Highlights from our Inaugural Industry Event: Eventicon 2021 - The Comeback, Hosted on Fireworks™️ by Eventcombo

Jul 01, 2021 Manish Kumar

Team Eventcombo planned and rolled out the most significant and exciting inaugural industry event in its history: Eventicon 2021 - The Comeback . It was a virtual event like none other. The two-day event hosted an impressive line-up of globally reputed speakers, industry influencers, and senior event experts. The growing trend of “Phygital” (physical + digital) events was a key topic of discussion by various experts.   

Saroosh Gull, CEO, Eventcombo launched Eventicon 2021 - The Comeback promising an exciting two days for the event industry, and the speakers delivered the same in spades.  Karen Loftus, Adventuress in Chief of Women's Adventure Travels was the emcee for the event and engaged speakers and audiences with panache and style.    

The event saw speakers sharing several success stories and best practices, which drew an enthusiastic participation from attendees via the chat function on the virtual and integrated event platform, Fireworks™ by Eventcombo.   

Saroosh & Karen kicked it off in style! 

Have a look at the highlights we’ve lined up for you.   

Day One 

Kaneisha Williams | Founder, Black In Events Network

Session: Creating Sustainable Brands in a Socially Charged World : The Ethical Obligation to Employees Due to Virtual Technology 

Key Takeaways: 

• Importance of one’s obligation to employees in a virtual world 
• Importance of including DEI in a company’s sustainability plan 
• The impact of 2020 on barriers with employees and how to overcome them 
• Obtaining positive wins for everyone in the industry 

Briana Snellgrove | CEO, Social Icon

Session: The Future of Digital Events in a Post-COVID World 

Key Takeaways: 

• Elevation of events through a “Phygital” model 
• Creating a space for physical audience to connect with digital audiences 
• How to turn attendees into a community  
• Offering an audience with the best viewing/listening options with an amazing creative display of tech capabilities 
• Communicating and navigating a leveled playing field for the ultimate collaboration 

Samiran Ghosh | Forbes Tech Counsil Member, Senior Research Fellow 

Session: How Emerging Tech Can Play a Role in the Comeback of the Event Industry and How Such Trends Can Sustain Growth in the Future  

Key Takeaways: 

• The role of emerging tech in the comeback of the event industry 
• Sustaining future growth of the event industry with new tech 
• Examples of emerging tech  
• Sustainability models for the future 

Shannon Sprau | Chief Event Officer, Meridian 360

Session: Customer Engagement or Lack Thereof in Virtual Events and How to Improve 

Key Takeaways: 

• Pros and cons of virtual engagement from an attendee’s, speaker’s and exhibitor’s POV 
• Application of innovative ideas learned during the pandemic to future events 
• Live demo of an engaging and interactive presentation prompting user input via QR codes 

Todd Embley and Luke Tobin | Fireside Chat: Secret to Successful Startups- Moderated by Karen Loftus 

Fireside Chat: Secret to Successful Startups - Moderated by Karen Loftus 

Key Takeaways: 

• The role of tech in startups 
• Tech’s assistance in starting a company and marketing 
• Future of startups in event tech space 
• Philosophical best practices of being an entrepreneur 
• The difference between "problem solving" and "solution selling" mindsets 
• How "Failing Fast" can speed up winning 
• Founder vs. Investor = Infinite vs. Finite horizons  
• The importance of being customer obsessed and running to revenue 

Tim Hughes | Co-founder & CEO, DLA Ignite 

Session: Social Selling for Events 

Key Takeaways: 

• Evolving trends of sales and marketing world according to research 
• Social media strategies to generate more sales 
• 3 key prospects for social media 

Ella Glasgow | CEO & Executive Producer, Beyond Virtual Events 

Session: Adding Disney Effects to Your Virtual Events 

Key Takeaways: 

• Create impactful virtual events so one can wow a community, increase connections and commitment 
• What Disney teaches one about events 
• A Disney theme for your virtual event is a winner 

Ethan Berg | Founder & CEO, Agora World Inc 

Session: Web 3.0 The Future of the Spatial Web 

Key Takeaways: 

• Immersive VR experiences for audiences 
• Improving social interaction in an intuitive and engaging way 
• Live virtual events for museums, historical tours, workshops, online shopping and more 

Megan Inhen | Mezzo-Soprano & Creative Placemaking Specialist 

Session: The Virtual Concert Hall 

Key Takeaways: 

• The responses of classical music non-profits to the shuttering of venues in US 
• Key learnings from the intense exploration of virtual performances 
• Applications of virtual events for musical non-profits 
• Creative placemaking strategies for companies 

Day Two 

Sarah Christl | Head of Marketing, Endless Events 

Session: Don’t Abandon Technology in the Future of Events 

Key Takeaways: 

• Accessibility for events with the use of emerging tech 
• Bridging the communication gap between great minds all over 

Jerod Venma | CEO, Liveswitch Inc (Formerly Frozen Mountain) 

Session: Trends in Livestreaming: Through the Pandemic and Beyond 

Key Takeaways: 

• Increased interest in hybrid events going forward 
• Different kinds of events such as conferences, town halls/political functions, music events, and co-watching experiences  
• New demographics pertaining to the live event spaces 

Jay Powell | CEO & Founder, The Powell Group Consulting 

Session: Running Effective Business to Business Events 

Key Takeaways: 

• The impact of having 3D events with avatars 
• Lessons learned from 2.5 years of B2B events 

Sonia Nagpal | CEO & Co-Founder Dissdash

Annette Naif | CEO & Creative Director Naif Production

Session:Fireside Chat Business Reinvented - Moderated by Karen Loftus 

Key Takeaways: 

• Relying in virtual tech to meet business challenges 
• VR tech and how it helps combat COVID related challenges 
• Third-party platforms for event space and their related problems 

Liron David | Owner Eventique

Ashton Pike | Editorial Director Bizbash & Connect Meetings 

Session: Interview with BizBash 

Key Takeaways: 

• Customer engagement or the lack of it in Virtual events   
• Moving forward how much importance should we give to virtual events 
• How do we engage the virtual audience in a hybrid event 
• Access to events - virtual, hybrid, physical and the importance to engaging content 

Kim Kleeman | Co-founder, Inner Circle 

Session: Flipping the Script: Inner Circle Success Stories 

Key Takeaways: 

• The need for the networking community to go online 
• Success stories of the inner circle 
• Best practices for virtual events 

Jason Levasseur | Creative Director, The Rock Star Project®

Jason Peskin | VP, Events & Corporate Development at Informa Markets Fashion

Session: How Events Can Attract, Retain and Engage Audiences - Moderated by Karen Loftus 

Key Takeaways: 

• What is the most challenging factor to attracting audiences for a virtual event v/s an in-person event? 
• What are the best ways to attract, engage, and retain audiences in a virtual world? 
• Do virtual events need a different content strategy? Why? 
• What are the key data metrics that event planners should use to plan for audience engagement and retention? 

Matt Griffin | Founder, 311 Institute and World Futures Forum

Session: The Future of the Event Industry 2030 

Key Takeaways: 

• Event industry data facts 
• Current event industry 
• Future of event industry 

Lorne Svarc | Founder & CEO, Technodramatists

Session: Live Augmented Production 

Key Takeaways: 

• Using emerging technology like AI, AR and spacial computing for enhancing storytelling and entertainment 
• Anyone can harness the power of AR using Live Augmented Production tools and save money 
• Combining virtual props and costumes with real actors and physical sets 
• Realtime effects and interactions for highlighting the magic of live performances 
• Making the physical and virtual coexist seamlessly