In-person events are back, but virtual meetings benefit everyone

Wheelchair user and director of Mobility says virtual meet-ups are beneficial for everyone, not just for those with limited mobility

Virtual Business Collaboration will host its first in person event in Cork on September 27 after holding all its meeting previously virtually. 

In-person events have started to slowly return after two years of virtual meetings and conferences, but some businesspeople say virtual meet-ups shouldn’t be phased out in the process.

Noelle Daly, a wheelchair user, co-founded Mobility Mojo in 2016, a company aimed at improving accessibility for disabled people. 

“I would say hybrid meetings are here to stay, simply because they offer greater flexibility,” she said.

“During the pandemic we all discovered just how quickly we can adapt, and people rapidly embraced the virtual world of remote work and online meetings,” she added.

Ms Daly said that virtual meetings benefit the majority of people and not just those with limited mobility.

“Many people in the workforce may have declining eyesight or less than perfect hearing. They may not see themselves as disabled and they will not be labelled as such, however they often share exactly the same access requirements as those people who are recognised as disabled,” she said.

Captions and subtitles as well as screen readers make meetings more inclusive and can be used in a virtual setting, she said. These can be used to help people with vision and hearing loss as well as people who don’t speak English as a first language.

“It is becoming more and more incumbent on employers to include accessibility in their workplaces, not only in their physical buildings but also in technology and procurement policies,” said Ms Daly.

Inclusionary

Virtual meetings have helped scale businesses as well as be inclusionary.

David Sloane, CEO of Cork based health data platform Cambrean, tweeted earlier this year that he spoke to one of the firm's co-founders based in San Francisco who said most of their investor meetings were virtual.

"Maybe you don’t have to be in the Bay Area to raise anymore,” said Mr Sloane.

Virtual meetings have also been the focus for some company offerings. For example, Cork-based meeting platform Clearword recently secured a €3.2m investment to develop its software that timestamps and transcribes virtual meetings.

Meanwhile, some organisations have opted for the best of both world's by offering a hybrid approach of both virtual and in person meetings.

The Virtual Business Conference (VBC) founded by Cork businessman Paul Murphy was established during Covid-19 and members meet to network and watch presentations from their screens every second Thursday.

The organisation will soon host its first in-person event in Cork’s imperial hotel.

“It is undoubtedly the first time all of these people will come together,” said Mr Murphy.

Mr Murphy expects about 150 to 200 people to join the event in person at €10 a head. He added that all proceeds are going to their charity partner the Crann Centre which specialises in people with neuro-physical disabilities.

We want to promote and grow these business and give them exposure in a business environment.

“That will lift the doom and gloom that we’re all facing with interest rates, inflation and the energy crisis,” said Mr Murphy.

One of the main issues that Mr Murphy expects to be discussed at the event is the impact the energy crisis is having on firms, especially as one of the speakers at it is former Bord Gais chief executive John Mullins, who is currently the executive chairman of energy firm Amarenco.

This is the first in-person event hosted by VBC, but there are more planned for the future which are set to incorporate a virtual element.

Everything is going virtual. It is the way to go, I’ve no doubt about that, going forward.

The sponsors for the upcoming event on September 27 are recruitment multinational Morgan McKinley, software company Target Integration, virtual finance firm GroForth where Mr Murphy works as operations director, and invoice services firm Fifo Capital.

The preference for virtual meetings is still evident post-pandemic, but big companies are feeling the pressure from overall slump in demand.

Last month, Zoom shares tumbled to pre-pandemic levels. The firm has been struggling as workplaces reopen, and said it’s losing sales from consumers and small business faster than anticipated.