During the pandemic, we got used to virtual launches and online events. What does this mean for face-to-face events like CES, IFA and MWC? We’ll discuss that today in the tech podcast you trust.
The CES just ended in Las Vegas. To mark the occasion, we talked today about how important these events are for us in the tech industry. Can we do without it because we have long been content with streams and virtual keynotes? Do we have to go back to events where you can personally examine the latest products? Or is it something in between, i.e. more of a kind of event that combines the advantages of face-to-face events and digital possibilities?
This is exactly what we want to talk about today at Casa Casi, our NextPit podcast. Fabi and Sascha are sitting with me again and today I can tell you: Sascha “Palle” Pallenberg is now on board as a permanent member of our group. Palle scratched his name on our Italian’s table before Luigi could push a third chair over.
So from now on there are three of us sharing secret knowledge on tech topics and we can promise that we are planning some new ideas for the NextPit community. So 2022 will be an exciting year in this respect too!
Online events vs face-to-face events
You have probably already noticed that no one from the NextPit team was there at CES. Corona also determines our schedule this year, so the trip to Las Vegas was not a good idea for us. But far from the pandemic: haven’t we long since learned that we can also make ends meet with virtual launches?
Palle even goes one step further: He mentions Apple, for example, which has made a virtue out of necessity for its product presentations. The company from Cupertino has raised the way of presentation to a completely new level and thus close to Hollywood. Take a look at Sascha’s video:
The opportunity to pre-produce the content offers companies a lot of opportunities. However, we of the writing guild then of course lack the hands-on area where you can put your hands on the devices immediately after the presentation. The companies have to manage to provide us with test devices in advance, or at least to set up local NDA events where you can get to know the new hardware on a smaller scale.
In the podcast, however, we also talk about networking at these face-to-face events. You get to know the people, both at the company and the colleagues in the tech press. Acquaintances are made that help us again and again to gain faster or better insights into a product.
But if we now also include sustainability in this equation: How heavy do the advantages of face-to-face events weigh compared to the burdens that come with it when hundreds or thousands of journalists are flown halfway around the world? We are discussing all of this today at Casa Casi and we cannot avoid holding the organizers responsible. Even without a pandemic and without looking at the ecological footprint, they have to reinvent themselves.
Pushing thousands upon thousands of people through overcrowded exhibition halls and giving keynotes with speakers that are difficult to understand – that has hardly changed since the 1980s and a lot has to happen in order to make established trade fairs like CES or MWC shine in a contemporary way. If you want to know how we assess the situation and what we think about the way a CES is conceptually driven onto the wall, you should definitely listen to the latest episode of our podcast now.
But since we also value your opinion, please write us in the comments how you rate this type of event. Do you hope that they will be exactly as possible as before the pandemic as quickly as possible? Or do you have other comments in mind? Write it to us! And as always: Yes, of course we look forward to positive reviews on the relevant platforms, new followers and shares.