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We live in an age where the lines between our work and personal lives are becoming consistently more blurred. With the ability to remain connected to colleagues at all hours of the day and to receive emails and messages from dusk to dawn, it can be hard to switch off. This is why it is so important to focus on how we work and aim to work smarter not harder. 

More employers than ever are sourcing ways to help improve the life balance of their employees, knowing that the better their staff feel, the better they will perform. When employees feel valued and like their wellbeing is being invested in, they will be more likely to stay with the company for longer and to put more effort into what they do. As technology evolves, so do workplace practices and employers are turning to methods such as VR to achieve the right balance for their employees. Here we explore a few of the reasons why VR can help to promote this. 

1. It means you don’t have to go away on lengthy business trips

Business trips can often mean that you have to be away from your family and your home for lengthy periods of time. The trip normally involves a lot of meetings, hosting clients or customers, business dinners and conferences. There is little time to switch off and if you do have any down-time, it is usually spent answering emails and catching up on the work you are missing when out of the office. By using VR you don’t have to go away to attend these meetings and conferences. Instead, business can be done from the comfort of your own office or even your home. You don’t need to spend time travelling, staying in hotels or recovering from jet lag if you have had to visit somewhere further away. Simply put on your headset and be transported to meeting and conference rooms, to seminars and to social spaces where you can catch up and conduct business efficiently and effectively. You will get everything done that you need to, make the most of the co-presence that VR offers and also significantly improve your work life balance.

2. It is easier to catch up with colleagues

Whether you work from home or from the office, it can be tricky trying to catch up with colleagues – particularly if they are based in different locations. You could find that you have dozens of messages on Slack, Skype or other devices pinging throughout the day and that you have a number of messy email chains. By using VR you can set up a meeting with colleagues, showing photos, videos and presentations this way. This will cut down the amount of time you spend going back and forth making it much easier to catch up with your colleagues when you need to.

3. It can make tasks easier and quicker to do

When you need to get a response on a project or are collaborating with someone, other forms of communication can be clunky and time consuming. Email threads might get lost, messages can get missed and tasks misunderstandings can easily happen. By using VR you can meet up in a shared space getting the answers to any questions easily and quickly. If, for example, you are an architect or a designer you can also see mock-ups in a “real life” situation instead of spending hours building and designing it to find out there are fundamental flaws. This means there are less steps involved in the process, freeing up your time and streamlining the way that you work.

4. It can create a place to escape to on your breaks

When you are working, it can be easy to skip through your breaks, eating your lunch at your desk and staying late. Instead, VR can give you a place to escape to. Rather than spending your well-deserved break time hunched over your computer, you can transport yourself to another country or city, exploring the sights and broadening your horizons. It can ensure you feel relaxed, refreshed and ready to carry on with your workday. A clear mind means that you will be able to focus more and avoid feeling burnt out. 

These are just a few ways that VR can promote a healthier work life balance. It showcases the importance of technology and how it can greatly benefit all aspects of our lives. Contact us to find out more about how Gatherings can improve the way you work and live. 

With the pandemic showcasing how jobs that previously could not be conducted from home, can in fact be done so, it has made company owners looking into how other business practices can follow suit. One such example is events and meetings. Events and meetings are an integral part of any business; they enable people to get together, share information, and brainstorm. They are a chance to woo potential clients and bring together your current team. There is no doubt about it, they are important. Yet while they might be necessary, the costs behind them can soon rack up and they can end up putting a large strain on your budget. Some of the costs you need to consider may include:

– The hiring of the venue
– Travel costs for your employees if it is taking place somewhere externally
– Hotel stays for guests or employees if required
– Catering on the day
– Printed materials and handouts
– Additional staff behind the scenes
– Printed branded elements such as banners and signage
– Rentals such as for tables and chairs
– Take-homes for the attendees

With many feeling the financial pinch from the pandemic, it is just not feasible nor warranted to spend thousands on an event when you can get the same results by conducting it a different way – through virtual reality. Here are some of the main ways that a virtual event can be more economical than a physical one.

