3 key steps when planning your  presence at virtual Aerospace Shows

There are multiple options for aerospace industries to maintain a global marketing presence in the online events world.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been nothing short of catastrophic for the aerospace industry, and has devastated the annual show circuit with events cancelled and delayed to the end of 2021 and beyond.

The most innovative organisers have grasped the challenge and pivoted to virtual events, Farnborough led from the front taking their show virtual at short notice in July 2020; read the positive feedback from the industry here.

Speaking about FIA Connect, Farnborough's virtual conference and networking event, Gareth Rogers, CEO of Farnborough International says:

“We’ve learned a great deal about the value of FIA Connect and the creation and delivery of hybrid events. We are delighted that over eight out of ten trade attendees believe it can work alongside and complement our biennial Airshow.”

Despite the Aerospace market having the most difficult of times, client relationships still need to be nurtured, new business openings found & supply chain relationships maintained, and this means ensuring your business has a global show presence during 2021 can only be a positive thing.

Whilst physical events are postponed or cancelled, probably until Q3, there are some really creative possibilities in the virtual world. With events such as the Paris Airshow cancelled you may be considering what action to take?

 In this blog we will share our advice, gained creating bespoke virtual event platforms over the last 10 months, on key considerations when selecting a platform that works best for your business.

3 key steps when planning virtual events for aerospace

1. Firstly define very clearly your event objectives, then rank the objectives in order of priority.

This will help you establish which virtual event platform will provide the best fit for you.

Are you looking at what can be done within the confines of an organiser's event or do you want to host your own event, and invite your own guests and delegations?

In either case you need to ask yourself the following questions about your event and brand objectives;

• Is the event to maintain your brand presence as a leader in the Aerospace market?
• Is the event to build new and nurture existing relationships?
• Is the event to showcase new products?
• Is the event to communicate technical information and specifications?

The objectives will dictate which functionality is most important to you, virtual event software is generally designed for the mass market and often you will have to consider making compromises where the functionality hasn’t been built specifically for the Aerospace industry.

2. Conduct research on a range of virtual event platforms to ensure you find the best match for your objectives, ask your platform provider how their software will deliver for you?

• Does the platform you plan to use allow you to represent your brand as you wish, tell your brand story, share your underlying message?
  • Can you replicate the impact of your chalet or stand?
• Does the platform offer a user experience that maintains engagement long enough to educate, entertain and excite?
  • Is it an awe-inspiring experience?
• Does the provider understand the importance of security in the Aerospace world?
  • Is the virtual environment, including registration, secure and compliant?
• What options are there for communicating your messages, showcasing your products?
  • Live streaming, Videos, brochures, 3D models, AR?
• How will you replicate your face to face meetings?
  • Can you maintain and build the human contact with your clients?

Our advice is to think big, replicating your normal impact at a big tier one physical show in the virtual event space is still, most likely, to offer significant cost savings on building a physical stand.

There will inevitably have to be changes to your event programme, the one thing the virtual space doesn’t have is a runway but by employing creative thinking, such as live streaming from remote sites, you can offer an exciting showcase for your products.

Here at DBpixelhouse we have offered innovative solutions to the aerospace industry for over 25 years.

“Even before Covid-19, we were doing live links to remote sites during air shows.  We used  satellites to link live to new aerospace product demonstrations and live interviews. With the onset of new technology, this is massively easier & more cost effective than it was. We have also produced some quite complex streaming solutions for large and small corporates since the pandemic began.” - David Bulley, CEO of DBpixelhouse

3. Choose your platform provider in good time and work to a rigorous project plan.

In the virtual world there is nowhere to hide if things go wrong, the key to a successful virtual event is ensuring that every aspect of your show has been tested and run through beforehand.

In the physical world there is always some distraction on the chalet or stand next door, in the virtual you have 100% of an attendee’s attention, how well you design your virtual presence will determine how long you are able to keep that person engaged and that's what generates new business and maintains current relationships.

In conclusion... 

The whole events sector has learnt much about virtual events in the past 10 months, what was an option to increase sustainability and accessibility of shows has become a necessity and after a period of accelerated development there are now a large range of virtual show solutions available.

Virtual events open up the possibility for much greater attendance so an interactive 3D environment will allow you to engage engineers looking for information, wishing to discuss design implications and view new product demonstration or host delegations, sourced by Organisers, to deeper level discussions in secure meeting room environments.

A good virtual platform allows all the usual interactions to happen – sometimes more than can happen in the physical event.   Whether you want to replicate your chalet in 3D, complete with walk through and multiple meeting rooms, or create a simpler interactive booth, the right brand platform will be able to provide the solution you need.

Our experts at DBpixelhouse have worked in aerospace industry events for the last 25 years and are proud to have been chosen by leading global companies to bring their physical events into the virtual world as part of the Pixelhub platform. 

If you are looking to embrace the future of aerospace events with an online event and show solution, be sure to get in touch with us today. We’d be delighted to help you!