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As I was waiting for the event to start, I began to look back on the changes which was brought in 2020. Because of the pandemic everyone had to adapt to the changes. As most of the events switched to online, we now have to ask the question about the future of hosting event.

Today, the event began with a discussion with Adam Warren (The Next Web). He briefly talked about short introduction about TNW how it first started with an event of 200 participation, later grew to broader audience and connected to the ecosystems around Europe.

He expressed the difficulty of shifting to online from in-person in a short time. The things which is missed the most is energy when you are physically there with people. This feeling cannot be recreated with a screen. Also, when it comes to networking events, creating personal connections with other attendees have been quite difficult with online.

When our lives get back to normal then there would be discussions among businesses, and they will share what option to choose.

• Businesses and their partners have to calculate their revenue of online events. If their revenue is good or high, then they may consider continuing online.
• On the other hand, events drive income to many other industries (hotel, restaurant, products, etc). They also have to think about what would happen to these industries if all the events are online.
• Adam Warren says it would be better to find options which is the middle. Both online and in-person events can be organized.

As we have seen during this pandemic when people attend online events, there are many people attending from different parts of the world and with in-person event they couldn’t be able to. When organizing events in-person they should also make it online at the same time.

Next, the interview with Anna Radulovski (WomenTech Network)

The session started with the introduction of WomenTech Network which supports women in tech industry. Before the pandemic, there were scheduled to organize 50+ events but most were cancelled, and she knew she had to do something quick. While others were panicking with this sudden situation, she thought it in a different way and focused on the positive light. “There is a chance/opportunity in every situation.” Anna Radulovski and her team connected with their ambassadors around the world and learned the online tools then they organized an online event with 1000+ participants, connecting people worldwide.

In the events that they hosted, they gave spotlight to the tech women who are not well known to share their opinions and stories.

In WomenTech Network and many more events have diversified their platforms. Inviting speakers from around the world and showing different opinions and knowledge on given topics.

She also, shared the difficulties of organizing an online event such as technical issues, connecting to the speakers and keeping audience entertained.

Her thoughts on organizing events is to be more diverse (invite people with color and women) in the events.

After, the event continued with a Q&A session with Kristof Molnar (Brain Bar).

There is a festival vibe to the events organized by Brain Bar which is unique. Since the pandemic hit, one of the challenges of hosting events was bringing the same vibe through online. They have learned various features and programs to organize online events and used cameras and other equipment. They started to broadcast through different social media channel like YouTube and Facebook to interact with the audience. They paid extra attention on the interaction segment because with this, many people will keep watching the live broadcast instead of watching it anytime like other videos. 

With the use of social media and their approach to their online events, they have reached many people worldwide which was far more than their in-person events.

He said that whether you want to organize it online or in-person depends on your goals. The amount of people can reach is more in online. While the quality of building interactions and communication are important for in-person event.

The goal of Brain Bar is to continue to grow its platform, focus more on the regional and connect with passionate and talented people.

Finally, the event was bringing to its close with the talks about the future events hosted by StartITup Győr. Péter Bártfai talked about Ideathon 3.0 (idea-based competition) which will take place in Győr, Hungary and many more interesting events are being planned.

Written by Ariun Bold (StartITup Győr community member and writer)

Special thanks to Diána Páti (Hostess of Startup Szerda International - Future of Events)