Greg Loayon (left) and Bosco Menezes
Companies in Doha which have been engaging in webinars to maintain their operations as well as to continue networking amid the pandemic, are seeing larger audiences, not just in Qatar, but from across the world.
Several businesses and organisations in Qatar have been quick to adopt to various technologies and digital experiences to survive the pandemic. Restricted public gatherings and cancelled corporate events have been replaced with various webinars and web conferences left and right.
Many of these online meetings usually include speakers and audiences from outside the country, bringing greater exposure to Qatari brands and programmes in the international arena.
“The events have reached out to the world. I’ve had speakers like the former US Ambassador in Qatar. He was the speaker with his wife from Houston last week for the Fourth of July. Because I’m online and it’s a webinar, it’s a podcast, I can access people from all across the world. So in the past two weeks, I had guests from London, the UK, Toronto, and Houston. The pandemic has brought many people closer, although we are supposed to have social distancing. But it has also brought us closer, because we all need to support each other during these times. With my virtual events, I have grown exponentially with my viewership. My events have crossed even 60,000 reach for every event. This is organic, without boosting or using any SEO,” says Bosco Menezes, a prominent events specialist in Doha and the CEO and Founder of BigBfotografi.
Just like other professionals in the events industry, Menezes had a lot of plans for 2020, until the pandemic hit. However that did not deter his plans. He brought his community outreach events to the virtual world.
Since April, Menezes has organised over 13 weekly online events where he has been featuring personalities from various industries and sectors. With the gradual lifting of the restrictions in Qatar and with more people anticipating the return of public gatherings, Menezes still believes that webinars are here to stay.
“People now have a choice. People who are introvert and would rather do everything from home have an opportunity now. Also, I have a friend of mine who had to travel every week to another country in the region just for a meeting and come back. He’s been doing webinars for the past three months carrying on with his work. It’s like, why do I need to travel. Let’s just have webinar and travel only if it’s really necessary. It might hit the travel industry, but the webinar industry, companies like Zoom, and other platforms are going to really soar. And there will definitely be more of these technologies, maybe a webinar platform made specifically for the Arab market,” he added.
Talking about how companies in Doha have been maximising the use of webinars, he said: “I see many companies have joined the bandwagon, have ventured out into the webinar platform and engaging in that. But I also feel that there are still many more industries and companies in Qatar that could get into this."
Speaking at a recent virtual investment forum, Greg Loayon, President of the Philippine Business Council in Qatar, highlighted the need for companies to engage in digital platforms, particularly webinars, to continue reaching their audiences and survive the pandemic.
“COVID-19 hastened the conversation on digital innovation and companies now need to be proactive with regards to their approach to establishing their digital footprint. COVID-19 put many companies on an even playing field, wherever they may be in the world, irrespective of industry. And the call of the times is for your company to embrace the new normal. Technology will now play a bigger role in the world of business. Companies now need to be proactive and use their digital conferencing platforms to reach out to various audiences, which could be their customers, business partners, or potential investors. If your company is not proactive in reaching out to your customers, partners, or potential investors, you will not survive in this accelerated digital revolution,” added Loayon.
