Covid-19: Its impact on the conference and event industry and the rise in online meeting technology

Soon after the 11th of February 2020 when the World Health Organisation announced that the new strain of coronavirus, Covid-19, had taken hold across countries across the world and had therefore moved from an epidemic to a pandemic, governments began to instigate lockdowns to contain the disease and reduce transmission rates. The resultant effect of lockdowns on businesses and industry was wide-reaching and dramatic and one which no one could have ever anticipated.

Academic conferences, events and public seminars, as well as business expos and networking events were the ones that were hit the hardest - reliant on physical footfall and traditional forms of face-to face engagement, they fell silent as we all retreated to our homes.

Social distancing measures also meant that we suddenly saw a rise in home working and many businesses had to quickly accept that work is a thing their workers do and not necessarily a place they come to.

The cancelling of conferences and other events was the least of people’s worries as everyone's attention turned to Covid-19, and discussions about other health issues, disciplines not related to health and business were put to one side. Whilst face-to face events suffered the effects of lockdown, a surprising new wave of online conferences and webinars grew very quickly assisted by existing platforms such as Skype, Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

Online video platforms have been around for some time. Previously used by businesses in one-to-one or small meetings, a quick messaging tool and to facilitate no/low cost international calls, until this pandemic their power and use had not been fully recognised or maximised. Skype, Zoom and Microsoft Teams were waiting in the wings for their time to shine and as a result of Covid-19 these will be the apps of 2020 that we will all remember and have contributed to saving lives and potentially the answer out of this pandemic.

These apps have their advantages and disadvantages and how useful they are for the conference and events industry is debated by many; in fact, many have wondered if they will change the future of conferences as we know, or knew, them?

Zoom has fast become the preferred verb to describe a video meeting - it is now commonplace for people to say “let’s Zoom” in a similar vein to how we now take “I’ll Google it” for granted. As a result, it is no surprise that Zoom reported revenue earnings of $328 million during the three months February–April 2020, which was almost a triple increase from the year before. In the month before the pandemic hit and resulted in lockdowns across the globe, Zoom reported 10 million meeting participants a day and during lockdown this increased (or zoomed if you will), up to 300 million.

According to Microsoft, the owners of Skype for Business, Skype’s average daily users increased by 40 million a day during this time, a 70% increase before the lockdown. Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion, but their alternative offer - Microsoft Teams - has been considered the winner throughout this period. According to www.computerweekly.com the growth in Microsoft Teams resulted in Skype for Business usage dropping by 76% to 45%, whilst Teams increased from 11% to 34%.

Daily active users of Microsoft Teams have more than doubled in recent months, according to www.statista.com, increasing from 32 million users in March and 75 million in April. In June, use of Microsoft Teams grew by 894% compared with average daily usage in February (source: www.computerweekly.com). In the same period, Zoom use grew by 677%. Microsoft Teams has become the preferred option for businesses; the main reason for its success has been the greater collaboration options and functions that help facilitate easier meetings and webinars, and Microsoft’s strategic roll out of Office 365.

One of the newcomers to the market is YouTube Live which is fast becoming the chosen platform to present live webinars and events. Easily linked to Zoom, the platform allows Zoom presenters greater control over how participants engage with the event - for example, hosts can allow delegates to make comments that are visible to all, or just to the event host. In addition, the event is immediately available for replay after the event, and whilst watching, delegates can pause if they need to attend to children, pets or an unexpected delivery, and then resume the session and catch up.

More as a result of necessity rather than choice, these video communication platforms enabled many to continue to meet, discuss issues and share ideas. For some, the pandemic was a test to our civilisations' development of technology - whilst the Covid-19 virus ravaged through populations and sadly thousands have died, the technology was ready and helped ease the problems we all could have experienced.

Without the technology things could have been so much worse - Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams and YouTube Live have enabled academics, researchers, students, businesses and everyone interested in sharing ideas and thoughts to meet, collaborate and continue to develop ideas. Through online conferences, meetings, networking events and webinars, these tools may have actually allowed us to do more in this period than we have ever been able to, and this may even speed up our global efforts to find a vaccine for this disease.

Image courtesy of Chris Montgomery