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The Covid-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented changes in the lifestyles of people. While you may get perturbed by snapshots of headlines like “The world is changing” or “The new normal post lockdown”, let me remind you what Steve Jobs thinks about change. He believes, “Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity- not a threat”.
We all know how the health crisis has caused a disruption in our fast-paced lives. However, this has challenged several companies to employ unconventional methods like ‘Work from home’ that one never thought would be extensively possible.
The initial few days of working in a new atmosphere were excruciating for a lot of us due to the difficulty of getting acclimatized to the virtual workspace. While road congestion has been replaced by network traffic and face-to-face conferences have translated into virtual sessions, a new work rhythm is starting to take root.
The virus has not only helped us connect with one of the greatest boons of today’s era- The Internet but also made us resort to technology to bridge the physical gap between colleagues and people in general.
Most of us are bound to think virtual conferences cannot substitute the essence of a real conference. But the pandemic has forced all kinds of events in all parts of the world to be cancelled or postponed. At such crucial times, it becomes necessary to avail the flexibility of fully integrated virtual platforms.
Let us look at some of the virtues of virtual world and how it has the ability to transform industries worldwide.
Cost Effective and Affordable:
The expenses of hosting a live conference are enormous. Be it travel, accommodation, hiring a venue or other logistics costs. Apart from safety, one of the major reasons why companies will transit to virtual conferences is to save abundant money.
Virtual conferences allow people to connect from across the globe without travelling to a distant location. Due to the easy availability of internet services, these conferences can be accessed quickly without any hassles.
However, certain technical glitches are inevitable which make it more difficult to deliver a presentation in front of a screen than a live audience. Therefore, it is important for us to embrace these life changes with an open mind in order to actively participate and make the most of it.
There is no surprise that the amount of business travel will plummet and digitization efforts will rapidly accelerate in the post Covid-19 era giving rise to creative solutions for building friendly virtual spaces.
Easily Accessible and Larger Audience:
A major constraint while organizing a live conference for a huge audience is geographical barriers. This is where virtual conferences triumph over live ones by allowing people to remotely attend from different parts of the world without moving an inch. All it takes is a good internet connection!
While online conferences may lack the benefits of face-to-face interaction, they do enable efficient networking by making access with fellow attendees easy. It saves the effort of frantically searching or tracking an expert among large groups of people.
Virtual conferences also cater to a big audience by increasing visibility when it comes to digitally promoting the event. They enable organizers to get participants instantly no matter where they live and grow the turnout of people.
Save Time and Increase productivity:
Though the setup of virtual conferences does take time, the entire process leaves room for productivity helping employees focus on work that specifically requires their attention. You no longer have to worry about investing time in long, arduous flight journeys or delays at the airport.
The biggest productivity improvement due to virtual conferencing is the ability to conduct meetings that would not have been possible otherwise due to time constraints, travel restrictions or work priorities. Today, people around the world can be brought together almost instantaneously to resolve critical issues pertaining to business.
Environmentally Sustainable:
We are on the brink of a global climate change process. In the light of such a serious threat, most industries are employing methods that are environmentally safe and generate the least amount of waste products.Virtual conferences can be incredibly effective in reducing our carbon emissions individually and societally. Travel and energy utilities have the highest contribution to an individual’s carbon footprint.
In order to slow down the catastrophic impact of human activities on climate, virtual meetings and conferences are becoming a new standard. They take away the need for people to travel hundreds of kilometres to venues and allow them to access the event by minimizing environmental impact.
Conferences are ubiquitous in all industries and are becoming increasingly popular in recent times. It is natural for us to think that live events allow efficient networking, better connection with the audience and an incredible experience in general.
However, as we saw, virtual conferences are cost-effective, flexible, sustainable and often times more productive than face-to-face counterparts. In these challenging circumstances what is most crucial is to feel fortunate for living in a digital era where it is possible to stay connected virtually. Though virtual conferences may never replace the physical proximity that we are losing, they are definitely a blessing in the time of enormous need.
Written By- Aishwarya Khandekar
Edited by- Nidhi Verma
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