Overall, the MICE products and venues inspections and showcase sessions racked up high engagement numbers, totalling 2,023 views.
The 2021 Virtual MICE Show: SEOUL LIVE ON stepped up to the plate and demonstrated how the show can indeed go on for the events industry.
Building on the innovative Virtual Seoul Platform created last year, Seoul Tourism Organisation (STO) incorporated fresh elements to amp up engagement in this latest event — which gathered 81 buyers from eight countries and 26 Seoul MICE Alliance (SMA) members on 21 and 22 July.
A pre-scheduled appointment system was used this time, facilitating one-on-one business meetings between buyers and suppliers on the virtual "Sebit Islets". Including “walk-ins”, the event materialised an impressive 435 one-on-one meetings over two days.
Plenty of engagement with live demonstrations, and physical experience kits sent to attendees' homes.While these new networking opportunities were the highlight of the event, it was important to the organisers that engagement extended beyond "simple business meetings," said STO director of MICE, Jihyun Kim.
Speaking to M&C Asia, Kim said the event was designed to be “lively” and “full of real moments”.
SMA members hit the stage to make their pitches during the SMA Live-Commerce session, which was modelled after “livestreaming shopping shows” popularised on e-commerce and social media platforms during the pandemic.
Introducing more opportunities for participation, the ON:Tact Seoul Experience segment took participants through demonstrations on cooking kimchi pancakes and making traditional Korean knot bracelets. Experience kits were sent to 50 attendees, deepening their hands-on involvement.
Overall, the cultural demonstrations were a crowd pleaser, drawing 241 hits.
Whether they were getting their hands dirty shaping pancakes or doing a virtual site inspection, participants were never truly alone, staying connected with other attendees through a new live chat box.
One of the 38 sites for virtual inspection, which allowed panning and zooming.“By adding a comment function to the main programme segments and operating a networking lounge where one-on-one chatting is possible, participants were encouraged to network with each other throughout the platform, even when not participating in business meetings. In fact, there were constant conversations between the participants throughout the event, making it an event full of ‘real moments’ despite being a virtual event,” Kim said.
Existing elements on the virtual platform such as the virtual site inspections (19 hotels and 19 non-hotel) continued to prove useful to the show attendees. As they moved through each venue, buyers could pan and zoom to get a 360-degree view, with specifications flashing up at appropriate moments.
Overall, those segments that presented MICE products and venues (site inspection, pitch sessions and Brand Showcase) racked up high engagement numbers, totalling 2,023 views.