It’s been five months since we wrote about getting events going again … seems like forever! Looking back, most of these ideas are still relevant but we’ve added some detail to the original post.
Build Anticipation
2020: After months without events, we now realize how much we miss the excitement of meeting new people, going to new venues, networking with other professionals, and even gaining new skills and knowledge. As an event planner, you can’t continue waiting for the day things will fully reopen for you to start organizing events.
Hosting meetings and events is indispensable if we want to navigate through the current crisis. Thanks to the power of technology, it’s super-easy to bring people together through virtual meetings. However, organizing a successful digital event isn’t as simple as sharing a Zoom link and hoping the participants stay engaged throughout. It requires way more than that. Here are tips to help you get events going during this critical period.
2021: To be honest, we thought this blog was well-timed in September. It seemed like the country was #ReadyToGatherAgain. Revisiting it now has the same feeling … fingers crossed everybody!
Plan for In-Person and Virtual Participants
2020: Nothing can completely replace an in-person gathering, and we all hope these events resume soon. Meanwhile, we have to adapt to new realities. Due to various restrictions, venues can’t operate at full capacity, meaning we can’t expect large numbers of people to attend live events. Furthermore, many people are unwilling or unable to attend a physical gathering because of the obvious risks. So what do you do?
Hybrid events are the way to go. These events combine both in-person and virtual experiences, and they cater for both physical and virtual attendees. Typically, it involves gathering a smaller group in person and a larger group virtually. This provides some face-to-face interaction and also promotes safety. It also offers participants an option of whether to show up in the venue or attend from home, ensuring no one misses out. Hybrid events are perfect for any event from conferences, sales kickoffs, workshops, fundraisers, galas, to product demonstrations.
2021: While it may have been a little premature in September, this idea nailed it! In fact, we believe hybrid will be the standard from now on. It’s more work but the increased reach is absolutely worth every hour (and dollar) spent.
Preserve Production Value
2020: To keep attendees glued on their laptops or phones for an entire 90-minute presentation, a simple camera feed or screen share meeting won’t do the trick. That’s why production value is critical if you want a successful virtual event. Involving your Technical Production Partner can help you develop the right show flow, pre-produced content, event platforms, technical infrastructure, and strategies to create seamless and engaging events.
The right partner (especially one with television broadcast and live event experience) can create something similar to the high-quality broadcast you see from a major news network, ensuring your event is highly interactive and engaging. You can collaborate with these experts on different areas from creating a script of how you want your event to roll out, setting up the venue and the event platform, and creating visual content that sparks and maintains interest.
2021: We’ve been swamped with studio-based and 100% virtual events mostly due to the broadcast approach we apply to them. In fact, a few clients that were once-per-year prior to the pandemic have become once-per-quarter because feedback from their audience was so impactful.
Build Anticipation
2020: To make your upcoming event a hit, you need to get the word out. Fortunately, there are many platforms you can use to market your event. You can:
- Send emails to those on your contact list (especially previous participants).
- Create posts and event-specific hashtags on social media sites.
- Develop shareable promotional content.
- Have influential followers or partners on social media promote your event to their audiences, and offer them an incentive in return.
If you are nonprofit, tap your board and activists. If you are an association, leverage your sponsors. If you are a corporation, use your internal communication/teams.
To further drive interest, you should consider a Virtual Event Platform (VEP) where you can share exciting and inspiring content that connects with your target audience. The platform should be built in a way that visitors can see the number of people attending, including colleagues, and even leave comments. If you have lined up a special guest, state there will be a surprise speaker without revealing the name, to spark curiosity and excitement. You can also give people a glimpse of what the meeting will be about in short and captivating videos. If it’s a hybrid meeting, mention the precautionary actions you have taken to ensure attendees will be safe.
2021: Hands down, Virtual Event Platforms saw the most dramatic evolution of any speciality in our industry. What would have cost $50K and taken months to customize in September only costs $5K and can be done in a few days now. Of course, there are still $50K+ options but you’ll get a lot more functionality and support.
Keep Content Engaging
2020: Chances are your virtual audience will be attending the meeting from home, in their pajamas, with TV, kids, pet, and phone distractions. Therefore, it’s up to you to keep them engaged and encourage them to participate. Apart from offering great content, some of the other best ways to grab the attention of the audience are through polls, quick questionnaires, and varying your presentation format.
The process of bringing value and connection with the virtual audiences is still evolving, and the industry is exploring new ways to improve the attendees’ experiences. Some creative ideas we’ve seen are yoga, exercise, coffee breaks, virtual happy hours, and puzzles and crosswords that have time limits.
2021: Engagement has been mentioned in almost every blog we’ve written. It’s important to use every tool in the box to maintain your audiences’ attention. Things that have worked for our clients include motion graphics, various broadcast layouts, and second screen interaction (Q&A, chat, polling … especially social tags that appear in the broadcast feed and/or on-set).
Don’t Forget Culture
2020: Many of you might remember being in the lobby during an event break and hearing “Let’s Get it Started” blasting from the speakers letting everyone know that it’s time to head back into their seats. It was a little thing, but it motivated you, and the group collectively moved along in high spirits eager for the next session. With events now in the virtual realm, we must not forego these signs of event culture.
What style was your in-person event? Whatever it was … serious, calming, funky … bring that culture into your virtual events. Remind your audience of who you are and who they are by continuing to include the elements that defined you. Provide that sense of familiarity and engagement.
2021: So true. Some people have been away from their co-workers for a year! If you haven’t been actively aware of deepening your organization’s culture … start now! Don’t just use an event either … social media posts, direct email campaigns, and virtual happy hours are great ways to engage outside of a formal event.
Closing Thoughts
2020: Going virtual or hybrid isn’t the end of your event planning work. Instead, it’s an opportunity to reach more people and get creative in how you engage with your audience. The event industry is adapting and evolving rapidly. New and promising opportunities are emerging every day. You can adopt these emerging trends to make your event shine and achieve more than was possible before. Regardless of the circumstances, the event world continues to come together collaboratively as the show must go on – coming together to advance how we interact as people, learn, and engage with content.
2021: In-person events are starting to book again. There’ll be social distancing, extra sanitary precautions, and all the other stuff we’ve gotten used to. Budgets will need to be increased accounting for additional in-person needs but also for virtual workflows. Don’t be surprised to see a 30% or greater increase as everyone prepares to gather again.
At Encompass, we have unique backgrounds that situate us perfectly to produce high end and complex offerings. We’ve worked in broadcast television, touring entertainment, live sporting events, and countless convention facilities across the country.
We have technical design experience and a disciplined process in place that allows us to easily scale events and shift from in-person to virtual without angst. There isn’t much that’s beyond our scope and we love the intensity of putting on events!
If you’re a planner working to create an event, seeking help with virtual event technology, or simply want to learn more … we can help! Sign up below to receive our updates (we promise to keep your contact information secure and won’t “overshare”).