On December 8, 2020 I had the pleasure of hosting this session as part of Singapore FinTech Festival. Not only was it great to chat with my friend Kathryn Petralia, co-founder of Atlanta-based fintech unicorn Kabbage, and Anna Marrs, a division president at American Express, it was also a glimpse at the future of events. The Festival has become the largest fintech event on the planet bringing 60,000+ attendees to Singapore in 2019. With the COVID-19 pandemic restricting travel and this type of large in-person gathering, the team at SFF took on the bold challenge of hosting a massive event that included both virtual and in-person elements. The stats are mind blowing: 240+ hours of content, 800+ speakers, and 40+ satellite events in cities all over the world that combined smaller in-person gatherings as part of the virtual global community. Look for more of this in 2021, including fully integrated versions that truly create two amazing experiences around a single event. Think of how the experience at a football stadium is different from watching the game on TV. Two different ways to enjoy the same event. While 2020 was the year we discovered the virtues of virtual, 2021 will be the year we begin the transition to the next normal of hybrid models. Kudos to the SFF team for taking a first step. It’s only the beginning of a wild ride.
