Laughter, creative synergy, belonging. As attendees will happily tell you, especially after the lonely days of COVID, nothing beats meeting face-to-face. Yet, even as in-person events roared back in recent years, virtual has carved out a stalwart spot in the meetings mix. Industry experts describe a clever if fitful evolution. Initially, as in-person events resumed, Matthew Byrne, director of business development for Mississauga, ON-based Stagevision, saw a backlash towards online. “What I heard from clients a lot was, ‘don’t talk to me about that… I never want to be behind the computer ever again.’” Fast-forward a few years though and Byrne says, “People are starting to rediscover the value of some virtual technologies.” Industry data shows a similar uptick (see sidebar for details). Yet experts quickly stress virtual has come a long way. Rather than mind-numbing hours of screen time, at its best, virtual today is focused, engaging and polished. Here’s a look at the current landscape and best practices for shaping successful virtual experiences for attendees: t HOW VIRTUAL HAS EVOLVED Industry observers agree virtual experiences have vastly improved thanks to real-life lessons of recent years. Here are some notable shifts they’re seeing: Intentional design: Loren Maisels, founder and president of LOMA Agency in Toronto, says, “There’s intentional design around the virtual event versus a reactive approach. So we’re seeing a lot of that: ‘Why are we doing this? What’s the intention behind it?’ And not to do [virtual] just because we think we should.” Less is more: Byrne sees a move away from COVID-era blanket broadcasting of “every second of content throughout my three-day event” towards a tighter focus on “the most important part of this eight-hour day, and what people are going to be most interested in.” Hybrid normalized: With most corporate clients giving employees some remote work time, Jason Wagner, president of Fifty North Events, with locations across Canada, talks about a “normalization” of meetings designed for a dual in-person and online audience. “Virtual isn’t just an add on, it’s more of a channel of its own.” Two-way engagement: Formats have shifted from broadcast to participatory, which has also hugely improved online experiences, says Wagner. While early in the pandemic, virtual was essential for blasting out management updates, webinars and the like, he says today “clients are expecting two-way engagement, real-time collaboration and personalization.” → Fall 2026 | Ignitemag.ca | 23
