Who knew in 2020 we’d all become so experienced with online meetings? Virtually every business professional, every parent, and every kid in school now knows how to run a Zoom meeting. Even when we move beyond the COVID era, these new habits are here to stay. No one’s going to be racing to get on an airplane in order to take a business meeting any time soon. Even your prospective clients won’t want to see you in person if they don’t have to.
Virtual Events
The same thing is going to be true with events and conferences. The events, trade show, conferences, and even association business models are going to be turned upside down. No one’s going to travel to a large conference or event any time soon. If participation is down, sponsors will pull back, and without the support of sponsors, large conferences and events just won’t happen. At the very least, it’s going to be a long while before that industry recovers. In the meanwhile, new models will be born. Virtual models. Virtual events and conferences are are going to change the game for the events industry.
Virtual Selling
One big reason conferences have been such big business is because so much selling goes on at these conferences. That’s another major disruption occurring right now - the shift to virtual selling. Most sales organizations were already struggling to adapt to an online-first selling environment. Now, more than ever, sales organizations need to modernize their approach to selling, not only in response to COVID, but also in response to the way in which buyer behaviors have changed in recent years. Going forward, if you’re not selling virtually, you’re not selling, or at the very least you’re not selling effectively.
Virtual Training
It’s not just meetings, events, trade shows, and conferences that are going virtual, it’s also training. Companies who have traditionally trained employees in classroom environments are having to make a major shift to online learning. Online learning isn’t new, at least in an on-demand sense. Learning management systems have been around a while. Most of them aren’t great. Their clunky. Bad UIUX. No gamification. Large companies are going to have to take a new look at these old systems and look for a better way to engage learners. Organizations of all kinds are going to rethink how they train and develop their people, how they’ll make their current online offerings more engaging, and how to take their traditional classroom-based approaches to learning and move them to virtual environments in ways that create an as-if-you-were-there experience. Anything less than full engagement in remote learning won’t be enough for knowledge and skills to be effectively transferred. Our attention spans are just too short.
Virtual Offices and Organizations
We’ve already heard it from some of the largest organizations in America, that even after COVID, employees will not be returning to the office. In other words, virtual offices, working from home, will be the new normal going forward. Why spend the money on the expensive commercial real-estate and other required systems if everyone can be productive from home? In the midst of this trying time we’ve discovered that an effective remote workforce is not only possible but perhaps even preferable.
We’re Bullish on Virtual
At iBreakthrough, we’re bullish on virtual. Why? Because we believe that virtual can unleash the power of a new level of productivity, creativity, and innovation in our economy and within each company that powers it. We believe virtual can accelerate our ability to learn and to connect with one another. We also believe that virtual can add to the quality of life for everyone in the workforce, making for less travel, less drive time, more quality time with family, more time to devote to health and fitness, to things that bring joy to each of our lives.
Making Virtual, Meaningful
At iBreakthrough we’re committed to delivering great virtual solutions for our clients, ranging from virtual training and consulting to virtual events and conferences. In all ways, we help our clients do virtual better. In our thinking, the way to make virtual work across the board is to create meaningful connections and real results. That’s what we do.
About the Blog
iBreakthrough’s blog will be speaking directly to the opportunity to use virtual solutions to create meaningful connections and real results in order to unlock the potential of organizations, communities, and individuals in a remote economy!
