Stay grounded or stay face to face? SES 2010

I was so happy to be given a non-plastic-coated badge when I arrived at SES 2010. Usually I find one of the annoying little plastic variety in my bag after a conference and wonder how best to dispose of the goddam thing, whilst bemoaning the waste of food, carpets, plastic bottles and all manner of human stuff that even a one-day conference can generate.  I really wanted to attend SES this year, mainly to check out the session on virtual events and videoconferencing, but also to get a picture of the broader issues facing events organisers and venues in terms of sustainability and CSR. (If you want the key points on the Virtual Events bit, skip to the bullet points below).

The event was chaired by hat-wearing Ed Gillespie from Futerra who kept the crowd amused throughout. He introduced Jonathon Porrit after a quick preamble reminding us all that we should try get ourselves, our clients and colleagues excited about low-carbon heaven rather than being scared about climate change doom, which makes sense – it pays to be positive, and as Mr Porrit re-affirmed, there is only one direction for the sustainability issue, and that is that it has to be more present and more compelling.

There were lots of sessions on waste, energy and social enterprise (as Porrit reminded us in the keynote, sustainability is also about workers’ rights and fair wages, it’s not just about environmental impact) – but I want to get straight to the part about doing meetings and events online. The session couldn’t have come at a better time really, as we were under the cloud of Eyjafjallajokull, so the answer to the question of the title of this session “Stay grounded or stay face to face?” had been answered for us to an extent. Sometimes there is no other option than to do it online. We all know that online communications makes sense. It’s just how we learn to use the technology we have alongside our real-life interactions.

The panel for the Stay grounded or stay face to face? session was James Alexander from Do The Green Thing, Paul Dickinson from Carbon Disclosure Project, Iziana Dowie from Eventia and Leanne Bell who writes for C&IT magazine.

This video from Do the Green Thing set the scene for the debate…

…and here’s a round up of the key points on both sides:

*It’s a bit crazy to say video meetings won’t work before we have really started using them (alot of people are basing their experience on out-dated clunky tech and poor connectivity)

*For most orgs and venues it takes a hell of a lot of set up and pre-event testing to make sure a reliable and high quality video feed is possible
*There are still a lot of issues with poor connectivity and complicated platforms
*It’s about normalisation of behaviour – people just aren’t so used to doing it online yet
*There may be competitive advantage in doing meetings online
*Cisco Telepresence is amazing but very expensive
*Cisco Telepresence has inbuilt clever stuff like picking up eye-colour for more real eye contact – so the experience is heightened and the tech becomes invisible
*Eventia’s White Paper says 84% of executives prefer face-to-face meetings
*Education is needed from tech companies and events associations about how to best use the technology (that was my own comment btw)!
*If the ‘real’ event is complex with multiple tracks over several days and loads of networking opportunities, then the online version will have difficulty to provide the same experience
*People should just have a go and experiment to find out what works and what doesn’t
*Extending the idea of beaming someone into a conference: i.e. after someone has done a live video link into an event they could become available for a workshop type discussion afterwards by simply having another room set up with a screen and two way audio link or chat room
*Rather than being swamped by available tech, event organisers should choose what to use according to audience demographic

Obviously this issue will continue to be debated. I know where I stand: I love meeting people, but given that 200,000 tonnes per a day of CO2 emissions have been prevented as a result of cancelled flights I might just do more meetings online when I can!

If you want more food for thought on Virtual Events, read Leanne Bell’s article on the C&IT site.