How to turn your event into a Virtual Event

Are you trying to decide to whether or not to go ahead with your event this year? Or just cancel it and start again next year?

It doesn’t t have to be that black and white as with a few tweaks here and there you can fairly easily still go ahead by moving it to a virtual platform and this might encourage even more attendees than you would normally have.

So if this is something you might consider here are 4 main points you need to address:

1. What will the format be?

This is all about the look and feel of the event, will it be broadcast style, like a TV series or conference style? How will you share the events, will they be posted at the same time if prerecorded or released at certain times of the day, Will the events themselves be live and interactive or will they be pre-records and accessed at any time. What platform will use to host it on or stream it form?

2. Just because it’s virtual doesn’t mean it’s cheap.

Yes there aren’t the accommodation costs, or food bills or travel times but you do need great technology and it needs to be professionally produced. SO although the total cost will typically be 50% less than a “normal” event it is still not cheap.

3. How will attendees network and meet?

A lot of networking often happens at the bar or in coffee breaks and just because those aren’t happening in real life what not put them on remotely. Organise break out rooms for smaller groups of attendees and organise entertainment that will see people mixing in teams and getting to know each other that way. Always allow time for Q7A sessions and where possible enable attendees to see who is asking the questions.

Another option is to use a messaging platform that allows them to connect with each other before and after the event.

4. Driving up attendance.

This is often the trickiest part of all but if you encourage your speakers to promote their own sessions via their social media that will greatly help. Ensure that all signup pages are tested for ease of signup and that the user experience is seamless and easy. Run competitions on social media for reduced rate tickets or giveaways or how about 15 minutes one to one time with the speakers? Create some excitement about the event and tell your potential attendees what they will gain.

So rather than cancelling your events why not think how they could work in our new virtual world? The value that hosting an event brings to your business is still very high so whilst it might seem daunting at first it could benefit your business in a number of ways. “