MARINA Bay Sands has unveiled Virtual Meeting Place – a product that makes the Singapore resort the “first venue in the MICE industry” to launch such a platform globally.
The fully customisable platform allows event organisers to create a virtual venue set that replicates their real-life event space and connects online and offline audiences.
Marina Bay Sands (MBS) worked with brand activation agency Pico Art International, virtual event platform GEVME and 3D and interactive solutions provider Sixtrees Viz Comms to create the experience-driven platform.
An MBS spokesman said the Virtual Meeting Place was also aimed at enabling organisers to continuously engage and build their communities all year long instead of relying on the annual five-day annual in-person event model.
With the MBS architecture as the visual interface, event planners can customise the spaces to create an integrated meeting experience for physical and virtual audiences. International delegates can also be teleported to unique meeting places within the integrated resort.
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The Virtual Meeting Place features meeting pods, exhibition booths, a content library and live streaming of onsite plenary sessions, while providing multiple touchpoints to drive engagement and interaction among target audiences.
“Hybrid events is the mainstay of the industry but the omnichannel meeting experience will be the future,” said Ong Wee Min, vice president of conventions and exhibitions, Marina Bay Sands.
“With more clients placing a premium on creating a shared user experience, we are taking the next step forward to offer them a singular, integrated customer journey. The future of meetings in an endemic world will focus on delivering a 365-day, 24/7 user journey – one that offers delegates a seamless experience transitioning between physical and virtual events as well as providing on-demand content akin to that of online streaming entertainment platforms.”
Key spaces include:
– The Plenary, which serves as an exhibition space modelled after the ballroom at Sands Expo and Convention Centre. This allows big live events to be simultaneously broadcast across the world.
– The Library, housed at the Hybrid Broadcast Studio, this enables attendees to access the events’ most impactful moments at any time on-demand and can grow to become a collection over time.
– Breakout Rooms enabling attendees to form one-on-one and group meetings for knowledge and idea exchanges. Attendees can also take their meetings to Marina Bay Sands’ unique meeting spaces including ArtScience Museum, Sands SkyPark and the Observation Deck.
Event planners can also include interactive elements such as chatbots, quizzes and live polls. Data analytics can be used to track and optimise audience trends and satisfaction.
The Virtual Meeting Place also extends the industry conversations beyond event days, allowing organisers to host scheduled meetings online to keep their communities connected throughout the year.
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The unveiling of the Virtual Meeting Place follows the launch of Marina Bay Sands’ four Hybrid Broadcast Studios in 2020 that can cater to events of up to 1,300 people. This has enabled event planners to reimagine the multitude of event designs that blend the virtual and physical worlds in a compelling setting.
Beyond the hologram functionalities and Mixed Reality capabilities, event planners can expect enhancements to the Hybrid Broadcast Studios such as a full Extended Reality (XR) hybrid events solution.
