Associations everywhere have suddenly found themselves struggling to pivot their plans for their physical events into digital experiences on platforms like Zoom.
Engage and Engage AMS clients are no exception, so we’ve been reading and following as much news as we can to better understand where things are working and what pitfalls are causing hiccups. Thankfully, as this is everyone’s problem, it is proving to be a very communal experience with groups freely sharing their learnings and struggles.
To date, this aptly titled blog post, A Comprehensive List of Tips, Tools & Examples for Event Organizers During the Coronavirus Outbreak from CMX is my favorite for its inclusion of both useful advice as well as suggestions on the suite of tools that exist out there:
Tips for running virtual events:
- Teach the technicals. There will be technical challenges for your attendees – make sure to give them time, and plenty of guidance on how to get set up with your tools and technology. Create content and guides specific for your event vs relying on the tools help docs.
- Plan, prep and practice. There can also be technical challenges for you, especially if attempting to stream live content. Plan out ahead of time exactly how everything will run, then do practice-runs with your speakers, partners, and anyone else involved in creating content. You can also consider pre-recording your content to ensure there are no streaming issues.
- Decide if you’ll offer recorded content. A lot of virtual events record the content and make it all available after the event. Keep in mind, if you mention that recorded content will be available afterwards, it can affect the number of people who show up for the live event. But it also gives you the opportunity to continue to collect signups and improve the reach of your content after the event is over.
- Set ground rules. For group calls and discussion groups, set ground rules up front about what the format will be, when to speak, and how to contribute, so you don’t get a lot of people trying to talk over each other, and everyone has a chance to contribute. You’ll also want to set ground rules for any chat spaces you create about what people can or can’t use those spaces for. They can quickly devolve into promotions and negativity if you don’t have rules in place.
- Create a dedicated networking space. What makes the best conferences and events so special isn’t always (just) the (hopefully awesome) content, talks, presentations etc. but also (quite often: even more so) the hallway conversations, the socializing during breaks etc. When designing an online event, I’d put special emphasis on trying to figure out how to create similar opportunities in an online setting. -
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From Digiday's Publishers put Virtual Events to the test as In-Person Gatherings Disappear some optimism amidst the bad news:
“… a virtual event will likely bring in one-third to one-half the revenue of a physical event,“ said Larry Weil, an events sponsorship consultant.
“I don’t believe you can take a three-day conference and put it online,” Weil said. “Sponsorship is definitely going to take a hit. But those who have a digital strategy, and can scramble, can defer a lot of that loss.”
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Forbes's 7 Ways to make your Online Virtual Conference Successful piece (which is targeted to help speakers translate their skills from real life to online) includes this invaluable nugget:
“Check everything in advance – audio/video quality, screen sharing, host-to-speaker private messaging, audience Q&A – and do it all with the same equipment and internet connection that the speaker will be using on event day.”
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The article Going Viral: Taking Your Conference Online for COVID-19 from Inside Higher Ed included two notable suggestions…
“Work with A/V and web-streaming professionals. We had extensive support from the University of Southern California’s excellent IT staff, who helped select and actively managed the web software that made it possible. It was necessary to have at least three technicians on site at all times: one to handle the online broadcast and web-hosting software, another to adjust the various audio feeds (both in room for those online, and from the conference software), and a third to manage the projectors in the various rooms. This setup allowed us to shift, on short notice, attendees online who were not already scheduled as remote presenters.
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Finally, make sure to circulate recommended hashtags, encourage presenters and attendees to share ongoing discussions widely, and broadcast news of the event as much as possible. Moderators and presenters can then use hashtag searches to feed presenters additional questions that surface in social media and extend the conversation. At one point, there was enough traffic on Twitter, for example, that we were the top trending topic in Los Angeles.”
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While this Social Media Today post, How to Shift from Physical to Virtual Events and Maximize Event Outcomes, is targeted to those who sponsor events, it includes good insights for keeping your sponsors in mind as well as offers some solutions from their perspective on how to help them get the most from your converted event.
“Top virtual event ideas include:
- Pre-recorded videos - Give leads access to your videos on demand. Create an experience that combines brand elements and clear language with a captivating video presentation.
- Animated education content - Look to produce 2D and 3D content to reduce the production costs found in traditional video. Walk attendees through a product demo or setup process with ease.
- Live-streaming - Get buy-in for digital events with a bit of FOMO. Remote viewers won’t want to miss out on asking questions in this community format.
- Virtual event panels and forums - Live-stream from your New York Office or your San Francisco home. Hosting an online group is a great way to engage your audience with a live Q&A session.”
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I hope you've found these notes and articles of value. My hope is that this blog post is a living document with updates added as I come across additional material of value. If you have content you’d recommend I review for inclusion, please feel to email me.
Best of luck with your conference. If Engage can do anything to help, with registrations, session management, the website or anything else, I hope you'll reach out.
“… a virtual event will likely bring in one-third to one-half the revenue of a physical event,“ said Larry Weil, an events sponsorship consultant.
“I don’t believe you can take a three-day conference and put it online,” Weil said. “Sponsorship is definitely going to take a hit. But those who have a digital strategy, and can scramble, can defer a lot of that loss.”
--
Forbes's 7 Ways to make your Online Virtual Conference Successful piece (which is targeted to help speakers translate their skills from real life to online) includes this invaluable nugget:
“Check everything in advance – audio/video quality, screen sharing, host-to-speaker private messaging, audience Q&A – and do it all with the same equipment and internet connection that the speaker will be using on event day.”
--
The article Going Viral: Taking Your Conference Online for COVID-19 from Inside Higher Ed included two notable suggestions…
“Work with A/V and web-streaming professionals. We had extensive support from the University of Southern California’s excellent IT staff, who helped select and actively managed the web software that made it possible. It was necessary to have at least three technicians on site at all times: one to handle the online broadcast and web-hosting software, another to adjust the various audio feeds (both in room for those online, and from the conference software), and a third to manage the projectors in the various rooms. This setup allowed us to shift, on short notice, attendees online who were not already scheduled as remote presenters.
as well as
Finally, make sure to circulate recommended hashtags, encourage presenters and attendees to share ongoing discussions widely, and broadcast news of the event as much as possible. Moderators and presenters can then use hashtag searches to feed presenters additional questions that surface in social media and extend the conversation. At one point, there was enough traffic on Twitter, for example, that we were the top trending topic in Los Angeles.”
--
While this Social Media Today post, How to Shift from Physical to Virtual Events and Maximize Event Outcomes, is targeted to those who sponsor events, it includes good insights for keeping your sponsors in mind as well as offers some solutions from their perspective on how to help them get the most from your converted event.
“Top virtual event ideas include:
- Pre-recorded videos - Give leads access to your videos on demand. Create an experience that combines brand elements and clear language with a captivating video presentation.
- Animated education content - Look to produce 2D and 3D content to reduce the production costs found in traditional video. Walk attendees through a product demo or setup process with ease.
- Live-streaming - Get buy-in for digital events with a bit of FOMO. Remote viewers won’t want to miss out on asking questions in this community format.
- Virtual event panels and forums - Live-stream from your New York Office or your San Francisco home. Hosting an online group is a great way to engage your audience with a live Q&A session.”
--
I hope you've found these notes and articles of value. My hope is that this blog post is a living document with updates added as I come across additional material of value. If you have content you’d recommend I review for inclusion, please feel to email me.
Best of luck with your conference. If Engage can do anything to help, with registrations, session management, the website or anything else, I hope you'll reach out.