The scoop on planning your first (or next) virtual event
It’s May 2020 - and we’re very much in the thick of the pandemic - yikes.
With so many virtual events happening these days, the need for good, attention-grabbing digital content has never been more important (and in demand).
I just helped plan a corporate virtual reception for about 150 employees. Great success! 👌
Everything from speaking remarks, digital invites, social media content, email campaigns, website updates and digital promotional materials were some of the assets I prepared to create buzz and make the event a success.
Here are three things that worked well I’d like to share with you. Hopefully, you find them helpful as you work through your next virtual event.
Web Platform
For technology, we used Webex – a web conferencing and video-conferencing application. But using technology that allows you to tile all your attendees’ videos on the same screen and has security protections, will equally work (for instance, Teams or Google Meet).
Dial-in Experience: Make sure attendees enter the meeting with microphones muted. Webex allows the host to mute all. Check that your solution provides this feature. Microphone feedback from multiple sources can be excruciating not to mention the unwanted sounds of someone using the washroom or the tinkering of dishes in the background.
Event Flow: It’s a good idea to either delegate one person to run point on managing the flow of the event or you can work with a side-kick.
Test Runs: Test the technology ahead of the event. We did at least six test runs ahead of the meeting and on one occasion with a WebEx guru. This helped us get comfortable with the application and think through our backup plan, in case there were any glitches, for example, WIFI failures etc.… (hey, you never know with technology – you’ve got to be prepared).
Variety
Yes, ‘Zoom’ or online fatigue is real. Think about the length of the event. If possible, don’t make it too long. Ours was an hour-long event. Be sure to break up the content so that you don’t have one person speaking the entire time. Involve multiple speakers at remote locations and be sure to break up the program. In our case, for instance, we had three speakers on the panel but still broke out their presentations.
Pre-recorded segments: Using pre-recorded inserts, creates a TV-like feel. Aside from having an engaging host, we included pre-recorded videos (an artist performance and a short 6-minute documentary) and an interactive polling tool, which I will talk more about in my next point. These additions made all the difference.
This is a snapshot of what our format looked like:
Audience Interaction
Aside from variety, find ways to keep people engaged. To increase interaction, you might want to consider using a tool like slido to ask questions or run an online poll during the event. We incorporated trivia in between chunks of the program, using slido to ask trivia questions. Slido is very user-friendly and absolutely makes audience interaction easy. The best part is, we were able to share answers with the group in real-time. And we had no need for prizes, bragging rights did the trick. Another great feature of slido is that it displays a leaderboard. In our case, we offered multiple-choice responses, so the top four quickest respondents showed up on the screen. Using slido or an equivalent interactive tool is especially useful for big meetings where employees may not feel comfortable openly asking questions. It’s a great way to moderate the tone of the meeting and a fun way to slip educational information.
Lessons Learned
One thing we missed and a lesson I took away was not playing audio along with the welcome slide deck we had prepared. It seemed awkwardly quiet as people joined the call and waited to get started. I will suggest playing some music as attendees join the event or have a live DJ spin some tunes. Aside from avoiding the awkward silence, having some audio along with the visuals will help reassure folks logging into the call that their technology has connected correctly.
And don’t forget to record the event. Publish the replay for those who missed out on your outstanding event.