Virtual vs. Live Conferences: Measuring the Participants Memorable Conference Experience

Due to Croatian government measures to prevent the spread of COVID – 19, Croatian citizens have been in several lockdowns, which caus­ally affected the normal function of society as a whole. One of the most common consequences of such restrictions was the reduction in social con­tacts and reliance on virtual contacts in the online environment. The scien­tific community and any other sphere of business had to change its process­es, particularly in organizing conferences. Virtual conferences from “rescue solution” became “pleasant with the useful solution” for organizing commit­tees but also for participants. The purpose of this study is to detect the dif­ferences in the memorable experiences of participants concerning different quality elements in virtual and online environments. Furthermore, the aim is to detect predictors of behavioural intentions for both virtual and live con­ferences. For the purpose of this research, the authors have created a ques­tionnaire, which was distributed online and onsite. The T-test and regression analysis were conducted on a sample of 256 respondents. Results confirmed significant differences between virtual and live conferences in ten variables. Furthermore, regression results revealed that only “Memorable experience” is the common predictor for both virtual and live conferences.