in addition to a regular one. Typically, moonlighting is used when a person has a full-time job and is working another job outside regular hours. Working on an additional side hustle alongside a permanent full-time job isn't new. As per the United States Census Bureau, a steady fragment of the workforce in the United States has always had a second job.  

Then why the hype now? Arthur Wong, Head of AIS Tarabut Gateway, one of the guest speakers at a recent event hosted by Eventcombo (Employee Moonlighting – The Big Debate), expressed that although moonlighting has existed forever, it is now being used with a negative connotation. Employee moonlighting has garnered so much attention post-pandemic only because the number of people moonlighting increased above a noticeable and implicating threshold. Previously more common in the IT sector, employee moonlighting has now extended to other skill domains. 

There are apparent reasons we can draw from practical scenarios that have pushed a significant workforce towards moonlighting.   

1. During the pandemic, the unemployment rate tripled. Many businesses shut their doors and couldn't offer the option to work from home. People found side jobs to sustain themselves. Now, even if they are re-instated in their previous job or have found another full-time job, they don't want to quit the side hustle due to the increasingly unstable employment environment. No one says no to some extra income.   

2. A simple need to earn extra dollars and manage economic hardships prompts employees to take up additional gigs. They may have rents to pay, debts to pay off (the highest inflation in 40 years is not really very helpful), and bigger ambitions. The compensation at their current job might not be enough to send their children to a better college or school or enough to maintain savings.    

3. Learning new skills or upskilling, maybe for a career change, is also why employees take up work apart from their regular full-time jobs. Often, they choose to work at odd hours with another venture to fill the voids in their primary employment, like versatile KRA, better job role hierarchy, or creative freedom. 

4. The rise of startup ecosystems has also fervently mobilized the moonlighting concept. Most startups offer unconditional part-time and freelancing roles, making multiple jobs more manageable and convenient over and above full-time. Professional satiety is also why many people pick two or more different jobs.   

5. Vocations aren't necessarily financially rewarding. Therefore, choosing to follow one's passion as secondary employment is also the reason.

The Big Ethics Debate   

According to a survey from Insuranks, about 44% of Americans work at least one side job to earn extra income.   

But the real question is, is moonlighting unethical? If truth be told, there is no direct answer to this.    

Another guest speaker of Eventcombo’s Moonlighting Debate, Jannet S Levey, the Employer’s Lawyer, shared her clear vote that moonlighting is not always ethical but cannot be termed unethical as well. She further added that an employer could make a policy restricting moonlighting, but it doesn't mean that if one could, they should. There are other ways to tackle the issue.  

Any employee engaging in secondary employment is not unethical until it directly or indirectly affects the performance at the primary job. If the terms of employment expressly prohibit the employee from moonlighting, it would have legal consequences but that doesn't make it inherently unethical.

The Employer's Perspective  

Considering how corporate houses have brought their concern about employee moonlighting to light, their ordeal is not irrelevant. By the end of 2022, 25% of all professional jobs in North America will be remote, increasing moonlight opportunities. Does that mean there's a need for specific moonlighting policies? A no-moonlighting policy can be an obstacle to the employees' individual growth.   

It is also crucial to identify the potential risks to address them with strategic policies, standards and compliance.   

1. Productivity Loss – Loss of productivity or proficiency at the main job is the first thought that comes to any employer's mind. It is possible that multiple responsibilities and overworking can distract and cause deterioration in job performance.  

2. Conflict of Interest – Conflict of interest arising from working with competitors or similar businesses can harm both employment places.   

3. Confidentiality – Data, product prototypes, or critical data and other sensitive information can open possibilities for a security breach. Suppose a person uses the company laptop to work on other gigs, which can potentially expose propriety information on this device.   

4. Inhibiting Performance of Others – Employees working multiple jobs may underperform primary employment tasks, indirectly burdening other employees with additional responsibilities and inhibiting their regular performance.   

5. Misuse of Employer's Resources – Many employees use resources available at the primary employment place for secondary ones, like the internet, laptops, and printers.

