The changes we have seen happen worldwide have proven that when the world is thrown a curveball, there are always those who will go that extra mile to innovate and find a solution to the problem. One way around the cancellation of events that had been scheduled and no longer allowed to go ahead was to move to a virtual event.
A virtual event is an online event that allows people to connect and experience everything an in-person event would have to offer without having to attend a specific location. Despite them having been around since the 90s, in 2020, they grew in popularity the world over.
So without in-person attendees, how do you make a virtual event successful?
Choose Your Platform
You want to make sure that the platform you use is suitable for the event you are holding and can easily handle the volume of attendees you are expecting. Check out one of the best and simplest event management software platforms to see how easy it is to start planning your virtual event.
Be Relevant
It may sound like a non-issue, but holding an event that isn’t relevant to the world around you or contain information many people won’t be able to do physically will seem like a waste of time. You will lose interest from attendees pretty quickly. Make sure the topics you are covering are relevant to the demographic you are targeting.
Timing
Timing is an important issue. Remember, people won’t be engaging via a screen as they may in person. Be realistic about how long you should spend on your virtual event and how many speakers or sections you will have. If it is too long, people may turn off and lose interest. Keep it short. Around 60 minutes is a good ballpark, and keep it to the point.
Engaging
You need to be confident in your abilities to keep people engaged in your conference and making sure you have topics, speakers, tutorials that people are interested in will do this. Make sure you are keeping it to the point, and you are engaging with your audience to help it feel like they are there in person and not just watching a recorded visual they don’t really need to attend live.
Be Different
While a specific concept may be popular and work for others, copying a tried and tested format might not work for you, you want to give your attendees something they can’t get anywhere else. How can you make it different yet still stay true to who you are and what your brand and event are all about?
Marketing
Make sure you are vocal about your event before, during and after; you want to make sure you are creating a buzz about the event so people want to attend. Live-tweeting or streaming is a great way to make people regret not getting involved but keeping them on the hook should you have a new virtual event. Dissecting what happened after the fact allows people to get a better idea of what they might have missed. For attendees to discuss favourite points, give feedback to engage in conversation on the topics you covered.
