In the current wake of the pandemic, many in-person events are being scrambled, either having to reschedule or made into virtual meetings.
While this happens, many event organizers are switching to virtual programs. This is not a new thing, as many of us have tuned in to a virtual event in one way or another. However, nowadays, it seems like they’re here to stay.
This has got many people asking, what makes a virtual event a success?
In the following article, we will hopefully answer that question. Be sure to keep on reading, as we will give you 5 helpful tips you can use to set up a successful virtual event.
1. Research Your Audience
Many things change once you’re on the internet, and the rules for planning a virtual event might be a bit different. For example, the event’s date will not be as easy to set as for an in-person event.
You will soon find out that people may not be at home at a particular hour, or even maybe they are in a different time zone.
This means that while you’re organizing a morning, it might be too early for attendees in other timezones.
In this case, you will have to do a bit of research on your core audience and schedule the event at a time where you will know it’s most convenient.
2. Good Tools Make a Successful Virtual Event
Technology becomes one of the most important aspects of a online event – as it will make or break your audience’s experience.
If you want your event to be broadcast to a live audience, you might want to turn to live streaming software. In this case, you need to do a bit of research and find out which service best suits your needs.
As for hardware equipment, the best advice we can give you is to make sure the microphones are in top shape and that they can be heard crystal clear.
A loud, noisy, or otherwise faulty microphone might spell disaster for your event.
3. Create a Virtual Experience
Virtual Experiences are live, interactive events that are entertaining and engaging alternatives to traditional online programs. Their focus on direct interaction between the audience and talent, these experiences offer the excitement of live entertainment your remote audience. Here are a few experiences to consider for your next virtual event.
Interactive Cooking Demos with a Celebrity Chef: A list of ingredients will be provided so attendees can literally cook together.
Martha Stewart — TV Personality, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
Antoni Porowski — Food & Wine Connoisseur, Netflix’s Queer Eye
Carla Hall — Food Contributor on ABC’s Strahan and Sara & Former Co-Host of The Chew
Patti LaBelle– Godmother of Soul performing a cooking demo and then singing a few songs
Comedic Conversations
James Corden — Host, CBS’ The Late Late Show with James Corden
Trevor Noah — Host, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Colin Jost — Co-Anchor, Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update”
Jam Sessions: Words & Music
Keith Urban — Grammy Award-Winning Musician
Leslie Odom, Jr. — Tony Award-Winning Actor & Musician, Hamilton
Sheryl Crow – Grammy Award-Winning Musician
John Legend – Grammy and Academy Award-winning R&B singer, songwriter, and pianist
Financial Expert Conversations
Nicole Lapin– New York Times bestselling author of Rich Bitch and Boss Bitch
Steve Forbes – Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media, authority on economics, finance, and corporate leadership
Richard Quest – CNN’s foremost international business correspondent
Suze Orman – Personal finance guru
4. Hire a Professional to Moderate the Event
If you want a successful virtual event, then you will have to work with a professional host.
For larger events, you will soon find out that a virtual meeting moderator or an emcee is a must. You will need their help to generally interact with the audience in a fun and engaging way.
You can hire a comedian or a public speaker, their experience of being on-stage in front of a large number of people usually translates well to an online event.
Jeff Civillico is tech savvy. There’s a reason why Jeff’s portfolio is full of past technology clients: AT&T, AT&T Business, Avast, Centrify, Cisco, Emerson Global, Equinix, Fluke Networks, Image Technologies Corp, iModules, Internet Marketing Association, Lightwave Telecom, Netscout, Neustar, Powerschool User Group, Sprint, Vistex, Workday, Workfront, World Wide Technologies, Xactware, and many others. Jeff’s transition to the virtual space has been seamless. He’s comfortable on LiveStream platforms like Zoom, Facebook and Instagram Live, Streamyard, BLive, etc.
5. Engagement Is a Must
One of the major hurdles you will be facing is audience-retention. In a virtual environment, people will find many excuses and distractions, which will prevent them from focusing on the event.
If they ever feel like the event is heading towards a snooze, they will jump at the occasion to click out of the event’s window and log onto different websites. Or, since people are at home, there are a handful of other things that might drag them away, such as laundries, phone calls, or having to take care of the kids.
In these cases, the best thing you can do is to have a diverse set of activities scattered throughout the entire event – Q&A sessions, special guests, quizzes.
This way, you give the audience many things to look forward to, and if they won’t be able to tune in for all of them, at least they will know when to drop by to catch their favorite segment.
Colin Cloud’s mind-blowing demonstrations and incredible insights will astound, and mesmerise your audience, embedding your event in their memory, quite probably forever.
6. Motion Graphics, Holograms, Virtual Environments, Data-Visualisation and More!
PRESENTATION: make a live-hologram of your speaker(s) and turn all your data into 3D futuristic objects.
DISCUSSION: unite speakers from different locations in one common virtual environment
INTERACTIVE: arrange Q&A interaction of audience and a virtual team of holograms.
Your options are as limitless as the imagination of the Freckled Sky team’s creativity…
Build brand identity. Conduct a virtual demonstration of a new product… conferences, townhalls, presentations, workshops. Invite audience members into a digital-world of their own design.
Set to Succeed
We hope the tips we have given you in this article will prove useful to you. Virtual events won’t replace in-person events, but as an event organizer, it’s best to be prepared for both scenarios.
We can help you take your events to the next level and provide you with the support needed to build a successful virtual event.
Be sure to give us a call at (615) 283-0039 or email us, and we will gladly assist you!
