Bob Mitchell, an integrated marketing and event strategist with a background in the television industry, believes virtual-event tech platforms are scrambling for business now because the entire business model of the past two years was based on false assumptions. Most planners did not want to be digital marketers, he says, which created a bifurcated market for in-person and digital.

In this discussion with Northstar Meetings Group executive editor Michael Shapiro, Mitchell explains what he sees as the central disconnect between the tech platforms and meeting planners, the misguided ways in which the technology was targeted over the past two years, and how recent data should make it clear where virtual events can and should still play a significant role.

In this wide-ranging discussion in which both Mitchell and Shapiro steadfastly avoid using the 'h' word, Mitchell addresses the need to blend in-person and digital content and reach a target audience despite the challenges. Among his key points:

• Virtual event platforms should not have been designed to mimic a planner's in-person event workflow (1:40)

• Digital marketers are the real customers of virtual-event technology (4:18)

• The events industry's reliance on the hospitality industry creates conflicts of interest with tech (7:04)

• We have a bifurcated marketplace, as in-person and virtual events have different value propositions (12:17)

• Mitchell predicts which large tech companies will become event-tech game-changers (16:37)

• Organizations have to think like media companies in the way they deliver content (21:48)

• Different business models will emerge to facilitate in-person and digital audience blending (25:29)

Listen to the in-depth conversation in our latest episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, and remember to subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts and anywhere else you listen to podcasts.

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