The Crucial Role of HR  

Rajeev Tupsakri, Founder & CEO of RAMA Consulting and another participant in the Eventcombo’s debate on employee moonlighting, shared a pretty strong point that the company's HR manager's role is not efficiently utilized. It's a fact that all HR policies are reactive. The HR department must be given the due identity as an equal partner in policy designing. Employee-related concerns must be handled proactively rather than working as damage control. Policies over moonlighting, employee engagement, workforce management, fair and equal compensation policy, and empathy must be in place beforehand.  

Facing the Dilemma of Moonlighting  

If an employer wants to restrict moonlighting, there must be an explanation. Why do they want to in the first place? The guest speakers and industry experts in the debate were unanimous on the fact that a specific moonlighting policy is only needed if the nature of business requires so.   

For other concerns mentioned above, a compliant and resilient HR policy and employment contract can suffice, which can also be regulated by primary US employment laws and is more pro-employee. Organizational policies can be weaved to focus on possible problem areas with some of the solutions listed below.   

a) A metric system to measure performance based on KPIs   

b) Using a non-compete clause   

c) Prohibit roles that fall under a direct conflict of interest   

d) Non-disclosure agreements  

e) Company resource usage policies  

Instead of focusing on tracking and taking stern actions against moonlighting, having open conversations with employees and constructively engaging them will prevent employees from hiding moonlighting. Companies can start with a simple question - how long are they looking to carry on moonlighting and what is the reason for doing so?  

Moonlighting isn't going to fade out but, on contrary, it’s expected to become more prominent. Devising solutions that create a win-win for both the employer and the employee is the need of the hour.  

Source — Eventcombo — event management platform

[eventindustrynews]

What is the Metaverse and its impact on the events industry

The Metaverse simply is the coming together of our actual physical world in a shared virtual space. In other terms, it is the representation of the environment we are living in, in a 3D virtual world which can be accessed through a browser, headset or even a mobile application. The Metaverse thereby allows people to have real-time interactions and curate shared experiences spanning geographies. Currently, it offers unlimited, interconnected virtual communities where people can socialize, collaborate and do much more. The mediums which have helped realized and are powering this imagination are technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Blockchain. Essentially, Blockchain forms the understructure of the Metaverse.

The Metaverse is increasingly seen as a concept that will juggernaut and foray into many industries bringing a paradigm shift, and one of them is the events industry. This is because events in general have the flexibility to be physical as well as virtual, or even hybrid (physical+virtual) depending upon the type and necessity of the event. Below are a few examples of how the Metaverse has been and will be leveraged.

Apart from its immersive and captivating ability, the Metaverse is also seen as a convenience that can cut across vast geographies to connect and collaborate with people. Events such as conferences, meetings have all embraced the virtual shift. Since the realization of the Metaverse across various platforms, several events have embraced and actualized their events inside the Metaverse.

One of the biggest sporting events of the year, The Australian Open tennis tournament was hosted in the Metaverse earlier this year. Fans, across the globe were able to get the actual feel of being inside the stadium from the comfort of their home. Through VR and AR technologies, tennis fans could get access to exclusive gaming content, behind the scenes footage of the tournament, and were also able to have virtual meetup with players.

A fashion event inside the Metaverse also took place earlier this year which saw fashion exhibitors from across the globe taking part, with many tabloids too covering the event.

Source — Web3 Event Solution

[eventindustrynews]

Is the Metaverse a Resort to Tech Job Layoffs?

The world is moving towards immersive experience technology — the Metaverse. Apart from companies using it for showcasing their products, the dimensions of the HR industry in the Metaverse are creating a whirr. The pandemic has transformed the way organizations operate. With scales tipping towards remote work, the Metaverse and HR will have to integrate to leverage this technological evolution’s real advantages.

Change is not Readily Acceptable at Inception

The Metaverse is in its initial, ‘the innovators and early adopters’, stage of its technology acceptance lifecycle. Like every innovation, discovery, or invention, the Metaverse adoption will require a complete mindset shift and like every change, the resistance will be dramatic and high-voltage.

