Kevin Gray, Vice President, Technology, Media & Telecom, Questex 

Kevin oversees the sales, operations, P&L, and programming for more than 25 in-person and virtual events across the Telecom, Technology and Entertainment industries.  In this second part of this MediaGrowth Perspectives series, we offer highlights from his advice to B2B media virtual event producers.

Part Two: Virtual Events

After mixed results with virtual events during the pandemic, many B2B media companies have shied away from the concept.  But not Questex.  “Virtual events are our biggest digital product”, said Kevin.  The advantages and disadvantages of VEs are well documented, but Questex has had and is still having tremendous success with them.  Kevin maintains that VEs are more like webinars than events, but much more effective.  He saw webinar revenue go down as VE revenue increased.   

“Clients say they like VEs way better than webinars (and market to market, sometimes better than in-person events) because they can reach larger audiences, get more leads, sit on panels next to their customer(s), advance their brands and get viewed as thought leaders.” VEs were never effective at networking in virtual booths, and virtual fatigue has been an issue, but Kevin sees a leveling taking place in these events from the 35% to 40% drop off since the highs of the pandemic."We’ve standardized sponsorship packages much like media products."  

"There are options to choose from across our entire VE calendar and it’s clear what clients get; speaking opportunities, leads, exposure on all promotions, presence on the VE console and things that are cool for their brand identity”.  Tiers of sponsorship are based on benefits ranging from the number of leads promised, to the type of speaking opportunities (panel or standalone) and more.

When the metaverse came up in the discussion, Kevin said it’s going to be very cool, but it’s not going to impact our industry for a very long time panel or standalone) and more.