Face-to-face over the Internet : Facing the hard truth with physical attendance in a post-pandemic society

Abstract: This research is based on a pilot study, conducted on a marketer from an unnamed company within the tech industry (the anonymity is used because of the integrity of the interview subjects of both the pilot study and this study). The company deals with B2B (Business to business) transactions, and the marketing in this is somewhat different from the typical B2C (business to consumer) type of marketing. One of these things is the type of strategic communication that comes with event planning and hosting. In the aftermath of the covid-19 pandemic, events and the attendance at these have changed, for marketers in the tech industry. The researched marketers have experienced how their audience's attitudes have changed, and they are struggling to know which path to choose. This study will dive into what these challenges are, and how the marketers approach the challenges, as well as discuss different forms of participation.  The methodological approach for answering these questions is a combination of interview sessions with marketers from a specific, industry-leading company, as well as a participant observation from my internship at this company. The interview sessions gave a further foundation for what the participant observation indicated, as well as providing some interesting takes on how the marketers both experience their audience, and how they engage them during events - physical, digital, and hybrid such.  Further, the study highlights marketing differences in B2B and B2C industries, personal experiences from event hosting, and theories on both hybrid spaces and participatory culture - something that, in a new digital era, is vital to be able to navigate, to excel in marketing.