How virtual platform Delegate is shaking up sectors, starting with the wedding industry
SINGAPORE — With all sorts of issues still surrounding the Coronavirus, getting back into the swing of attending live events seems like too much stress, right? Things like whether or not you should touch stuff, how far away from the other attendees do you need to be, and whether or not you felt your mask, can add to our anxiety. Still, we do want to go out and do things like we used to.
One area where Coronavirus has impacted is on events like Expos and Conventions. Wedding Expos, for example, have always been a fantastic way to source ideas and vendors for the perfect wedding, but so far we’ve been stuck on Pinterest with no way of knowing how to get our hands on what we want.
This is where companies like Delegate can help us out. A very cool Singapore tech company, Delegate, is using a virtual platform to host virtual events which you can attend from the comfort of your own home. Still, you also have access to more interactive experiences, like meeting vendors, that you experience if you participated in an expo in real life.
“There are many virtual formats to explore [for virtual events], with the most common being live streams, webinars and other video conferencing events,” explains Jacqueline Ye, the co-founder and CSO of Delegate.
“[But] after months of being exposed to the same format, organisers are now pressed to find different solutions to increase audience engagement, be it through attendee interaction tools (such as Q&A, polling, virtual networking), improving the quality of content by working with better publishers or exploring new virtual technologies.”
Ye says that since the arrival of COVID-19, the company has had to develop new tools to help make these virtual events more interactive for attendees.
“Some companies can transport a typically offline event into an online space through a 3D, immersive virtual environment with some companies also leveraging the use of AR/VR technology to make their event more immersive,” says Ye.
Delegate has also recently launched its virtual conference software, which allows people to interact in a virtual online environment that is “fully immersive” says Ye. Called Play, the first event will be the Delegate Virtual Wedding Festival on September 19-20, 2020.
There will be 100 wedding vendors, live performances, webinars, giveaways, exclusive deals and lucky door prizes. You will be able to check out the vendors and then make a virtual appointment to meet them and discuss your needs - just like you would in real life.
One of the great benefits of virtual events is that you will get access to experts that you might not have been able to in real life since they don’t need to fly to Singapore. “What we’ve seen is that virtual events are usually content-rich since speakers are no longer geographically and as time-bound as they were before with having to travel,” says Ye.
And even when COVID-19 is no longer an issue, many events’ organisers are going to either stick with virtual events or create hybrid versions that are part live and part virtual, says Ye.
“There’s a lot of great value to be found in virtual events - the ability to reach a wider, global audience, cheaper set-up costs (vs. a physical event) and interesting technologies that can scale and amplify the event experience.
“The trend in the market is that events will move towards more of a hybrid experience where attendees can choose to attend and engage with an event both online and in the physical world,” explains Ye.
For now, make the most of this situation and enjoy as many events as you like, in the comfort of your own home.
If you’re planning on getting married, sign up for the Delegate Virtual Wedding Festival at weddingfestival.justdelegate.co.
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