The Virtual Interiors, Post-Event Discussion
The thriving live Events Industry has been among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Nevertheless, 2021 sufficiently marked a new era in how we typically attend events, witnessing an incredible abundance of online virtual get-togethers launching to fulfil the specific needs of businesses.
Last month, Design Insider was delighted to be a Media Partner and attend The Virtual Interiors Event: the ‘brain child’ of the chief organisers, Sally Rice and Beth Harrison. We’ve taken the time to reflect on how the event went, as well as sharing a Q&A with Johnson Tiles who exhibited.
The Virtual Interiors Event was live from the 24th to the 25th of February 2021; with the innovative platform still being open for a period of four weeks so that attendees can re-visit anything they missed on the day.
The Virtual Interiors Event greeted over 4000 people world-wide, 83 countries to be precise!
Amanda Salt, Global A&D Sales Director at Boss Design said the event “created a fresh insight and helped to generate much needed enthusiasm for the returning to the post Covid Workplace and the new normal”
The KI team called the event a “fantastic opportunity to connect with people across the industry, whilst joining a variety of really informative seminars”
Living up to the specific purpose of the event, The Virtual Interiors Event carefully tailored its ambitious agenda for the Commercial Industry. Attendees were sufficiently encouraged to liaise with like-minded people, networking on the event platform as well as engaging and asking questions in and during the insightful Q&A sessions. Not only this, but attendees also witnessed new product launches as well as engrossing themselves in the considerable variety of meetings available.
BCFA Member, Johnson Tiles sponsored the event and even hosted a successful session ‘Material Trends: Natural Refuge to 70s Revival. Johnson Tiles design group teamed up with Material Lab Studio to share key tile, colour and texture trends in an inspirational talk. We sat down with Johnson Tiles to find out about their experience at The Virtual Interiors Event.
How was your experience exhibiting at The Virtual Interiors Event?
It was great to be able to participate in an event like the VI Event as it allowed us the opportunity to connect with members of the interior design community after a year where Covid-19 has restricted physical meetings and connections.
What was a highlight for Johnson Tiles at the event?
We got a great level of attendance for our trend presentation relating to our bi-annual Tile Trace report which explores the latest trends, textures, and concepts that will inform projects of the future. Also, being able to establish connections with an interactive Q&A session built into the talk itself was fantastic.
Did you favour a particular session, if so, what one?
The concept for the Spacelab session was interesting, looking into how the workplace has evolved and will continue to adapt. With the mass exodus from offices over the last year, the experience of working from home has had a huge effect on the way that workspace is perceived, so the subject for this talk was intriguing.
What products did you showcase on your stand?
We displayed a number of different products on our stand to show the diversity of our portfolio. Included were South Bank, a range designed, manufactured, and stocked in the UK in a slim size of 245x75mm. South Bank offers a transparent gloss finish possession depth and variation of contemporary colour across 8 shades.
Also featured was our Modern range, which offers an industrial colour palette to convey sophistication and elegance. The Natural and Polished finishes are fully stocked in the UK, and with the Natural finish achieving a PTV 36+ slip resistance rating, Modern delivers on substance without compromising on style.
Design Insider is looking forward to finding out about The Virtual Interiors Event for 2022. Despite the likeliness of in-person events happening next year, it appears that Virtual Networking events are here to stay; see you next year!
Find out about Design Insider and The Virtual Interiors Media Partnership here.