Virtual live events are here to stay
LIZ LOCKE wasn’t sure what to expect when she logged on to Twitter last April, cocktail in hand, for a virtual watch party of classic films. She was supposed to be attending the 2020 TCM Classic Film Festival, but when it was cancelled because of the corona-virus pandemic, organisers announced they would instead air previous festival programming on the TCM cable channel that weekend.
Locke gamely followed the #TCM-Party hashtag and chatted with fellow movie fans as she watched Network, Casablanca and Auntie Mame until something surprising happened – she realised she was having fun.
“Had I attended the festival in-person, I
