By Keith Nahigian
With the rising concerns about the COVID-19, or Coronavirus outbreak, many large scale conferences, federal and state fly-ins, and events are being canceled, while others are facing a high rate of attendee or sponsor cancellations and dropouts. The investments made by these hosts or sponsor organizations are in many cases being completely lost – but there is a solution.
There’s no doubt these organizations are spending valuable funding in order to share their message and goals with key audiences. Bringing people together for conversations and engagement is an important aspect of many businesses and organizations. With the risks associated with air travel and large gatherings of people, it is easy to see why many are choosing to cancel their events to ensure the safety of their staff and attendees.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 80,000 people worldwide have been diagnosed with Coronavirus, and more than 60 of those cases are in the United States. Many small to large companies, such as Salesforce, World Bank, Amazon, and others have restricted employee travel, while conferences, like the Adobe Summit and the Google I/O, have been completely canceled out of concern of spreading the virus.
Wisely, many event hosts are finding new and innovative solutions for continuing the conversations remotely. Big Whig Media, Washington D.C.’s premier multimedia studio complex, is offering a digital solution to large conferences and events that will not put organizers and visitors at risk for the rapidly spreading COVID-19. Recently, a Big Whig Media partnership with Broadnet, a company that allows organizations to digitally connect directly with their target audiences, was announced, which provides a solution through its live video townhall capabilities.
Not only does a live video townhall provide a platform to spread your message, and not your germs, it also allows for you to reach even more audiences than you originally would have by cutting out barriers like event costs, travel, child care, or work obligations.
The partnership between Broadnet and Big Whig Media provides event hosts with the opportunity to utilize live video townhalls to invite VIP conference guest speakers in-studio to do the entire event remotely, while sharing their message and connecting with intended audiences. It also allows for engagement and feedback from participants, ensuring real conversations are held.
Members of Congress can also use this technology by having legislators in the studio to share important messages and updates with those back home in their districts, and get feedback directly from their constituents.
As this outbreak continues to spread and impact conferences nationwide, many will need to turn to digital solutions to update constituents and members and ensure their investments are not wasted.