In a recent turn of events, the Metaverse technology has faced backlash, especially after the gloomy announcement of Meta’s layoff of 11000 people. It constitutes about 13% of the total workforce at Meta. The numbers are alarming, especially when the Metaverse venture by Meta was being looked up to as a pillar. The rounds of news targeting Meta’s Metaverse behind this historic layoff has also raised much concern. However, Meta is only one tech giant. There have been similar massive layoffs in technology jobs since the industry revival post-pandemic. Coursera, Salesforce, and Twitter have laid off their workforces, and a conditional hiring freeze has been rolled out.

But is it the Metaverse failure, or does the HR industry need improvisation? Isn’t the Metaverse supposed to turn around the HR and employment situation for the better? Is the Metaverse a resort to tech job layoffs?

Metaverse is the Silver Lining

In many instances, layoffs have been ascribed to unplanned over-hiring during and immediately after the pandemic. On the other hand, speaking of technology, virtual reality has and can have more influence on employment during economic meltdown than just aiding in HR process-streamlining.

First, we shall discuss how optimizing HR processes through the Metaverse can help in tackling layoffs in the impending and future recession phases.

1. Conducting an audit with a birds-eye view of a company’s HR policies and practices can be far easier with the Metaverse.

2. Reviewing and sorting existing jobs and creating new job roles can be backed by more cognizant decisions and planning.

3. Assumption based over-hiring can be controlled with immersive permutations to shuffle work roles and skills before creating new job openings, instead of resorting to layoffs.

4. Metaverse-led onboarding, induction, training, and development processes can give an immersive experience, reducing the chances of non-productivity or underutilization of HR. It would also help identify non-value-adding positions and roles in the initial stage, preventing bulk layoffs later.

5. The Metaverse can become a stable platform for freelancing, part-time contracts, and remote workers, leaving little room for challenging choices like hiring full-time or outsourcing to a freelancer or an agency.

6. It can be more than just theories in the context of collaborations outside boundaries, sharing resource pools, and borrowing HR. Tapping and optimizing the potential of a workforce from across the globe can be redefined without the need to micromanage.

7. Virtual workplaces in the Metaverse can augment hybrid and remote working models in reality and help conserve physical infrastructure costs. These costs can be redirected towards retaining talent, upskilling them, and creating efficient virtual reality.

8. Many corporations have staggered to implement hybrid models. Creating a virtual space similar to a physical office can indeed establish a feasible hybrid setup. Accommodating the change of preferences of employees to move seamlessly between physical, online, and virtual immersive domains will have no impact on productivity.

The Opportunities are Imperative

The IT industry has been ever-evolving. Although no new technology develops overnight, some existing technologies do become obsolete every other day.

Unprecedented situations and relative predictions led to estimations that might have caused a temporary recession and economic meltdown. The US economy is shrinking for two quarters now resulting in layoffs.

The economic meltdown can be linked to the post-pandemic surge in e-commerce and consumer-led industries and how quickly it plummeted. Given the circumstances, it was indecipherable.

The Metaverse is based on Web 3.0, a relatively new domain in the technology arena. But it is time the Metaverse is identified as a facilitating and enabling technology that will give rise to employment and diversified job openings. For a world that is dependent on technology, the Metaverse is the future.

1. Web 3.0 — The giants of tech-driven industries will have to redirect their workforces towards upskilling and offering immersive learning for Web 3.0 technologies.

Preparing for future technology challenges of Web 3.0 is prudent. It will require training and development equivalent to or not lesser than new hiring. Stable and value-adding staff must be retained and trained.

The features of Web 3.0, like decentralization, blockchain, and the Metaverse, will introduce an entirely new digital economy, opening new roles in research and security.

2. Metaverse Crater — The Metaverse is not a typical user technology. Creating a parallel universe is not a regular feat. It is an immersive technology and co-existing realm-like virtual reality that will require an additional workforce (forget layoffs). The Metaverse creating unemployment or causing layoffs is a myth. The Metaverse will, in fact, create a crater to be filled with new job opportunities, work roles, skill development, education, and intellectual properties. Requirements of the Metaverse collaterals like VR headsets, consoles, projectors, and advanced holographic projectors will foster the growth of other industry verticals too. The Metaverse will be challenging, and potential risks will accentuate IT regulation and compliance roles.

