(upbeat music) >> The next normal is upon us. And the way we run corporate communications, brand accelerators and events has changed inextricably from 12 months ago. Will this last? Welcome to theCUBE. My name is Samme Allen. It's great to have you with us. Joining me today to discuss what looks like success for us all in terms of communications and events, we have long time industry analyst, TV host, entrepreneur and of course, many other accolades, please welcome co-founder and CEO of theCUBE, Dave Vellante. Dave, welcome to theCUBE. >> Hey Samme, thank you very much. I've been in theCUBE a lot, but really not often in this format, so thanks for having me. >> It is a pleasure to be interviewing you today. How does it feel being in the hot seat about to be grilled about the future of events? >> A little weird, little uncomfortable. But bring it on. >> So we talk about this next normal. Some people called it the new normal. We're coming out of the world of pandemic. Thank God. We are seeing returning to live events. We are seeing returning to travel. But what do you think this looks like for the big brands in terms of how they start building out their communications strategy, including events for, say, the next 12 months, the immediate strategy for the future? >> Well, that's a great question. And it's interesting when you look back in the last 12, 13, 14 months, and you compare, let's say, last April to this April in terms of the quality of the events that not only the production value, but also the content and the formats and the intensive attempt to engage with people, you're seeing people, big organizations especially, really raised the bar quite dramatically. And now just as they've sort of become comfortable with virtual events, they're trying to figure out, okay, what's next? So we've seen with theCUBE, we're getting demand now for hybrid events. We're going to be at Mobile World Congress. We're seeing other events that people are asking us to attend. We've got some events in the fall. Smatterings, you know. It's not huge. But when you talk to people, pretty much everybody now is planning on some type of physical activity in 2021. So there's huge pent-up demand. We would expect, Samme, to have these, let's call'em VIP events, where you might have an audience of, local audience, maybe it's 20, maybe it's 25 people, selected audience of CEOs or CTOs or business executives, and then broadcast that to a much wider audience. I personally think this notion of virtual events, which nobody really wanted, you know, a couple of years ago, everybody wanted belly-to-belly, I think it's here to stay, because the long tail of consumption post-event is actually paying dividens, even though it's taking much, much longer to see those results. >> And we're seeing here in the UK. As you know, I'm based in our London studio. We are, you know, we're hearing from Sir David Attenborough who pretty much everyone around the globe knows as the global voice of sustainability saying that actually what we do in the next 5 to 10 years could potentially have a much bigger impact on the world than Corona virus has done so far. Do you think brands are taking this seriously in terms of the evolution of how they communicate, how they attend events, where things like theCUBE will be placed in the future? Are you seeing that from your clients, Dave? >> You know, that's a really tough question. Because on the one hand, and I often joke that, you know, it used to be the case that, you know, the only goal of a public company was to make profit. And now, you're seeing companies from IBM and Cisco and Salesforce, name a company, a large company, they're standing up and saying ESG, diversity, inclusion, these are not only the right thing to do, but they're good business. And so tie that into your question, which is, you know, can we affect the environment, for example, maybe by, you know, being more productive with travel? And the reason I think it's such a tough question is because I think the sales people who are under such pressure to perform, and the companies are under pressure to perform, clearly can be more productive face-to-face, and they can accelerate time to close, for example. At the same time, nobody's really excited to get back on a plane on a Sunday night every week and fly back on a Friday and see their family, maybe, you know, for a day or two. So I think we've got to figure that out. And I think to answer your question specifically, I think there's no question that we can do much more virtually. And I think we will, over the next 10 years, learn how to do that in a much more productive way. >> You hit quite a true point from the brands that we've been speaking with in terms of the desire to see people, to hug people, to be in a room. I think the one thing we hear all the time is that you can't network. Well, we know you can network, because we have algorithms, we have AI and big data. But actually, that socialization. Do you think once we've all got to that first conference and then actually, we have maybe, exactly as you said, that fatigue of not being with our families when the world has changed so much, so after this initial rush, do you think that then that blend of the world of hybrid will remain