According to a study undertaken by American Express Meetings & Events event planners, contrary to their participants, are less convinced about hosting virtual meetings - as opposed to 63% of participants who stated they would prefer virtual meetings.
The research shows that 63% of participants would attend more virtual meetings if it were possible. Of these, 45% said that a virtual presence should be made available for all meetings and events.
However, almost half (48%) of surveyed event planners felt that participants have no interest in virtual meetings and prefer to attend face-to-face events. Moreover, 68% of event planners believe that participants would be too easily distracted during a virtual meeting. Despite the marked difference between the two, both parties were of the view that face-to-face meetings offer greater value as a result of social interaction.
The survey also indicated that 67% of event planners consider event apps important, compared to only 55% of participants. Coupled with this, both parties ranked communication and planning as the most useful features. 35% of participants also believed that social media is essential for any event, compared to 43% of the organizers who thought this was extremely important.
American Express Meetings & Events conducted the survey among 336 event planners and 161 participants of various events in the first half of 2014.
63% want Virtual Meetings