The Metaverse is a part of decentralizing vision of Web 3.0. The more monumental technology is, the greater the challenges. The technology and the challenges both require human intervention and intellect. We’ve focused on the core IT jobs profiles associated with the Metaverse ascend. The coequal profiles for training the users of the Metaverse will give rise to a new industry as another IT vertical. This is in particular reference to the groups that aren’t of the younger generation or from non-IT backgrounds, who will require assistance maneuvering through virtual reality.

With the Metaverse, everyone will have to go through a learning curve, each with its own collaborative scenarios. We are already a planet with 8 billion Homo Sapiens. Why should we assume that a parallel virtual reality will be any less accommodating at the very onset?

Source — Eventcombo — Virtual Event Technology

[eventindustrynews]

5 Ways HR Can Enhance Remote Working Experiences

Currently, the internet is flooded with opinions about the outcomes of remote working conditions post pandemic. Many surveys have been hinting at the gains organizations are experiencing, and the stats are quite interesting. Though there are surveys which reveal remote working environments help increase productivity, that’s just one side of the pie. Because many of the studies were conducted either during pre-pandemic times or just a year after the pandemic, we do not have an established, extensive and consistent taste of the actual scenario.  

A study by Upwork estimates that about 36 million Americans will go remote by 2025. Another study by the Bureau of Labour Statistics reveals that currently at least 25% of employees across US are either working from home or involved in part time work. Going by the current wave, the number of people who will join this soaring remote workforce will only rise. Amid such an influx of remote employees and work environments, the mantle now is on Human Resource (HR) teams to provide concrete directions and strategies to ensure a smooth and productive workflow and improve work culture.  

HR teams now need to tighten their belts and plot at immediacy to consolidate an otherwise erupting tide. Below are a few ways they can help enhance the functioning of the post pandemic world as employees and productivity take centre stage.  

1) A Tangible Connection 

A work manager connects regularly with their employee to ensure work is progressing and ultimately gets done. They do this by not only communicating constantly but also effectively to the employee. 

So, what does it really mean for an HR team to maintain that tangible connection with their employees during remote conditions? The answer is the purpose itself should be tangible! HR teams need to think, understand and deliver for their employees’ needs, welfare or issues that they might encounter when working remotely. This simply requires prioritizing the employees which can be done by   

a) Driving measures so employees can have seamless access to organizational tools and resources for better productivity.

b) Setting up communication mediums that define how a worker can reach out for any concerns or communicate at any time of work (A Unified Communications Model that encompasses various communication functions, from audio-video meetings, unified and instant messaging, web-based conferencing to mobility driven communications) can work wonders.

c) Ensuring a backend tech team is always on the go for any glitch or issue experienced by the worker. 

2) Where Budget Proves as a Constraint 

Not all organizations have the luxury of an expansive budget and due to this, a company may miss out on the latest technologies or sophistications that would run the current show. HR can fill the dearth of technological sophistication by being innovative in its approach by implementing and regularizing   

a) The right set of productivity tools that enhance employee productivity. 

b) Hyper personalized online training programs that upskill and reskill employees.

c) Online Digital Learning Platforms that aid in work-based learning.

d) Setting high standards by meeting the ergonomic necessities like that of an office setup at levels inside a remote employee’s workplace. 

3) Keeping an Eye on DEI 

In remote or hybrid work environments, equity and well-being of employees many a time go unrecognized. As the stats say,  close to 76% of work managers are of the opinion that on-site employees have more chances of getting appraisals or promotions as compared to employees working remotely. Issues of gender-based suppression may also go unnoticed, though not always deliberately. Such disparities though unintentional, may only grow to worsen organizational repute and structure. HR managers can play a big role in pre-assessing such situations and drive in measures that avert negative DEI outcomes, ultimately contributing for an equitable and sustainable  workplace. 

