I am Anna - Eventfaqs
I am Anna - Eventfaqs
I am Anna - Eventfaqs
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ALSO FEATURED 4 September 2011, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 27<br />
its existence to the micro blogging website Twitter which<br />
brought together its founders.<br />
“There has been an exponential growth on digital over the<br />
last few years – both on PCs and mobile phones. The number<br />
of internet users has reached 100 million and mobile phone<br />
internet users have grown from 40 million to 50 million in the<br />
last month. Due to this growth, it makes to complement all<br />
events with online endeavours. This need has even become<br />
more critical due to growth of social media,” Bhargava said.<br />
Injecting the Digital DNA<br />
So, what sort of live events can be transformed into hybrid<br />
events? Pretty much most live events can carry a digital<br />
component to it, whether it is conferences, conventions,<br />
workshops, seminars or even music concerts. The digital<br />
component of an event is not limited to just live video<br />
stre<strong>am</strong>ing of the event or videos of speeches and sessions.<br />
A hybrid event can even enable virtual participants to actually<br />
interact and network with other participants, speakers and<br />
exhibitors.<br />
An ex<strong>am</strong>ple of a hybrid convention is the annual Cisco<br />
Live which was recently held in Las Vegas. The event is a<br />
premier education and training event for IT, networking and<br />
communications professionals. The event’s online platform<br />
that allows professionals to attend the event remotely online<br />
is called Cisco Live Virtual. The platform brings together<br />
IT, networking, communications professionals and Cisco<br />
experts from more than 195 countries to collaborate, share<br />
and learn.<br />
Nesrene O’Connell, Event Marketing Manager, Cisco,<br />
Australia and New Zealand, told ExM that Cisco Live Virtual<br />
was originally created as an alternative to attend the live<br />
event at a time when travel and training budgets had been<br />
drastically affected by the poor economic conditions. “We<br />
wanted to give our invested audiences an opportunity to<br />
get the content and some of the experience of Cisco Live.<br />
In the three years that Cisco Live Virtual has been part of<br />
the Cisco Live portfolio, we have had more than 85,000<br />
subscribers from around the world participating in live virtual<br />
events, watching on-demand content, and interacting with<br />
each other.”<br />
So, was adding a virtual or online component beneficial to<br />
Cisco Live? “We were initially concerned that the virtual option<br />
would cannibalize our onsite attendance. Instead, over the<br />
course of three years, we have seen our onsite attendance<br />
grow steadily, fed in part by attendees who attended virtually<br />
and then upgraded to the onsite experience. By engaging<br />
a larger audience via both Cisco Live Virtual and uStre<strong>am</strong><br />
broadcasts, we are able to share our content and messaging<br />
with a much wider group of people than those within the<br />
convention center. Also, Cisco Live Virtual is a global<br />
platform that unites all of the worldwide Cisco Live events,”<br />
O’Connell said.<br />
Business events like conferences and conventions are not<br />
the only type of events that can be digitalized, any event can<br />
Nesrene O’Connell,<br />
Event Marketing Manager,<br />
Cisco, Australia and New<br />
Zealand<br />
“Cisco does see virtual<br />
events playing a role in<br />
building an audience for<br />
onsite events with the<br />
ability to engage a much<br />
wider audience, introduce<br />
them to the brand and<br />
content, and keep them<br />
engaged year-round rather<br />
than just during the event<br />
itself.”<br />
be converted into a hybrid event by adding a digital aspect.<br />
Elaborating on this fact, Bhargava told ExM that a digital<br />
component can be added to any live event in three phases<br />
– pre-event, post event and during the event. Citing the<br />
Mumbai Marathon as an ex<strong>am</strong>ple, Bhargava said that some<br />
digital aspects that can be added to the marathon include<br />
giving videos of the route of the marathon and videos on<br />
how to train for the marathon, as well as a Facebook profile<br />
page of every runner. For bringing the digital aspect during<br />
the marathon, live electronic bill boards can be placed to<br />
showcase SMSes cheering the runners, Facebook cheers<br />
can be provided live to the runners, live updates on the<br />
location of each runner as well as live photographs can be<br />
displayed online, etc.<br />
Musically Yours!<br />
Another ex<strong>am</strong>ple that Bhargava provided was that of<br />
enabling an audience to decide some of the songs that they<br />
want to hear during a live concert through online majority<br />
polling that can be done prior or during the concert. This<br />
ensures that the audience is engaged and brings a digital<br />
aspect to a live concert.<br />
Another digital feature that can be added to a live concert is<br />
a live stre<strong>am</strong>ing of the event that would allow a performer<br />
or performers to perform at one venue and have audiences<br />
across borders and seas witness the event without having<br />
to be present at the venue. An ex<strong>am</strong>ple of such a platform<br />
is ArtistAloud.com, which is an initiative pioneered by<br />
Hung<strong>am</strong>a Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. The online<br />
platform enables independent artists to build connect with<br />
their fans and allows fans to have access to the music.
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