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"Today's audiences have a plentiful inventory of virtual events, and many Captivate the audience
offerings are available on demand," Papakonstantinou said. "This climate
makes it more likely for audiences to fast forward if they are not getting value Papakonstantinou observed that live
every second, and attendees that are not fully engaged in an event will be more chat and interview formats that work
likely to leave." well in on-site venues can fall flat
online, because virtual audiences lack
Offer one-on-one networking the patience to sit through extended
discussions. "On-site audiences are
Venue settings may be different but the principal motivations have not changed, captive and can't escape," he said.
Papakonstantinou stated. People still want to connect and sell. Promoters can "Virtual audiences tune in from
capitalize by creating exclusive live-only events with one-on-one networking home, where distractions are endless.
opportunities, he suggested. Additional proven strategies include connecting To hold their attention, it's best to
registered guests with high-profile people and offering free services in pre-record interviews and edit them
exchange for one-on-one meetings with vendors and sponsors, he added. down to their essence."
Danny Klein, chief operating officer at Obsecure, saw the power of prerecorded Klein acknowledged that Finovate's
demos and one-on-one meetings at FinovateFall 2020. After pivoting to digital virtual exhibit hall felt different
in response to COVID-19, planners vowed to make future venues accessible than previous on-site experiences.
digitally worldwide, he noted. Participants who had planned to
dedicate their complete attention to
"Overall it was a very interesting experience, Klein said. "The Finovate team the virtual event found it difficult to
invested a lot in trying to replicate an in-person conference experience as much enforce their plans, he stated. In fact,
as possible. In many ways they succeeded. For example, I feel the opportunity he found that numerous attendees
to prerecord the demo strengthened the presentations in many ways. I also were distracted by unexpected
found that with the limited ability to 'walk the floor,' attendees were more open meetings set in their calendars that
than usual to accept direct communication." were unrelated to the event.

"Because of the virtual nature of the
event, many attendees were more
receptive to confirm off-event demos
and communicate via email and
LinkedIn," Klein said. "My advice
to remote event organizers would
be to find ways to pre-set attendance
in sessions, booth visits, and facilitate
one-on-one meetings. Events are all
about having everyone in one place,
and that is hard to replicate. At the
same time, with COVID restrictions,
remote events help the show go on."

Go Hollywood
Jaqueline Bartzen, marketing senior
manager at EBANX, and head of
Latin America Summit, powered
by EBANX, said that producing the
summit forever changed how she and
her teammates see events in general,
even physical ones.

"EBANX is a fintech specialized in
Latin America, so we are always
looking for ways to create experiences
about Latin America, and not
only payments, but in our events,"
Bartzen said. "Our experiences are
based in three main pillars: content,
networking and in having a 'taste' of
Latin America. We want attendees
to get to know more about Latin
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