4) Employee Engagement and Recognition 

Though it needs no statistics or explanation to establish the fact that a happy workforce is always a more productive one, when the workforce is remote it really needs to sink in that the chances of getting disconnected or being reclusive are more. To avert such scenarios, HR teams can   

a) Construct monthly programs to drive “Happy Hours”, “Bi-Weekly Fun Days”, “Learn About Your Colleague” to explore the other side of their talents and skills.

b) Facilitating in-person off sites/meetups occasionally is a great way to make them feel they are important, and give them an opportunity to unwind from non-socializing conditions.

c) Accolading and rewarding employees at timely intervals is crucial. 

5) Maintaining a Keen Organizational Eye 

Remote work environments may also bring in paranoidal situations for employers as to what else could their employees be engaged at. Chances of data compromise, security risks and compliance issues may rise up. HR practices should include configuring and subscribing all employees and their systems to relevant data protection laws applicable to their vicinity.  

The role of HR teams historically has evolved from aligning talent, refining tools and capabilities that drive business strategies, embracing and driving employee engagement programs while giving shape to organizational values to battling a new set of challenges post pandemic. As it stands, HR has now evolved to become the brain cells of an organization that direct and emanate organized and healthy functioning, and it stands crucial given the remote work setup is here to stay.

Missed out on our global HR event? Click the below link to explore more about our event!  

How can Corporates Create a Positive and Inclusive Employee Experience?

Eventcombo’s global HR event, 'Mastering the Art of HR Post Covid’, with panelists from Adobe, AT&T, IBM, and more, was a powerful and whole

Planning to host events? 

Schedule a demo! Experience Eventcombo

[eventindustrynews]

6 Major HR Challenges the Metaverse Can Help Overcome

According to a report by Gartner, by 2026, about 25% of people are expected to at least spend an hour every day in the Metaverse. The report identifies that along with education and retail, a diverse section will be utilizing the Metaverse to establish and enhance their professional network, while a certain section will simply use it for recreation or spending leisure time such as for shopping, entertainment, etc. The Metaverse is already a serious business, and if anyone is having an ounce of doubt, the trend is such that the Metaverse will witness about 58% of businesses adoption in the next two years according to a report from World Economic Forum.  

When Meta, Microsoft and other tech giants introduced their Metaverse worlds as Horizon Workrooms, Mesh etc, the idea of leveraging the Metaverse in the Human Resource (HR) sphere was arguably only nascent. With the pandemic, the idea has accentuated further. Companies are leveraging the Metaverse to conduct meetings, engage communities and even hire professionals in the alternate reality. The impact in the HR space is something almost everyone is awaiting to explore with bated breath, quite literally. A study conducted by ExpressVPN across employers in the US suggests 66% of employers and 3 out of 5 employees are keen and interested to explore immersive technologies and having a workforce inclined to it.  

The impending challenges & how the Metaverse can help!  

1. Hiring & Onboarding amid remote working conditions are challenging as both employees and employers get to know very little about each other while interacting virtually. In recruitment, it is imperative that both parties get engagement with each other before they start working together.  

The Metaverse offers a great platform for candidates to go on 3D virtual tours of the place they would work in. Employers/HR managers can facilitate such initiatives and enthral employees as they get a glance of the office, the culture and the people inside. Deloitte has facilitated a virtual tour for its candidates by letting them take a tour of their Deloitte workplace.  Hyundai and Samsung have already conducted their virtual recruitment fairs in the Metaverse.  

2. Inaction - About 49% of HR leaders are rooting for innovation to be their go-to mantra for success, and 46% of them have expressed inaction from their respective organizations towards being creative or innovative. According to Emily Rose Macrae, Senior Director, Gartner HR Practice, an organization’s action and initiative will have a greater impact and is considered significant when it comes to driving employee creativity.  

Organizations can leverage the Metaverse to encourage employee interaction and communication through avatars of employees and task them at taking tests, partaking at training centers with 3D learning models, indulging in social recreation across various curated spaces and doing much more. The possibility of planning and reinventing day-to-day activities, starting from organizing immediate meetings, attending conferences, etc., will now become a reality owing to the Metaverse’ character and sheer ability to drive seamless communication, and collaboration.      

