Virtual emcees in demand as online events become new normal

Chennai

With launches and conferences taking a digital route, emcees in the city have upped their game to be on par with other city and international emcees. Right from gaining technical knowledge to managing the online viewers, they are learning the basics of virtual emceeing.

Last month, Nisha Marimuthu hosted a pan-India launch of a new product from an MNC. “I have been hosting small and big events online for the past two months. There are two formats for such events — 2D and 3D. In a 2D event, the organisers capture events in different locations and combine them. Then I will be doing live emceeing for the event and it will be streamed on YouTube. So that the public can watch it. 3D events are bigger ones, like the launch of a product or a national conference,” Nisha begins.
 
The city emcee observes that the turnover for live events is more than a normal event. “For some corporate events, they invite the employees’ family. It becomes fun and interactive. Before events, I rehearse with the organisers and write the script. The only challenge for bigger events is that I am not seeing anyone and I don’t get to know the vibe of the spectators. So, I have to imagine and talk accordingly. If it is a webinar where only a limited number of participants are there, emceeing is easier,” she remarks.
 
After hosting a few events, Nisha agrees that the main challenge she has faced was network issues. “Not only mine, but even the organisers’ and participants’ network connection should also be good. Otherwise, some tend to miss the flow. Another challenge is fixing the best time for the event. These days, there are many free online webinars and conferences for the public. As an emcee, I have to find a good slot to host my event,” she adds.

Nisha confesses that she didn’t have any idea about the possibilities of virtual emceeing.“It’s high time all the emcees in the city up their game to sustain in this field. We don’t know what’s in store for the future; so, we have to learn new skills. To be honest, I started liking the tag of a virtual emcee. ” Emcees Nandhini Aravindan and Thamizharasan Karunakaran have been doing virtual emceeing for birthday parties and webinars.

“Earlier itself, we knew that some events will take a digital route. So, we started marketing from April onwards. Be it small or big, virtual events will be the new norm. Unlike a physical event, the role of an emcee in a virtual event is multifold. So, if a client approaches us, we explain how virtual emceeing works. For example, for a webinar, we give technical assistance to the participants before the sessions start. Then we introduce the speaker. We also take care of the questions and concerns in the chatbox so that the speaker can deliver the lecture without any interruption. If anyone wants to talk, they can either raise the hand or message in the chatbox. For birthdays, we do some ice-breakers games, magic shows as well,” he says.

Thamizharasan points out that earlier if the competition was between two emcees, now the competition is between an emcee and event trainer or organisers. “Already many emcees are out of jobs because of less number of events. Moreover, some corporates have their trainers with whom they conduct events. They don’t approach an emcee from outside. So it is a big challenge for the city anchors. Also, a lot of international emcees are now doing online events in India. Even if things are back to normal, we don’t know how many physical events are going to happen because of the ‘work from home’ policy. Emcees should improve their skills to compete with other anchors from across the world,” Thamizharasan stresses.