What is a "virtual event"?

Hi Chad,

I agree with Bruce that there are many types of virtual events. The Virtual Edge Institute has a good list of definitions for all the different types at: http://www.virtualedge.org/page/virtual-event-definitions, that may help you.

Best,
Cece

My 50 cents:

Web conferencing : Collaborative interacting over the Internet
Web conferencing allows a presenter to show an audience what is on his/her computer screen and collaborate in a number of ways.

* Data: Web conferencing focuses on computer-based data (presentations, documents, software apps), which it can display and easily manipulate.
* Web & phone: Most Web conferences use an audio conference call to let the group hear the presenter. Phone audio is more reliable and higher quality than Internet audio.
* Small to mid-sized groups: The data-sharing and two-way interactivity work well for groups up 100 attendees. Meetings can be hosted or attended from any PC with an Internet connection.
* Two-way: Web conferences are more interactive, with the ability to share presentation rights and control of applications among all group members.

Webcasting: Broadcasting over the Internet
Webcasting technologies use streaming media technologies to broadcast audio and video or audio only with visuals (optional) over the Internet to a large audience.

* Video: The biggest difference between Webcasting and Web conferencing is the predominance of video vs. sharing desktop applications. That makes Webcasting preferable for high-profile public events. Requires onsite production support, powerful servers, and lots of Internet bandwidth, which is why the cost of a Webcast can be high.
* Internet-only delivery: Live or archived video is delivered over the Internet and the audio is provided via speakers on your PC.
* Large events: By using high-capacity distributed servers, Webcasting companies can deliver events to audiences of thousands. Unlike production costs, per-attendee distribution is cheap so very large events are less expensive as Webcasts than they are as Web conferences.
* One-way: Streaming media compresses and transfers video and/or audio data through the Internet so that the file can start to play while it is downloading.

Webinar: Web-based Seminar
Specific type of web conference short for "Web Seminar". It is typically one-way, from the speaker to the audience with considerable audience interaction. A webinar can be collaborative and include polling and question & answer sessions to allow full participation between the audience and the presenter. In some cases, the presenter may speak over a standard telephone line or through the use of VoIP audio technology.

* Power Point slide presentations
* Audio through the phone, VoIP, or combination.
* Whiteboard with annotation
* Text chat - For live question and answer sessions
* Polls and surveys (allows the presenter to conduct questions with multiple choice answers directed to the audience)
* Screen sharing/desktop sharing/application sharing.

Virtual fair & trade show: 3D collaborative environment
Collaborative 3D or pseudo 3D environment that connects, informs and engages visitors and exhibitors. They reproduce realistic convention centres where visitors may network and gather all the relevant information in the virtual stands. Another usual features are virtual guides to help users to find the stands best suited for their profiles, registration tools to generate leads, webinar and video-conferencing apps and integrated instant messaging tools.

* Virtual fairs integrate the features of web-based seminars, and add all the real time communication of IM system plus the multimedia information of a rich internet application.
* Complete back-offices allow exhibitors to manage their virtual stands, and collect statistics and reports on the attendees behaviour
* Many customisation capabilities are available, mostly to define the virtual event venue, the virtual stands decoration or the configuration of the virtual event
* Scalability is a major issue, considering peaks of more than 1000 simultaneously connected attendees and more than 100.000 unique visitors in mainstream virtual trade-shows

Webinars are just one type of virtual event. Virtual events are any "online" gathering by a group of people. The key is that attendees are physiciall remotes. Examples of virtual events can include webinars, virtual tradeshows, video conferences, teleconferences, etc.

Virtual events are commonly interpreted as an event that has many activities associated with it, including webinars. The event can span a few hours to multiple days. It has features that are often associated with physical events such as presentations, networking, exhibit halls, forums, and access to resources including white papers, briefs and company brochures.

Hi Chad,

You may also be interested in this blog posting that summarizes 19 definitions of a virtual event: http://thevirtualbuzz.com/2011/04/19-definitions-of-a-virtual-event/

Cece