3. A Dispersed Workforce in today’s scenario requires a collective platform to ideate and execute creative activities. A stable workforce at physical locations will get involved in unprompted, informal exchanges, a scenario often underplayed and unsung that helps organizations progress. Over the past two years, with the pandemic, such a situation almost feels like a bygone era.  

The Metaverse can help HR leaders acquire and pool talent cutting across geographies, and organizations can reimagine and reinvent a collective imaginative workforce remotely with the Metaverse. For instance, Solar Panels Network USA is leveraging the Metaverse to drive its training and development programs for employees. The firm is critical and concrete in its planning as it looks forward to onboard fresh talent with VR and AR expertise. It is also engaging those employees who are comfortable working in the virtual world and are ready to explore the potential of the Metaverse.     

4. Shift to Hybrid has without doubt contributed to limited associations and interactions among the workforce. New joinees often find it difficult to collaborate and mix with the existing team which hampers organizational growth and cohesion between teams.  

The Metaverse can amalgamate those who haven’t worked with each other on to one single space and make way for deliberate shared and learning experiences among them. New joinees can benefit from induction programs and meet colleagues, employers and peers and get the feel of a real-world activity as experienced in a physical space. The Metaverse can help establish new connections and create a platform to harness abundant knowledge, strategies, and ideas regularly.  

5. An Unfair Workplace is often the case with various scenarios occurring each day at physical workplace locations. Safety and well-being of the workforce are a crucial part of an organization’s functioning. This is of-course a real-world problem that all of us are witnessing day in and day out, and needs addressing.  

Is this an excuse to move to the Metaverse? Certainly not! A social interaction with challenges and struggles is always welcomed above non-socialising scenarios. However, the Metaverse helps in being more diverse and open to inclusivity. HR managers can take the call and educate people participating in the Metaverse about integrity, diversity and appreciation towards each other despite diverse backgrounds. HR managers can easily define workplace policies, form anti-harassment units and employee protection cells in the Metaverse to promote social wellbeing and a secure, worry-free workplace. Owing to immersive experiences, the Metaverse can better ensure the implementation of stronger policies and propagation of a positive work culture, even remotely. 

6. Stale Environments – More often a certain office environment may become redundant and sometimes uninspiring with absolutely no or less creativity. A conventional setup is what begins and ends a day at the office for most of the workforce. 

HR managers can use the Metaverse itself to design creative, collaborative and imaginative workplaces and environments for employees’ convenience. Such set-ups can not only help boost creativity leading to a happy workplace, but can also prove productive and drive positive business outcomes.   

The impending need today is to make the move with the will to welcome and strengthen the Metaverse world. It is certainly a concept that is coming to fruition at various levels especially for HR that focuses on recruiting and retaining talent, training and developing existing employees, and much more to develop and nurture the most important company asset – the employees. The mantle is now with the departments of HR to steer this wave in the right direction with the right leverage to stay ahead of the curve amid changing circumstances.   

Looking to host an HR event in-person, virtually, or in the Metaverse? Eventcombo has custom solutions for all your corporate event needs. Book a free demo at <https://bit.ly/3ek2bif > 

Source — Eventcombo (Web3 Event Solution)

[eventindustrynews]

How Brands Can Monetize the Metaverse

The Metaverse currently consists of more than 50,000 virtual worlds. As we speak, a thousand more environments are being developed to be added to it. Over the years, we have been witness to very few evolving concepts which have created a strong traction, one among which is the Metaverse. Businesses and individuals are investing in it not because it is an impending one, but because it is vast, futuristic and is awaiting to unleash a trillion opportunities, literally.  

The Metaverse has captivated businesses in a such way that many of them are repositioning their strategies in terms of creating new revenue opportunities. Currently, while some businesses are actively thinking and planning to invest in the Metaverse, a hundred others have already laid down their investments.  

Brands Benefiting from the Metaverse - How Are They Doing It? 

Decentraland, for example, is selling virtual goods and land spaces while also allowing users to attend concerts, live music shows, and other events.  

