One In Three Aussies Now Attending 10+ Virtual Events A Month

One in three Australians now attend more than 10 virtual events a month, according to a new study that indicates the sharp growth in online events sparked by the need to work and meet remotely could become permanent.
More than half (51 per cent) of the respondents to the Australian study expect to attend even more virtual events this time next year, while four in five say virtual events can be “as good as or better than their physical event counterparts”.
The study, conducted by digital event specialist Redback Connect, follows earlier research that indicated four in five workers (80 per cent) expect face-to-face meetings will decline even when they re-enter the physical office environment.
The latest research also reveals:
- Almost two in three respondents (64 per cent) now attend 6 or more digital events a month
- The proportion of ‘heavy’ digital event-goers (those attending more than 10 events a month) soared from 2 per cent in 2019 to 30 per cent of respondents this year
- Live viewing is increasing, with four in five respondents (83 per cent) attending at least half of all digital events live rather than on demand — up from 64 per cent who did so in 2019
- The most common digital events attended include webinars, internal company meetings, workshops, briefings, external conferences and customer meetings.
“Australians now attend virtual events so often, they know they can achieve most of the things that used to be done face-to-face in the digital environment — at greater convenience and for a fraction of the cost,” said Redback founder and chief executive officer Jeff Downs.
But he said virtual events organisers must guard against “digital event fatigue”: 86 per cent of respondents say they have abandoned a virtual event early — up from 66 per cent a year earlier.
The most common reasons to leave a virtual event early include content that is “not what I signed up for” and presenters that are “too salesy and not educational enough”.
“People won’t put up with irrelevant content, disengaged presenters or a poor technical experience,” Mr Downs says. “Digital events must offer valuable content and be executed well, with engaging presenters, easy-to-use technology and crystal clear audio,” he adds.
Events held in the evenings, at lunchtime and on weekends have become less popular as Australians working from home guard against the further blurring of personal and work time. Tuesday is the best day to host virtual events, while mid-morning is the preferred time to attend them, the study shows.
“There is some misalignment between when organisations are scheduling their digital events and when people want to watch them,” Downs said. “For example, 17 per cent of events are held in the evenings — but only 3 per cent want to attend events at that time. And weekends are definitely becoming less popular: 7 per cent preferred to attend events on Saturdays and Sundays last year, but that figure has dropped to 2 per cent.
“The good news is Australians are leveraging the convenience of virtual events; our data shows people are registering to attend them in record numbers and watching the content on demand if the live time doesn’t suit,” he added.
Audiences are becoming increasingly sophisticated, demanding a more social, innovative and engaging virtual event experience.
“People are looking for meaningful social, educational and commercial ways to interact with each other whether in the virtual or physical event world,” Downs said. “They have taken to video conferencing very quickly and in fact, are open to the use of innovative technologies such as virtual and augmented reality.”
“What also came through in the research is that Australians want event organisers and presenters to cater to different learning styles so they can more easily remember and recall what they learn when attending virtual events.”
Please login with linkedin to comment
virtual eventsLatest News

Dynata’s Latest Economic Crossroads Report Shows Consumer Trends From Around The Globe
Across the world, rising costs are causing anxiety and financial struggles for consumers. The worldwide impact of inflation is affecting their outlook and behaviour. More than half of consumers globally are struggling financially because of inflation and the increasing price of fuel, housing and everyday goods. Russia’s war on Ukraine intensifies their concerns around supply-chain […]

InMoment Bring Major Updates To Their XI Platform For Greater Customer Experiences
Making people's lives easier one update at a time. Because nowadays it's all about accessibility, right?

US FCC Commissioner Wants Apple And Google To Take Down TikTok From Their Stores
Anyone who wants to ban TikTok clearly doesn't understand how cool Anna Paul is.

Fullbright Scholar Teams Up With CQUniversity For New Opportunities In Queensland
It's nice to know the Sunshine State might finally be using said sunshine for something productive.

“Talk About Soft!” Mark Levy Blasts The Project Over Interview With Climate Change Activist
The world is actually burning, but sure let's be mad at the protestors.

Best Of The Best Judge, Ben Pellow Nabs Group Sales Director Role At Forbes Australia
Here at B&T, we love to remind you about all the fancy friends we have. Mainly because they never cop to it in public.

Visit Victoria And Endemol Shine Australia Announce New Partnership
The new series will allow Sydneysiders to appreciate Melbourne from their couches, just the way we like it.

Sydney Set To Host South By Southwest Festival For 2023
This comes as part of a wider plan to steal Texan culture, with Sydney set to take on plentiful Cowboy boots and rodeos.

Nine’s Big Dog Mike Sneesby Announces EOFY2022 Bonuses For Permanent Staff
Bonuses were decided after staff declined MAFS merch as a thank you.

Tony Armstrong Reveals The ABC’s Reaction To His OnlyFans Account
Armstrong proving that even a Logie can't save you from boring meetings with your bosses.

