Virtual Events Don't Reduce Transportation Energy, They Eliminate It

Remember the television show The Twilight Zone and its world of ideas and imagination? Welcome to a new dimension beyond your imagination called the virtual world, a world where the future is now, and carbon footprints are eliminated.

Webinars and webcasts are good examples of this virutal world. They are rapidly growing in popularity across the world. A webinar is a specific type of web conference, typically one-way, from the speaker to the audience, with limited 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, while pointing out information being presented onscreen, and the audience can respond over their own telephones, allowing the greatest comfort and convenience. There are web conferencing technologies on the market that incorporate the use of VoIP audio technology, to allow for a completely web-based communication. Depending upon the provider, webinars may provide hidden or anonymous participant functionality, making participants unaware of other participants in the same meeting.

A webcast is a media file distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology. A webcast may be distributed either live or on demand. Essentially, webcasting is “broadcasting” over the Internet. The generally accepted use of the term webcast is the "transmission of linear audio or video content over the Internet". A webcast uses streaming media technology to take a single content source and distribute it to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. The largest webcasters include existing radio and TV stations that simulcast their output, as well as a multitude of Internet only stations. The term webcasting is usually reserved for referring to non-interactive linear streams or events.

One person who understands the impact of the virtual world is Michael Doyle, executive director of the California-based The Virtual Edge Institute (VEI), an international organization dedicated to advancing the development and adoption of virtual event and meeting technology and best practices for collaboration and marketing.

“Our mission is to help marketers and event professionals plan and produce successful events and meetings utilizing virtual event technologies,” Doyle said. “Because we are at the very early stages of this industry, it means that our focus, though very targeted, will be quite broad. There are marketers and event producers that are at every level of adoption—from denial (yes, there are still people out there that want to avoid virtual event elements) to enthusiastic adopters that are pushing the limits of the technology and creating the next practices.”

VEI supports and contributes research, education, thought leadership, promotion, and professional networking. The organization’s members help set the direction for the virtual events and meeting industry and create significant business opportunities, solutions and advantages for all. Members have access to various services and deliverables based on their membership level.

A veteran of trade shows, Doyle is an online community developer with extensive marketing, and business development experience. He developed, launched and managed Online Market World 2008, xSP World, Reseller Management magazine, Clean Technology 2007, HP World, ERP News, Scientific Computing Conference & Expo, ASP Channel Conference, ERP World, Nanotech 2002-2008, VEChannel.com, and SourcingToday.com. In 2006, he began experimenting with Virtual Events as part of the Green Construction 2006 trade show and has been developing expertise in the area ever since including the creation of the VEChannel (Virtual Event Channel) for TradeComet LLC and the virtualization of Online Market World for Interact365.

Bottom line here: virtual events are truly green and help the environment. Imagine not having to fly 25 executives across the globe to a conference you are now able to hold virtually. That saves a lot of energy, especially in the transportation realm.

According to an article published on VEI’s website titled “Exactly How Green Are Virtual Events?” by Daniel Kerns, virtual events can help to reduce our ever-increasing carbon footprint.

“The footprint of a virtual event would be significantly smaller than that of a physical one but I was blown away by just how much,” Kerns said. "About 142 times as much."

Doyle said today’s uncertain economy is forcing companies to cut travel and downsize, or cancel important meetings and annual events. Yet, companies still need to stay in touch with loyal clients, reach new prospects, and collaborate internally.

“More and more firms are discovering that virtual events can provide an answer to the new economics of business communications,” Doyle said.

If you want to learn more about virtual solutions for your business, attend The Virtual Edge Summit, produced by the Virtual Edge Institute, set for February 22-23, 2010 at the Santa Clara Convention Center.

Although still in its infancy, Doyle’s latest project is Ecomeeter.

“Ecomeeter is a service that aggregates data related to carbon reduction and cost savings across all online meeting and virtual event platforms,” Doyle explained. “This is done to calculate the impact that virtual meetings and events have on businesses and the world. Data is updated quarterly giving us total carbon saved and total costs saved.”

This new dimension--the virtual world--surely can help us conserve energy, lower our carbon footprint, and remain connected with our business and personal contacts. As Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling would say, there is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. “It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition.”

Image courtesy of the Italian Scientists and Scholars in North America Foundation