I’m feeling a bit sceptical of all these companies trying to do events online. streaming video or presentations and panels in the right wrapper seems like a good idea. But the serendipity of meeting & networking around that is not so easily transferred to a text chat channel

Watching a presentation or panel or even a Q&A translates pretty well to video. Chatting in the queue for coffee, or working a room, does not translate well to a text chat. lots of scope for new ideas and experiences here, I think, and to unbundle the components of a ‘conference’

A 'conference' is a bundle of:
- Actual content
- Lots of scheduled meetings as everyone's in the same place
- Networking
- Networking parties/dinners
Only the first of these obviously makes sense as a 'conference app'

And looking at virtual conference services that have 'virtual booths' for 'exhibitors' seems painfully disconnected from reality. If I'm talking to the company remotely anyway, why wouldn't I do it directly? Reminds me of 'virtual shopping malls' circa 1996

For a bunch of big events (CES, MWC), most people never go to the presentations and a lot of people who are 'there' never even go to the venue - they just stack up a few dozen meetings in hotel suites.

There's a degree of skeuomorphism to all of this. Think of the job to be done, rather than making 'digital' versions of the physical world. Tinder didn't succeed by making a 'virtual date' with a 3D restaurant.