Many thanks to every one who participated in our recent survey on virtual / digital partnering.
On the day this survey launched, the US had ~394,000 cases of COVID-19, with <90 Deaths per day. Cases in China were already declining, after peaking in mid-February.
How times have changed…
This survey was triggered by the seemingly new idea (at the time) that partnering conferences (BIO-Europe, BioTrinity, BIO, etc.) would switch from live events to online events. This raised a lot of questions in our minds…Is this an effective way to partner? How much will it cost? Will it be more or less efficient? Will enough companies participate to make it worthwhile?
This survey addresses some of these questions. But clearly, our industry (and, indeed, our entire society) has evolved since February-March. Today, work-at-home is the new normal. Many of us face hours of camera time and screen sharing using Zoom, Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting, and a smattering of other apps. And, with some parts of the US and Europe beginning to reopen, spikes in new cases are inevitable.
We obviously cannot predict how the rest of the year will evolve. But one thing is very clear…developing relationships cannot wait for the next cycle of conferences…ever. We frequently tell our clients that conferences are an important tool for developing relationships with prospective licensing partners and investors, but they are not the only tool. Relying on having the right person attend the exact same conference you are attending is a risky proposition if that is your only tactic. Our current situation supports this idea.
And now…on to the results of the survey…
Questions 1-4
Our survey began by first describing a hypothetical event:
PHARMABIO2021 is an annual 3-day partnering conference held in the US. It normally attracts 5,000 attendees from pharma and biotech companies globally. The primary purpose is to meet with potential licensing partners, but a few investors also attend. Service providers are also present, and participate in a large exhibition. In general, would you attend an event like this?
We also asked potential attendees from your company, as well as your official and unofficial reasons for attending.
Not surprisingly, 80% of our respondents would attend this event. Approximately 65% of respondents would send 1-2 attendees to this conference. This is consistent with the 1.5-1.75 attendees per company that we see for the larger conferences.
Again, not surprisingly, 60% of respondents were looking for a licensing partner or an investor. Catching up with colleagues or friends was a very common reason for attending. In hindsight, we should have defined “colleagues” better. Our intention was for colleagues to refer to employees from the same company working in different locations, such as the US and European locations.
The social aspects of these events, both in terms of meeting with personal friends and attending the receptions, was a critical component of these events which received many mentions in the comments. We will return to this point shortly.
Questions 5 and 6
At this point in the survey, we posed the hypothetical switch from live to digital event:
Conference organizers have opted to offer a digital/virtual conference instead of a live version. Scheduled meetings will occur via video, and will be scheduled at anytime day or night as convenient for both parties. Would your company still participate? If so, would your company participation be the same or different?
Interestingly, 35% of respondents were Unsure if they would participate, while another 10% said “No.” We believe that 35% population is in a better position now to make this decision. What is clear is that participation per company would likely decline.
Questions 7 and 8 - The Discount
As wonderful as these conferences can be, they are not cheap. If there is a perceived loss in value in going from live to digital, would our attendees expect a reduced registration price? If so, how much?
Eighty percent of our respondents expected a conference fee discount of 50% or more. The comments were quite consistent in this regard.
We tried posing the question differently with Question 8. We tried to make the case that a conference fee could be higher for digital versus live event because of the cost savings associated with hotel, travel, and other expenses.
But, no. Our respondents were not buying this argument. Respondents clearly want to capture the cost savings by staying home. But that does not justify a higher conference registration fee, even if the total cost is less than a live event.
The comments associated with Question 7 are instructive:
Without venue and staffing costs, it’s hard to imagine paying the same $ for the event.
Many important contacts will be taken at social events or meetings outside of the conference this opportunity will be lost thus the value will also drop by min 50%…Also incidentals like food and drinks are not included anymore
The face to face value of an event is in my view priceless. To switch to digital immediately decreases the impact you can have in the meeting…
1. organizer has far fewer costs. 2. It is not the same experience – no chance meetings. 3. Social contacts with community is only possible in a limited fashion.
There are too many event organisers purely focused on making money and re-inventing LinkedIn for their own purposes, by harvesting peoples’ contact details. New slick, attendee-focused event organisations are needed.
Question 9
Let’s ask the question differently…
The conference organizer offers a 25% discount if you register sixty days prior to the start of the virtual event. What would you do?
Over half of the respondents would wait before registering, foregoing a 25% discount. Clearly, a 25% discount is simply not enough to trigger early registration.
It is an interesting response when you think about it. A digital event saves budget from a lack of travel and hotel expenses. But even with those savings and a 25% early bird discount, you still have many prospective participants who prefer to wait until later to decide.
We are big believers in getting into the partnering systems as early as possible. This gives you the most time to review attendees and send out meeting requests. If you are out-licensing multiple assets, it’s a must.
But these data suggest that the value of the live event is so great that the cost savings AND a discount for early registration are not enough to induce early registration.
Question 10 - In Conclusion...
By the end of the survey, it became clear that respondents expect a 25%-50% reduction in the registration fee to participate in a digital event. Even then, the number of attendees per company will likely be reduced.
Some of the comments associated with this question were interesting:
Virtual meeting do not have the same impact as face to face meetings. We’re facing this issue with Bio Spring Paris 2020 and we will most likely cancel and ask for a refund
It is important how the partnering/one-to-one meetings could be organized and if there would also be a kind of Skype speed dating to replace normal networking during these conferences. For us the networking is the most important reason to go to conferences
All conferences should be virtual till end of year and offered @ 50%
Overall it is good to see innovation and adaptations to conferences to keep our relationships open and new opportunities coming in. However, I don’t think that face to face conferences can be totally forgone in the long run. The value, and power, of face to face interactions in terms of building trust and accelerating business relationships is too great
Are Hybrid Conferences in our Future?
As various stores across the country reopen, we are seeing proprietors limit the number of shoppers allowed in the store at a given time. It is now common to see a line of people waiting outside to enter the store (all perfectly socially distanced and masked, of course).
Will conferences of the future be the same? Will state laws limit the number of peole who can enter the partnering areas or the exhibition?
One potential answer to this problem is the Hybrid Conference.
Under this scenario, two people from a company register for the event. One person attends the live event, while the other participates from the office or home via video.
Have a 1030 meeting in Booth A123? No problem. One person can fire up his/her laptop to bring the other (virtual) attendees into the meeting.
We recognize this has issues, such as pricing and bandwidth. But until we are all vaccinated, it may be one approach to help us transition back from digital to live events.
Final Comment
We would very much like to conduct another (modified) survey along these lines; perhaps in a few more months after we experience BIO in June. By that time, all of us will have reached the conclusion that WAH/video conferencing is here to stay for a long time; perhaps through 2021. Meanwhile, our show must go on.
Winner
Congratulations to Dr. Nathalie Huther from Arcinova in the UK.
She was the winner of the Amazon gift card, drawn at random from all those who completed the survey and provided contact details.
