BPA Worldwide Acquires Event Industry Data Standards Group VSef

The need for more and better data standards in the events industry became glaringly clear during the pandemic, when event organizers were able to collect more data on their events than ever before via digital platforms but weren’t always able to easily make sense of it.

Explori addressed this industry-wide issue by spearheading the creation of the Virtual Standard Export Format (VSef), and BPA Worldwide also launched its Reporting Standards for Digital Events at the beginning of the year.

The two organizations begin to collaborate to ensure that their data standards remained aligned, and BPA Worldwide is now bringing everything under one roof with its recent acquisition of VSef. This consolidation will greatly facilitate the ongoing management of the data standards, as well as eliminate any confusion in the industry about which standards to follow by creating a single authority.

“Digital events and digital components of in-person events are important elements of an event organizer’s portfolio. After levelling off after pandemic highs, we expect the digital channel to grow,” said Richard Murphy, President and CEO of BPA Worldwide. “We want to recognize the excellent work of Explori and the VSef team to mobilize industry support and develop this data format […] We will work with the industry associations and industry leaders to increase awareness, adoption and advancement of digital events, and digital events data solutions.”

Mark Brewster, Founder and CEO of Explori and VSef, added, “It has been a pleasure to work on such a progressive initiative for the industry. Data is key to the evolution of the events industry and to ensure the betterment of our sector. Under Explori’s leadership, the VSef initiative was launched and now we believe that BPA is the perfect party to continue with this work into the future, drive awareness and increase adoption of common data standards.”

BPA will be announcing next steps in the coming months, which will include a licensing opportunity for audit bodies to offer certification to the standard.