Strong support for new wave of industry forums

COVID-19 has dramatically reshaped the first year of business for Gladstone-based Resource Industry Media, seeing a rapidly evolving online approach to events that brings advantages alongside the challenges. Ticket sales close this evening for a major online industry forum covering $15 billion worth of Queensland project opportunities - the RIM Connecting Industry Conference. RIM managing director Kieran Moran said the bookings had gone well for the August 13 event, featuring projects including Cross River Rail, Forest Wind Farm and the Townsville Energy Chemicals Hub among others. Mr Moran (left) started his business a year ago with a focus on industry events as well as strategic business communication and engagement. He estimates he lost about $40,000 to $50,000 within the first two months of COVID-19 biting in terms of events that had been booked, predicted ticket sales and sponsorships. RIM started moving industry forums online and Mr Moran said he was pleased with the response. To make up for the networking aspect that attracts people to such events, Mr Moran has established an app for the Connecting Industry Conference. This allows people to see who else is participating, message them at the time, book appointments with them, and otherwise engage as much as possible without being face-to-face at the same venue. He said the conference would be working at two levels - the webinar where the representatives for major projects presented information uninterrupted, and interaction streams including the app and Zoom messages for queries. He believes more business will favour this way of participating in future conferences, particularly given the savings in travel time and added costs such as accommodation for events outside their home towns. It is also easier for high calibre speakers such as company executives to fit such presentations into their schedule rather than having to travel. "When you look at it, a monetary type of value, I believe that a lot of businesses will start to go this way a lot more. My prediction is that you'll see these type of events are here to stay," Mr Moran said. He said easing COVID-19 restrictions meant physical events of some scale were resuming, with people spread appropriately through the venue spaces. "But what will happen there is people have to start thinking about really hybrid events, and that would be a form of face-to-face, but also across the video platform, and also two separate events," he said. "That's the way I'm really thinking of it, where the people online will get a different type of event than the actual people who were there in place. Part of that might also be where an app is provided, like I've done with the conference." Click HERE for details of tomorrow's Connecting Industry Conference .

Strong support for new wave of industry forums

Industry Queensland

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