If you’re an event planner, you know the rush that comes with planning the perfect gathering. There’s the search for the perfect venue, picking tables and chairs, organizing seating charts, sending invites and a lot more. Recently, a rise in the use of digital tech has meant that virtual events have become popular. A lot of people prefer getting together online as opposed to meeting in person, meaning the modern event planner has to be on top of their game! Keeping that in mind, let’s talk about virtual events. Online event management has been blowing up since last year, with more and more people taking their conferences, webinars, breakout rooms, and other events to digital platforms.
Platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams have become a routine part of daily lives. People are almost always online to work, view lessons or chat with friends. Yet, when it comes to creating engaging online conferences, webinars or workshops, there are more specific virtual event management platforms that directly address the event planners’ needs. Deal Room stands out with its technical features, user friendly interface and irreplaceable customer support. It’s a single platform solution for any and all kinds of virtual and hybrid events. The smart software gives you access to 1-to-1 meetings, smart matchmaking, high-quality video streaming, several integration opportunities, virtual venues, networking tools, roundtables and much more! Deal Room is all you need to start planning your next virtual event. Now that you know the tool you need to use, let’s talk about ten tips to ensure that your event is a success!
You might take this one for granted, but it’s very important: Online events are a piece of cake once you’ve got all your planning done and partner off with a smart virtual event platform. Keep reminding yourself that it’s not so different from planning an event with live attendees. All you have to do is having intelligent software, fast Internet, and a device through which you can plan and monitor.
Whether an event is online on on-ground, engagement is an important consideration. You need to keep the importance of networking in mind and create channels through which your attendees can communicate. Matchmaking algorithms do a great job when it comes to networking! It helps the attendees meet with most relevant people that serve their business needs. It is also important to keep attendees active, meaning you need to plan an interactive virtual session.
Not everyone likes the same things! Sometimes your main stage session may not appeal to some attendees and cause them look for alternatives: You don’t want to compete with their social media pages during your virtual event, right? So, to capture their attention and keep their eyes on the event, try to organize parallel sessions!
It’s imperative that you have great online tech support available in case you run into glitches or technical problems. There’s nothing worse than random disruptions, especially if your attendees are having 1-on-1 meetings with each other. Many important discussions could be waylaid because of a minor fault that can easily be fixed.
Your audience will expect a good show when they click on to your virtual event. You will need to plan out what everything will look like, from background lighting, video and audio quality, and more. Pay attention to these details and your audience will leave the event feeling satisfied.
As with any good event, most virtual events need sponsors. When you sign on with your sponsors, make sure to tell them exactly what branding space they can have during the event. This includes branding the virtual venue, sponsor visibility and exhibition spots.
An event will only be successful if enough people attend it. Keep this in mind and pursue a strategic promotion plan. Send out virtual invites to your mailer list. Additionally, if your company has social media pages, embed the invites in those. The more people that see the event, the more they will want to attend. Get those eyeballs in and make a great impression.
Rehearse and do run-throughs of the virtual event way before it takes place. If you have keynote speakers coming, make sure to hear their speeches, note their body language and movements. Request them to maintain eye contact with attendees during the event. They can do this by looking into the camera. This will keep your audience engaged. Rehearsals will also leave much less room for mistakes or errors during event day.
Many virtual events, think about Golden Globes, have hosts. Why should this be any different for virtual events? If your event is longer or requires more interaction and/or explanation, consider hiring a master of ceremonies (MC) or host. They will keep your audience entertained and engaged throughout the night. What’s more, there’s less chance of error because they will already be familiar with the flow of the event, allowing everything to run smoothly.
This is a tricky choice to make, but either option can work considering the nature of the event. You may want to broadcast your event live on social media. You would also choose live broadcast if you were to take your audience through an event that was happening right there on-ground. However, many the successful programs you see are pre-recorded. This is done to ensure zero mistakes because it allows the supervisors to edit the footage if necessary.It’s easy to control the quality, content and messaging of your event if it looks live, rather than it is. You will be able to avoid any faux pas with a pre-recorded event that keeps your audience engaged and entertained.
July 21, 2022
About me:
After seven years of translation experience in the management-related field and a passion for digital marketing, I was given the opportunity to work with the Cloud Markethink Agency and CloudTalk Global, the largest cloud computing event in Eurasia, as a team member to manage business events.
Additionally, working with Deal Room Events has provided me with a wonderful opportunity to reflect on and expand my experience as a content event marketing professional.
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