What Virtual and Hybrid Events Can Teach Us About the Value of Community

Hosts: David Adler, RD Whitney Guests: Liz Irving, Paul Treanor This episode of GatherGeeks is a collaborative show between BizBash, the Society of Independent Show Organizers (SISO) and Event Relief 2021, Dan Assor’s 24-hour vodcast that raised funds for the nonprofit EventWell in March. BizBash chairman and founder David Adler teams up with RD Whitney, the founder of 365 Media, to host an event producers’ roundtable featuring Liz Irving, executive vice president and head of marketing at Clarion Events North America, and Paul Treanor, senior manager of content and community at Informa. The group of industry veterans discusses the evolving world of virtual and hybrid events, sharing the unvarnished truth about what they’ve learned about events and exhibitions over the last 13 months. They also share why event producers should consider themselves community-builders, discussing how to understand your customer’s needs and motivators, ways to foster connections online or in-person, what works and what doesn’t work when building new communities, and much more. Finally, they chat about their own experiences with virtual and hybrid events, sharing insights on attendee engagement, the hub-and-spoke method, why Clubhouse is so popular in the event industry and much more.  Running time: 51:40. Sponsored by iVent.