While the Covid-19 pandemic affected all industries, the leisure and hospitality industry was the hardest hit - 2020 saw the cancellation of many prominent festivals, sporting events, exhibitions and concerts in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. Physical events were forced to go online. It wasn't any different for alumna Aseel Omar Sobeih and her team.
The Palestinian national was (and is still) working in Malaysia as a Project Manager at Virbiz Events. The company’s all-in-one virtual event platform enables its customers to effectively engage with their clientele in the social-distancing times.
“We had to quickly shift from physical events to virtual events. By doing so, we had to adapt to the new norms and come up with solutions that not only allowed our clients to transform their events virtually, but to keep their audience engaged throughout the event,” Aseel shares.
“We mainly focus on virtual events and hybrid event solutions. We have our own green screen studio as well as provide registration system solutions for physical events such as registration, RSVP, business matching, consultation and more.”
Aseel discovered her passion 4 years ago when she first stepped foot in the event industry. “I started off by organising exhibitions and creating event designs. Then, I slowly transitioned into a managerial position handling my clients’ needs from design to execution.”
Aseel was a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Industrial Design and Masters in Project Management student at Limkokwing University. “Both of these programmes helped me to stand out in my industry as I was a designer who was able to also manage my clients’ projects.”
While she has completed over 80 events throughout her career, the project that stands out the most is the MRT Putrajaya Phase 1 Launch. “We provided the live stream microsite and RSVP system for the invited guests. It was a historical moment for Malaysia and it was great being a part of it.”
On upcoming events Aseel is looking forward to she said, “I’m looking forward to the upcoming Selangor R&D and Innovation Expo - SRIE2023 which will be held at KLCC from the 6th till the 9th of October 2023.”
Aseel is also proud of how she was able to adapt from the physical event world to virtual. She rubbed shoulders with professionals from IT terminology, developers to servers and so much more.
