10 INNOVATION & TECH TODAY^ |^ 2020 YEAR-END ISSUE
Event Wrap-Ups
The Virtual Season
While the COVID-19 pandemic continues and in-person events are being shelved into next year, the birth of the virtual venue has quickly become a growing
commodity.
Not only to stave off further infections, the online event has also become an effective cost-cutting tool for companies around the world. No more travel costs.
No more logistical nightmares. The headache of travel and the financial limitations on businesses and their executives may soon become a thing of the past.
Some of last quarter’s most prominent virtual events included:CEDIA Expo
This premier trade event spearheaded one of the industry’s first completely
virtual trade shows for the custom integration and design communities. The
event took place Sept. 15-17 and saw 7,600 trade professionals come together
to connect and discuss topics facing the industry this year and next.
There were 110 virtual exhibitors, 235 media registrants, 161,740 exhibitor
booth views, 14,288 virtual panel discussion or program registrations, and
over 7,600 CEDIA Expo Virtual Experience registrants.
Samantha Ventura, CEDIA’s Senior Vice President of Education and
Training, told Innovation & Tech Today learners from around the world
attended the event for a wide range of highly technical business topics and
everything in between.
“As a result, attendees were treated with a valuable opportunity to gain a
leading edge, and top of the industry expertise from wherever they were,” she
said. “The feedback showed the subject matter was on-point and relevant. We
look forward to integrating lessons learned from this global platform into
future CEDIA Education programming and future CEDIA Expos.”Emerge Virtual Cannabis Conference & Expo
The event featured noted speakers like Jim Belushi and industry CEO,
Wanda James, in a Hyperfair platform and avatar-based virtual ecosystem
while educating attendees on the latest in cannabis discoveries, trends,
innovations, and policies.
Taking place Sept. 8-10, the event saw nearly 1,200 attendees pour into
the virtual exposition hall on day one. Overall, 1,600 attendees enjoyed
the immersive experience. The event included more than 15,000 business
cards exchanged, over 9,000 individual conversations, 50 sessions, six
keynotes, three days, and zero masks.
Kristi Dougherty, CEO at Reach Consultancy and Event Director for
Emerge, said “the cannabis industry is too dynamic and rapidly evolving to
ignore connections, education, and development opportunities while the
country copes with COVID restrictions.”
“The Emerge Virtual Cannabis Conference & Expo is the closest
replication of a large in-person event that we can provide right now to
meet those needs in our community,” she said. Attendance and
sponsorship at Emerge ensures cannabis business, science, and legislation
continues to move forward into 2021 and beyond.”