WiT Experience Singapore 2021 will be the first industry event to use Marina Bay Sands’ newly-launched Virtual Meeting Place for the virtual component of its two-day conference next week on October 19-20.

In the works: WiT’s new virtual home, built on the Virtual Meeting Place, will be revealed next week.

A full hybrid experience, WiT will offer a physical event at the Marina Bay Sands’ Sands Ballroom for up to 250 delegates while virtual delegates will have the opportunity to explore the WiT-customised Virtual Meeting Place, being built this weekend in time for Tuesday’s opening.

Register here for WiT Experience Singapore 2021 to experience the event both physically and virtually.

Launched today, October 14, the fully customisable platform uses Marina Bay Sands’ iconic architecture as the visual interface. It allows event organisers to scratch-build their virtual venue set to replicate their real-life event space.

As the first venue in the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences & exhibitions) industry to launch such a platform globally, Marina Bay Sands says it is set to transform the integrated hybrid experience, effectively connecting both online and offline audiences.

The experience-driven platform brings together the expertise and creativity of the award-winning venue and three Singaporean organisations that are powerhouses in their respective sectors – brand activation agency Pico Art International, virtual event platform GEVME and 3D and interactive solutions provider Sixtrees Viz Comms.

“Hybrid events is the mainstay of the industry but the omnichannel meeting experience will be the future. With more clients placing a premium on creating a shared user experience, we are taking the next step forward to offer them a singular, integrated customer journey,” said Ong Wee Min, vice president of Conventions and Exhibitions, Marina Bay Sands.

“The future of meetings in an endemic world will focus on delivering a 365-day, 24/7 user journey – one that offers delegates a seamless experience transitioning between physical and virtual events as well as providing on-demand content akin to that of online streaming entertainment platforms. An extension of the physical venue, the Virtual Meeting Place empowers our clients to capitalise on the O2O2O (Offline-to-Online-to-Offline) opportunities that this platform offers – reinventing the delivery and consumption of information while optimising customer experiences.”

Marina Bay Sands Skypark: Event planners can customise spaces.

Event planners can customise the spaces to create an integrated meeting experience for both physical and virtual audiences. International delegates will be teleported to unique meeting places within the integrated resort. From virtual meeting pods and exhibition booths, content library to watching the live streaming of onsite plenary sessions, the Virtual Meeting Place is an all-purpose-built solution offering multiple touchpoints to continuously drive engagements and interactions among target audiences.

“At GEVME, we always enjoy partnering with WiT on their events. They have always been willing to explore and adopt new technology that amplifies the experience of their community. We could not have thought of a better partner than WiT to host the first event on the newly-launched Virtual Meeting Place developed in collaboration with Marina Bay Sands.” said GEVME’s CEO Veemal Gungadin.

Said Yeoh Siew Hoon, founder, WiT, “We’re excited to be the first industry conference to use the platform. Marina Bay Sands has been our home for the past decade and it is exciting to be part of this pioneering move. Our teams at WiT and GEVME, which has been our technology partner for the last two years, are hard at work, customising the Virtual Meeting Place to meet our needs. We are looking forward to delivering a new kind of experience with our hybrid event.”

The unveiling of the Virtual Meeting Place comes at the heels of the launch of Marina Bay Sands’ four state-of-the-art Hybrid Broadcast Studios in 2020 that can cater to events of up to 1,300 pax. This industry-leading concept has enabled event planners to reimagine the multitude of event design possibilities that blend and unify both the virtual and physical worlds in a compelling setting.

Beyond the hologram functionalities and Mixed Reality capabilities, event planners can look forward to upcoming enhancements to the Hybrid Broadcast Studios such as a fully-fledged Extended Reality (XR) hybrid events solution that aims to truly redefine meeting experiences.

Register here for WiT Experience Singapore 2021 to experience the event both physically and virtually.