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.
