Virtual Events: Building Fans

• Events have provided opportunities for people to share knowledge and network for a long time.
• Attendees can network and corporations demo products to potential customers.
• If done well, money, time, and effort spent on events, feels worth it to everyone.
• Entire industries are built around conferences that can host many people.
• These industries include production, meals, speakers, light and sound etc.
• Virtual events became more common with the advent of digital media.
• After in-person events shut down in 2020, more organizations began to consider virtual ones.
• Webinars are a good way to share knowledge and generate revenue
• Webinars can hardly supply all of the revenue for the entire event industry, however.
• Virtual events can create fans of the organization that hosts them.
• A well done virtual event can be the best marketing available for a company.
• More sales leads can be generated through virtual events.
• Non-profits secure donations.

Building Fans with Virtual Events

• David began researching fandom in 2015.
• Fandom is rooted in neuroscience.
• Neuroscience explains how events build fans and grow business.
• Events reinforce "Fanocracy", a concept coined by David
• David and Reiko spoke with neuroscientists and determined that humans are hard-wired to be with like-minded individuals.
• Humans feel safe and comfortable in groups of like-minded individuals.
• Feeling vulnerable around strangers is an important survival technique.
• Experiences with friends makes one feel good.
• A crowded elevator can make one feel vulnerable.
• In-person events make people feel good, because everyone is there to have fun.
• A tribe is built around the organization that hosts such an event.
• It is more than just porting a program to the internet.

In-person Dynamics

• In-person events aren't always possible, which became obvious in 2020.
• Understanding the power of physical proximity helps to understand virtual proximity.
• People crave contact with like-minded individuals.
• Physical proximity is studied as a phenomenon by cultural anthropologist Edward T. Hall in the 1950s.
• Hall defined humans' use of physical space in his 1966 book The Hidden Dimension.
• Space affects personal relationships and business.
• Effective communicators consciously manage physical space.
• The level of proximity creates optimal outcomes in communication.
• Public distance: More than 12 feet away, the brain knows, but doesn't actively track.
• Social distance: Four to twelve feet away brains unconsciously track others.
• Personal distance: 1.5 to four feet, for friends or business contacts.

Virtual Proximity

• In-person events often occur in personal and social spaces.
• People go to events for proximity to others with similar interests.
• In-person connections are important to grow fans.
• But in-person events may be impossible because of pandemics or travel limitations.
• Virtual events use "mirror neurons" to deliver power of connection.
• Mirror neurons are a group of cells in the premotor cortex and the inferior parietal cortex of the brain.
• Mirror neurons activate when someone performs/observes an action.
• Humans are hardwired with mirror neurons.
• Humans unconsciously bond with figures on screens as if it were in-person.
• Speakers that look directly at the camera and have a warm tone make audience members develop strong bonds with them.
• Video builds fandom.
• Using mirror neurons allows businesses to market products through virtual events.
• Connections can be made with virtual tools.
• Video as part of a virtual event emotionally reaches people.
• Eye contact and focused attention are crucial.
• Speakers shot on video for a virtual event need direct to the camera with a friendly, open approach.
• Connections between attendees, speakers, and the business are important.
• As with in-person events, social connections are critical for success.