Wednesday TV Wrap: MasterChef Owns Demos But Nine Dines Out On The Night
Thank you MasterChef for normalising cooking while crying.

FutureBrand Australia Grows, Makes Two Senior Appointments
Bringing the "future" to Australia's business industry.

Sedona Lands Cinnamon Darvall As Executive Producer
If Sedona can acquire some Milk, Eggs and Flour as well, they'd be on their way to a nice crepe recipe in the C suite.

Jaywing And Frank Digital Nab Rai Campbell For Commercial Director Role
Campbell will be called to drive the Jaywing to success. That's not a phrase out of a sci-fi series by the way.

Are Media Launch Body Positivity Initiative ‘BODFest’ With OGX Haircare
Cause there's nothing that will make you feel better about yourself than seeing Em Rata on stage.

Quantcast Launches New Advertising Solutions For Marketers
With the rate at which Quantcast is attempting to solve problems, Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea may need to get in touch

Nielsen To Publish Global Annual Environmental, Social And Governance Report
Nielsen is releasing its global annual environmental, social and governance (ESG) report to share information in six key ESG topic areas including diversity, equity and inclusion, human capital, governance, data privacy and security, environment, and communities. The report is designed to demonstrate how Nielsen does what it does with responsibly and with integrity—and how that […]

ARIA And PPCA Welcome Newest Paper From ACMA
Having the word Phonographic in your company name is a sure-fire way to jerk the B&T editor awake first thing.

AO Metaverse And Run It Wild Set New Standards For The Industry At Cannes Lions
Pretty soon tennis games will be played between virtual avatars. Because that doesn't sound creepy at all.

“Always Look For Ways To Challenge Yourself And Grow”: 10 Of The Best With Mindshare’s Chris Solomon
Chris Solomon opens up to B&T, but declines to tell us what washing detergent he uses to keep his t-shirts glistening.

What Businesses Are Looking For When They Hire An Agency
Tips include: wearing a black t-shirt and oversized glasses won't make you standout. A beret on the other hand..

Telstra Names IAG’s Brent Smart As Its Chief Marketing Officer
Brent Smart has landed a very cool new gig, we are talking ripped jeans and complicated coffee order cool.

Introducing Postmatch, A New Sports-Focused Creative Agency
Who better to promote sport than the people who live, breathe and speak about it on a daily basis!

Pinterest Appoints Former Google Executive Bill Ready As CEO
Bet you're not "Ready" for all the changes coming to Pinterest (pun completely intended!)

Facebook And Instagram Remove All Posts Attempting To Sell Abortion Pills
The world of social media is having its own reaction to the many "interesting" things going on lately.

Lighthouse Foundation Partners With Aussie Artists To Bring Awareness To Youth Homelessness
With the art available for just $2, it makes the series affordable even for those bankrupted by the fall of crypto.

Welcome To Microsoft Advertising Where The Key To Results Is Collaboration With Care
Communication is key, people! That's how Microsoft Advertising produces the work that it does.

Gerety Awards Celebrate Shortlist Announcement With BBQ
Awards nights and big outdoor parties go together like greasy burgers and far too much beer.

Lendi Group Expands Media Relationship Appointing Initiative As Media Agency Across Brand Portfolio
One of Australia’s fastest growing fintech, The Lendi Group has appointed media agency Initiative with its media strategy, planning and buying services across its powerhouse property brands and networks Lendi and Aussie. Initiative was previously appointed by Aussie in February 2020, before the brand merged with Lendi becoming Lendi Group.

Azerion Integrates With Inskin Media For Australian Launch
Azerion enters the JAPAC region. Everyone's confused over whether that's a FIFA World Cup thing or not.

Veridooh Launches Independent Verification For Programmatic DOOH Advertising
Simpsons fans across the world can sit down, this particular DOOH article isn't about you lot.

“Speaking From The Heart!” Scott Cam Doubles Down On The Block Influencer Saga
After calling Elle Ferguson and her husband Joel Patfull "a bit unAustralian" Cam offers a heartfelt... clarification.

oOh!media Expands Brisbane Locations, Secures Queensland Rail Portfolio Assets
The digitisation of Brisbane is great for everyone, except those trying to sleep across the road from a billboard.

Kantar Study Shows Native Video Ads Boost Brand Awareness By 26% As Part Of Larger Media Mixes
Taboola, a global leader in powering recommendations for the open web, helping people discover things they may like, today announced the results of an independent Multichannel Brand Impact study from Kantar, the world’s leading data, insights and consulting company. eMarketer forecasts show digital ad spending in the U.S. will reach $270B in the U.S. by […]

Next&Co Win SEO Strategy Rights For New Aim
Because if you want to "aim" for success, you need to have the right people beside you.

Triple M Celebrates 90 Years On The Wagga Wagga Airwaves
To this day, no-one in radio will answer our questions on what happened to Triple L and Triple Q.