No need to pay travel costs

Forget having to send employees away from their families and out of the office, having to pay for them to travel, to stay in a hotel, and for their food and drink. Instead, they simply need to slip on a virtual reality headset from the comfort of their home or office and they can be transported effortlessly to a virtual event. This is economical both in the sense that you as an employer doesn’t have to pay for all the additional costs associated with business travel, but it is also much better for the environment too.

There is less staff downtime

When you are paying for an employee’s time, each minute is valuable. An external event can take a lot of time out of them being in the office. They might require a day for travelling, a day or two for the event itself, and then a day to travel back. This equates to almost a full work week for one event. In comparison, a VR event will only take time from their schedule that they actually spend in the event itself. The rest of their week is freed up to spend on their work that they need to do in the office.

Materials can be used time and time again

When hosting an event, you will need get items such as banners and signs printed out. These can be expensive and you can only use them once if they have dates or other event-specific details on them. By hosting a virtual event, you have the flexibility to change the scene and branding whenever you feel like, without the hassle of going to a printer and paying for something that can only be used a limited amount of times. The next time you do an event you will likely use a different venue, different materials and require different equipment. With a VR headset, you only have to purchase it once and then it can be used indefinitely. Companies just need to put together a digital transformation strategy and you will have a company HQ in VR which can be used each time you need to host a meeting, event or global get-together.

You don’t need to hire additional staff

There are many parts to an event that requires the hiring of additional staff. In VR, this is not needed. You won’t need staff for catering, setting up the event or tidying. If you did want to elevate your participant’s event experience, you could send a box of snacks or drinks ahead of time. This is much cheaper than external catering but is a great way to take the experience up a notch. Negating the need for additional staff members means you save on wages, equipment and ingredients.

If your business is looking to cut costs without compromising on experience, then a virtual event is the ideal solution. Find out more about our virtual reality events and how we can help your business here.

We’re excited to be launching the latest Gatherings VR event spaces and features at the Conference & Incentive Travel Recovery Forum this summer. The event will take place at London’s County Hall on the 24th of June.

C&IT Recovery Forum.

At the forum, we will be showcasing the incredible capabilities of Gatherings, as well as letting guests see for themselves how it works. Our Events team members Sophie and Ellie will be on hand to help VR first-timers find their way around the Oculus Quest headsets, and how to join a Gatherings event live. We take safety very seriously and will be observing strict hygiene and cleaning measures throughout the day.

Mesmerise’s Creative Director Michael Ogden said:

“We’re very excited to be sharing the amazing new Gatherings designs in person.  It’s a great way to help Events colleagues experience how VR works with real-world and digital events as part of the hybrid approach we’re all looking to in future”

Angie Vaux, Founder of Women in Tech Forum recently joined a Gatherings event and was kind enough to share her feedback

“As a techie at heart, I love experiencing new technology and trying out the latest gadgets. Today, I had one of the best meeting experiences set up by the amazing team at Mesmerise using the Oculus VR headset, and I can only say WOW. It uses avatar and 4K immersive technology to provide a rich and interactive 360-degree meeting experience, whether you want to watch a presentation in the auditorium, participate in a networking event or have a personal chat on the sofa, you can easily move between the different rooms, with cityscape backdrops.”

Showcasing the new Gathering designs in person to 100s of leading Conference and Event industry professionals will be a new experience for us, as it’s one of the first in-person UK events since COVID. C&IT World Editor Calum Di Lieto said

”Yes, that’s right, you will be able to be in the same room as your peers and network in a way that has almost become a forgotten dream among all the Zoom calls. The Forum will focus on providing an opportunity for all sides of the industry to come together to discuss new strategies and … take a look at what we’ve learnt from digital and hybrid so far, and how this can be taken to the next level.”

After only being able to meet virtually for the past few months, we are very excited to meet new users in person and showcase the hard work we’ve put into the platform the last 8 months. It’ll be great to hear feedback on the latest designs and features and show just how beneficial VR can be.

If you can’t get along to the Forum in person on the 24th of June, get in touch and we’ll set up a demo for you. We‘ll also have other events in the future that you will be able to attend, and who knows – perhaps we will soon meet in Gatherings. After all, it is the future of events…!

To find our more, please email us at [email protected] and to best stay up-to-date, follow us on Linkedin here.