One thing becomes crystal clear as we approach the second quarter of 2021: the chances of large conferences or trade shows taking place in-person this year are close to none. Despite our hopes, it'll take months for the vaccines to be widespread enough to turn the tide, so online events will continue to dominate the event industry. 

When it comes to faith, nothing is more important than congregational closeness. After all, seeing one another face-to-face and sharing unique praying experiences is what prompts deep spiritual engagement for believers. But it's not as simple to recreate this level of closeness when the global pandemic and social distancing measurements make it impossible to gather together in the house of worship. 

It's no secret advertising is about to get even more challenging as data and privacy concerns continue to escalate in 2021, and our targeting options become slimmer and slimmer each month. A major change in the advertising space is required; instead of investing in more, organizations must step up their advertising efforts and focus on quality rather than quantity if they want to see a return on their investment.

Could Augmented Reality (AR) advertising be the answer advertisers have been looking for? It certainly seems that way. The global AR market is forecast to reach a value of $70.01 billion by 2023, and with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we can only expect this number to soar.

Although virtual open days have been around for a few years now, it wasn't until recently (Coronavirus) when college and university campuses fully embraced the open day digital experience. 

Hybrid events are becoming the new standard in the event industry. It would have been hard not so long ago to find one that wasn’t a tech-based conference or a corporate business event. Today, however, with the rise of meetup groups and the increasing popularity of speaker series like TED Talks, there is plenty of room for various hybrid events. These changes indicate that people rely less on physical locations to get things done and more on connecting digitally. 

There are no two ways about it - COVID-19 sealed the deal on the growing influence of Augmented Reality in e-commerce. What was once considered a gimmick, tactic that brings joy to the customer but makes no impact on revenue, is fast becoming the next big thing in online shopping. 

Hybrid events are set to dominate the future of the event industry. While 2020 undoubtedly belonged to virtual events, 62% of event planners agree that the hybrid model will lead the way for B2B gatherings as soon as the threat of COVID-19 subsides. 

Not even the global health crisis could stop CES 2021 from showing the latest advances in technology. Although the biggest consumer tech show took place online instead of Las Vegas, Nevada due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it certainly didn't disappoint. 

Virtual career fairs are on the rise - and not just because of COVID-19. The thing is, physical hiring events were never able to reach their full potential for one simple reason: geographical restrictions. Organizations, universities and recruitment agencies were only able to reach a fraction of top candidates at high-ticket prices.

It's not just the global outreach that makes hosting a virtual career fair so appealing. Both, candidates and organizers appreciate the convenience and cost-effectiveness of online job fairs too, since travelling and venue costs are no longer a concern. And with more aspects of life moving to a digital environment, it's becoming more of an expectation (especially amongst college students) to enable virtual recruiting.

COVID-19 might have made them a necessity, but the global pandemic coming to an end does not mean the end of virtual events too. Hosting conferences, trade shows or career fairs online, while won't replace the live experience, could prove invaluable in the post-COVID reality.