The Sandbox is working on collaborations with more than 170 brands including the smurfs, Atari and The Walking Dead. Having raised more than $90 million for their collaboration with the World of Women (WoW) foundation, the team intends to harbour and promote female inclusivity and representation in the Metaverse. It is reported that the WoW foundation will receive $25 million as funds to be utilized for further mentorship and education. 

The Gucci Garden has sold their luxury bag, a single one for a whopping $4,000 on Roblox. 

Dolce & Gabanna has sold its nine-piece collection that appropriates up to $6 million on UNXD, a digital luxury marketplace.  

Not Just Selling - How Brands Can Strategize for the Metaverse? 

A Showcase cum Sale Window - For the unversed, the Metaverse isn’t just a hot bed for selling digital assets or goods. Big corporations such as the Samsung, Walmart and Dyson are leveraging the Metaverse to showcase their products (real-life) and are all set to sell them virtually. The possibility of creating a virtual Metaverse outlet for people to consume and trade real world goods is on the cards.  

A Prospective Portfolio - The other end of the spectrum where brands are utilizing the Metaverse includes proliferating brand portfolio in terms of investments. Such a thing is a massive hit, especially in the digital real estate landscape. The use of NFTs driven by smart contracts aid in the transfer of ownership between sellers and buyers. More often, such sales end up in structuring a virtual store or an outlet to position a brand in the Metaverse for further trading. 

Advertising and Campaigning in the Metaverse is gaining good traction especially with the use of hoardings and billboards to put up a brands’ silver bullet, considered highly prospective. Such an initiative drives mileage for those looking to target potential customers who have the opportunity to consume the story of the brand with an out-of-the-world experience. The advantage of reaching to a global consumer market is undeniable when in the Metaverse.  

Service providers during emergencies such as the pandemic can turn adversities into opportunities by creating wearables or equipment and tagging them with virtual environments for employees or people working remotely. 

A Testing Platform – The bottom-up process of ideating on a product and bringing the actual one is not only expensive, but also time-consuming. The Metaverse provides the opportunity to break the cardinal rule by testing your creations in an immersive virtual environment without having to bring out the actual product. This can not only save commendable time, but also provides opportunity to ideate better, and make the process more efficient and effective.  

NFT Democratization – Sectors which have a general audience or brands which can connect to common audience such as fashion, movie industry, sports etc, can actually sell NFTs to be owned as digital assets. This can lead to democratization of NFTs among a global audience, bringing in a wider diaspora and culture and leading to good revenue creation.  

What the Biggies are up to? 

Google has set its eyes on the tentatively titled Project Iris under which the tech giant is reportedly developing a wireless VR headset which will depend on the cloud instead of a hardware. The idea is to offer a mix of real and virtual world experiences. Google’s Project Starline which is targeting a 2024 launch aims to develop a virtual phone booth space by using 3D technology to create an illusion that the person on the other end of the conversation is present in your real-world physical space.  

Microsoft’s HoloLens2 is a head-mounted MR headset specialized for manufacturing, engineering, healthcare and the education sector to cut down on downtime, improve outcomes, and boost productivity in general.  

Likewise, Apple, NVIDIA and Meta are devising new technologies for enterprise customers to derive returns leveraging the Metaverse.   

In short, the Metaverse has become an absorbing proposition for several individuals and businesses, and organizations have started to re-define their routes not just to sell and market their products, but to also generate revenue from it. At this point, the sooner brands get into the virtual, the better their prospects to thrive into the future revolution of the Metaverse.      

Eventcombo’s Eventiverse™ is a new leap into the world of the Metaverse. With Eventiverse™ event organizers can plan and host events in the Metaverse and leverage a blend of real and virtual world elements. Organizers can create curated venues and 3D avatars, integrate them with NFT marketplaces, correlate digital and IRL experiences, create immersive event experiences, and do much more. Recently, Eventcombo has created a digital twin for the Burj Khalifa in the Metaverse that gives an extraordinary experience of the tallest building in the world, from the comfort of your home and without any headsets or gloves. 

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