nferences, which is how beauty brand Mecca and womenswear label Blue Illusion recently ran their internal conferences.  “As the country starts to re-open and physical events begin to make a comeback, we believe that virtual and hybrid events will still play a vital role in our company moving forward,” said Arosh Fernando from Woohah Productions.  “We’re finding that companies who are investing in upcoming events are looking to mitigate risks and by creating hybrid and virtual events they’re setting up a fool-proof contingency plan.” Usually around this time of the year, the team at Blue Illusion pack their bags for one of their twice-yearly roadshows, where they visit each state and share the latest collections and upcoming plans for the business with staff. But this year, things were a bit different. “It’s an exhausting process because you’re on the road, you’re starting early, flying people in and flying out. But that engagement and getting our people together and giving them insights into the product, the business and the why – why the collections are what they are, why we’re working on certain projects – is really important,” explained chief operating officer Sonia Bettega from Blue Illusion.  “We just wanted to find a way to keep that communication and connection with our people. So we needed to think of a way of doing that. A virtual conference just made so much sense.”  Blue Illusion’s virtual conference included a series of pre-recorded films that the team created, including a tour of the head office and fun presentations from various departments. Without the benefit of face-to-face engagement, it’s difficult for people to network, so throughout the event, Blue Illusion showcased short videos, introducing a wide range of staff from all around the country, from part-timers and casuals to managers.  “The feedback from the virtual event was probably more positive than any other event we’ve had live. It was amazing. I think part of that is those events can be really exhausting because it’s a long day, whereas this event was just 2.5 hours,” explained Bettega.  “People were able to watch it either as a group in their stores or from the comfort of their home, so they could really give it attention and even watch things more than once. It enabled us to put on a really professional show and have some real fun with it.”  While Bettega admitted that she missed the same kind of energy that a live event evokes, a big advantage of the virtual conference was giving more people the opportunity to get involved. And without the typical morning tea, lunch and end-of-day drinks scheduled in, it meant that the Blue Illusion team were able to deliver more content in a shorter period of time. “There were a lot of pluses, which I think means we’ll probably continue to do virtual conferences for at least the next year,” said Bettega. “No-one’s travelling at the moment and we certainly can’t put lots of people in the same room. I already know we’ll be doing one in February next year.”