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Virtual Is The Synonym Of Future For Events

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Whichever part of the world you might be in at this very moment, I bet you wish this pandemic had an abort button attached to it. It's not only that our social lives are interrupted, but the industries like event management, a business that's built on the plinth of people's drive for having a social life, have also taken a knockout punch.

Beyond the impact of Covid-19, it was the disastrous timing that made the predicament worse for the industry. Let's look at some numbers. The statistics were in fact looking astonishingly bright for the events industry over the past five years. Valued at Rs.5,631crore in 2016-17, the industry was expected to double, cross Rs.10,000 crore by 2020-21. But instead, it took a catastrophic dive! According to a recent report published by the Event and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA), the Indian event and exhibition market is predicted to experience an Rs.1 lakh crore hit in this quarter. It's a road to baffle every stakeholder of the ecosystem.

The startups need to act, and act fast to keep their neck above the water and stay alive to see the dawn of daylight when the world resumes after the pandemic. The combination of technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality hologram & IoT has to assemble like avengers and save the industry by immediately migrating it to the cloud, where a new civilization is already forming. On a positive note, this levels the playing field to an extent and opens the doorway for every organization to have global netizens as their audience. It goes without saying that the companies will have to look beyond social gatherings - to diversify their offerings. The virtual events leveraging OTT platforms, hybrid models by combining physical and virtual components, personalized marketing, modernized advertising techniques are poised to become the buzz words of the future.

In this edition, we have enlisted `10 Best Startups in Event Management' that are manifesting exemplary ways to adapt to the new normal and ensure seamless delivery of its services through novel avenues.

Do let us know your thoughts!