Emcee For Virtual Events: Is There Much Difference?

Due to the ongoing pandemic and the need to restrict unnecessary gatherings to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus, many Singapore events are gradually moving to become online affairs, taking on the style of webinars and making use of various different platforms such as Facebook Live and Zoom.

With such a trend going on, the emcee industry has also noticed an increasing demand for virtual events emcee in Singapore to host online conferences and webinars.

However, a survey of opinion shared by emcees on the ground level has revealed a more or less uniform feedback and that is clients are attempting to negotiate for a much lower rates for emcees to host these digital events in Singapore compared to what they would normally be willing to pay if it were to be a physical traditional event.

This article will attempt to do a simple comparison between emceeing for a virtual event compared to a physical event and as a conclusion, encourage clients and event organizers to remunerate emcees fairly, not seize the opportunity to take advantage of them.

For an emcee to host a digital event, he or she still needs to put in the time and effort to do preparation work such as study about the client, research more about the event participants, and peruse the materials given to them by the client. Such preparation work might even involve phone calls, virtual meetings or conference calls online before the virtual event day itself. All these preparation work is exactly the same as what the emcee would do if it is for an actual event. Likewise, emcees are equally involved in rehearsals for both online and offline events, needing them to spend time to participate in the organizer’s dry run and testing of the virtual platforms leading up to the event day.

On the day of the Singapore virtual event itself, the emcee will still need to look presentable. This means make-up and hair for the ladies, hairdo for the guys as well, and then getting dressed professionally and according to theme, making sure the hardware required such as webcam and microphone are all in good working condition. Once again, something which is also in close similarity to them hosting an actual physical event. In fact, in the case of an actual event, the hardware would usually be taken care of by the venue or sound person engaged.

On top of the points raised above, another feedback from the ground is that there’s a lot of multi-tasking involved behind the scenes; communicating with the event organisers on Whatsapp or other chat platforms concurrently as the show is going on. Likewise, when an emcee is off stage during a physical event, they are also usually engaged in conversation with the client about the upcoming segments of the show. Yet another similarity, or in fact, something that makes the work of a virtual events emcee even more challenging due to the need to communicate and manage multiple chat platforms. Face-to-face would definitely have been easier in a physical setting.

Well, the similarities of emceeing a virtual event vs. a physical event is of course way more than these. Hence, to drive the point home, emcees surveyed actually concluded that the only difference, really, is the saving up on transportation time and costs.

By now, it is really very easy to see why emcees should be paid, at the very least, similar rates for hosting an online event compared to a physical traditional event.

Let’s hope this article reaches event organizers and clients alike looking to engage a virtual emcee to host their digital events in Singapore, and let them realize that the fees for engaging an emcee for a virtual event should NOT be lower than what is usually budgeted for a physical event.

To better days ahead for the Singapore events industry, be it of a physical or online environment. Stay safe and good health all!