The EU Brussels community is constantly looking for ways to position itself and to interconnect, so that everyone can express their opinion on contemporary developments.
Until March 2020, at the
beginning of the pandemic crisis, the capital of Europe abounded in
conferences. The market reached pharaonic levels, as much as 100 events a day,
almost every day. Then, 16 months ago, the events market froze completely, not
only in Brussels, but all over the planet, forcing humanity to reinvent itself.
After the shock, came the
mobilization and the launch of those famous virtual conferences. Platform
brands appeared, some of them little known until then. It was a real moment of
human solidarity, in which, paradoxically, the European institutions opened up
even more. Events began to appear with MEPs gathering some 500 participants,
and an intervention by a European Commissioner was watched by thousands of
people. If by 2019 “Brussels was talking to Brussels”,
with small exceptions, the pandemic has opened the European fortress. Panelists
from European capitals appeared, without management or logistic costs. We have
witnessed a real democratization of conferences in which a student could intervene
from his campus during a European debate.
Of course, everyone wants the end
of this period that has put humanity to the test. What's next in terms of
public events? We already have the answer from the market. The new password is
HYBRID. We want to have conferences with the public, while also maintaining the
virtual community so well developed now.
From an organizational point of
view, a hybrid conference is very complex to implement. It is actually
organizing two events at the same time. There are the dynamics of the
conference room, which now needs to be super-technological, with fixed and
portable video cameras, a strong and stable internet connection and a large
amount of qualified human resources. At the same time, there is a need for a
permanent investment in the digital platform that hosts the conference and
ensures interaction with the virtual community. However, the strong point of
development is the connection of the two markets. The moderator of such an
event interacts with a panel partially in the room, but also one visible only
on a computer screen. The public is on the premises, but also on chat or
Q&A.
Will these hybrid conferences
make it in the long term? Time will or will not confirm this hypothesis. We
discover the new normal together, in all segments of activity. It is important
to have innovation, to be open to the new, to have speed in execution and to
constantly adapt.
Personally, last week I spoke at
the first hybrid conference in Brussels and this felt fantastic. It's good to
see people in the flesh again as they say, and to be able to interact directly
with them. It's the same feeling you have at sports competitions in which the public
reappears in the stands. At the same time, the marketing of each event has increased. It is important not to forget the virtual
audience, won in the pandemic war, and which really has a constructive approach
to the community system.
Dan LUCA / Brussels
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