The promoter of Singapore casino resort Marina Bay Sands (MBS) said in a press release it had launched what it terms a “virtual meeting place” (pictured in a digital image) that can be used in conjunction with in-person events.
The future of meetings in a world where Covid-19 will be “endemic,” rather than as at present a pandemic, will involve offering event 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,” said Ong Wee Min, vice president of conventions and exhibitions for Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd, as cited in a Thursday announcement.
The company says the Marina Bay Sands virtual meeting platform is designed to meet three key needs of the meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) sector: networking; content delivery; and global buying and selling of goods and services.
Settings for so-called “breakout” meetings during virtual events can be customised to represent different parts of the real-life property, such as its ArtScience Museum, and Sands SkyPark Observation Deck.
The platform is divided into three main parts. They are: the “plenary” area, with virtual exhibition space modelled after the ballroom at Marina Bay Sands’ MICE facility, Sands Expo and Convention Centre; the “library”, offered as part of the property’s “hybrid broadcast studio”, which launched in the summer last year; and virtual “breakout rooms” enabling attendees to form one-on-one and group meetings.
Marina Bay Sands says three organisations in Singapore were involved in helping to develop the platform.
They are: Pico Art International Pte Ltd, the Singapore arm of an global branding agency; Singapore-based GEVME, a provider of platforms for online meetings; and Sixtrees Viz Comms Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based animation studio with services including interactive elements for online meetings.
The parent of Marina Bay Sands is United States-based Las Vegas Sands Corp, which is also the parent of Macau casino operator Sands China Ltd.
