Survey Reviews Responses to Year of Virtual Events

With virtual events likely to remain a firm fixture for some time, Owen Mumford Pharmaceutical Services has published a research report presenting the impressions and predictions of industry professionals to date.

While over three quarters of survey respondents from the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors felt that virtual events would become much more popular in future — rivaling face-to-face events in number — they also highlighted aspects that have been unsatisfactory and need to be re-appraised by event organizers.

Respondents were underwhelmed by many virtual events so far in terms of content, technical platforms, interactivity, price etc., but they remained positive about the potential for creating better experiences in the future. Criticism of virtual events was most vehement where face-to-face methods had simply been put online, with little thought about whether this would work satisfactorily for delegates.

Denis Marteau, General Manager at Owen Mumford Pharmaceutical Services, commented: “There are some areas of the in-person experience which are highly difficult to replace, especially the networking element which is so critical at conferences, and the ability to demonstrate a device and let delegates see how it works. But we see scope for innovative thinking from event organizers and this survey suggests that there is an appetite for this in our industry.”

The report can be accessed here.