stable? >> Another really tough question. I think, you know, having, for myself, I'm not fully baked. I've had my second vaccine. And so when I see people, I'm really confident. I'm kind of a, you know, chest pumper, a handshaker, a hugger, whatever. So I'm much more comfortable doing that. But we don't know what we don't know. You know, do we need a booster shot in six months? You know, what is the data telling us? The science, I mean. Everybody says follow the science. But the Alzheimer, the science doesn't know what's happening. I would say this. I think unquestionably, from a business standpoint, that this notion of being able to expose your brand to many, many more, a much, much larger audience, is going to continue. That has legs. And I think people are very comfortable that, if you do that, you're not going to limit the number of people who actually, you know, show up live. It's like when TED decided to actually broadcast, the brand went through the roof. I think the same thing will happen here that you're going to see a slow return of the face-to-face. And I think the virtual will stay. And I think they'll be related, but different teams. I mean, we've talked about this, you and I. There's different skillsets for virtual. So I can see organizations, at least I think smart ones, will invest in both. And I think we're going to see a new era of events that are going to combine virtual and physical. >> Talking about theCUBE, you know. We talked about theCUBE being, you know, they're front and center at an event to offer those expert insights. Can you see in that, well, give us your crystal ball, where's theCUBE going to be in five years time? Do you hope? And do you, where do you think it's going to be strategically wise? >> You know, the awesome thing for theCUBE is that we started in virtual events and hybrid events back in 2015. And so, but it was interesting is we sort of try to push that on our clients, and nobody wanted it. It's like I was saying before, everybody wanted physical. So when COVID hit, we were in a really good position to extend our portfolio into virtual. And that's exactly what we did with our two studios and our software stack. What was a little tricky for us was we had to retrain people. And it was like training by fire. So that took some time. And so you start to see, okay, who's, who really enjoys the virtual, who enjoys the physical. So where I see theCUBE in five years time is that hybrid combination. Very clearly, people want theCUBE at their events, because it's light. It's lights, camera, action. You know, the sports-center-like vibe with the live production, you know. But at the same time, we've got this great capability and team that can reach a much, much wider audience. And then what we've learned, the big learning or one of the big learnings from COVID in virtual was the post-event consumption, that long tail is actually quite amazing, especially if you keep nurturing it. And by the way, a lot of our clients still miss this, a lot of brands move on to the next one, move on to the next one, whereas you can see the consumption continuing. And so I think people are going to continue to fine tune that and really take advantage. So I see theCUBE in both places. And it's just, we're really excited, because it's just a great expansion of our business. >> And I think that strategy, as you said, that, you know, building out a 365 strategy when it comes down to communications and bringing people on a journey with you, which is what you're doing at theCUBE, I think that's the future. And it's an exciting future. My last question for you. You've been locked down like we all have here in the UK, You're in the US. What are you most looking forward to now you've had your second shot, the world is opening up? What's the first thing that you're going to be doing sort of post-lockdown? >> You know, I'll say this. I, again, I don't miss flying every week and dragging my big, heavy backpack through airports. What I have missed is that interaction post-event. So theCUBE is intense. You go to an event. You're doing 10 to 12 interviews a day. Sometimes three or four days. You're exhausted at the end of the day. But then you get to sit back. And that's when you go to the evening events. And you see people, for instance, that were on theCUBE. And people were pointing to you, "hey, you're theCUBE guys." And you build a really intimate relationship with them that is long lasting. And I really do miss that. We, John Furrier, my business partner and co-CEO, we've made some great business friendships that will last a lifetime. And you only form those with these face-to-face interactions. You just, as you know, Samme, you can't do it. You can't get that level of intimacy in a video call. You just can't. So I'm really looking forward to that. And maybe a little better life balance. That's what I'm most looking forward to. >> I think that's a wonderful way to close this out. So I'm looking forward to also seeing you in person, raising that glass, building those relationships. Thank you, Dave, so much for being with us today. Thank you all for watching. Stay tuned to theCUBE for breaking insights, expert insights front and center when you need them. Keep safe. And see you next time. (upbeat music)