The transition from in-person to virtual events is an exciting one. You have the chance to introduce new technology and interaction methods to your audience while also rebuilding your event experience through a digital platform. Alongside you are thousands of other businesses and organizations also planning their first virtual events. In a sudden market of virtual events, what strategies will make your events stand out?
There is a rising tide of virtual event trends. Some practices are quickly becoming common while others trail-blaze into new territory for their attendee’s virtual experiences. Let’s dive into five virtual event strategies that will rise above the tide to attract sponsors and give your attendees a unique event experience.
1. Virtual Event Attendance with 3D Tour Technology
Right now, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are booming trends. Audiences at home crave a more immersive experience, especially for destination events they were looking forward to attending. From conferences to weddings, virtual tours are valuable when the venue plays a large role in the guest experience.
Attendees don’t need a headset (or even a phone-mounting headbox) to enjoy them. 3D photography, computer rendering, and virtual tour technology have made it possible for remote attendees to literally explore and look around your event venue. This venue can be a real place, captured with 360-degree cameras, or you can even have a virtual world crafted instead.
Depending on your brand, you can custom-tailor your attendee’s remote experience by giving them a real (if virtual) venue to explore. Don’t worry about avatars and interaction yet … just create an immersive experience and integrate it with your remote event presentation design.
2. Have a Venue? Use Telepresence Drones
Another unique way to immerse your attendees is with telepresence drones. These rolling tablets include cameras and microphones. They can be remotely controlled by online attendees who are literally exploring a physical venue. With telepresence venues can continue to partner with organizations and vendors for an immersive event experience enjoyed by in-person and remote attendees.
3. Gamify Your Virtual Interface & Mobile App
Many organizations are transitioning to virtual platforms to host their events. Sticking to just video lessons, chatrooms, and webinars, however, leaves out the best part of a conference – the human connection and interactions. These are enhanced by games and interactive systems that bring attendees together. Conferences often feature fun games like raffles, contests, and interactive point systems to inspire teamwork and new friendships.
So gamify your event and online portal, especially if you are developing your own web and mobile interface for event attendees. Give out points for signing up and participating. Get your audience involved in raffles and have them vote on contests. Design a few simple industry-themed games to earn points with, then hand out and announce awards at the end for prizes like “Most Talks Attended” or “Trivia Challenge High Score.”
Your attendees will organically spread the word about your virtual event that bridged the gap between a conference and a video game.
4. Innovative Breakout Session Models
Breakout sessions are a classic event strategy where attendees break up into smaller groups and sub-events that can be joined. This makes sure that each group is more personalized to interests, intimate, and interactive. Virtual breakout sessions are just as important as in-person sessions.
Don’t just hold webinars that everyone can attend, keep your breakout plan in place with smaller chat groups and even shared hands-on virtual projects. Make use of your video chat and collaboration software to bring smaller groups together on focus topics and learning groups.
5. Remote Event Catering Treats
Last but not least, send food. Many events-gone-virtual are still sending out their swag bags to each virtual attendee. But what about the food? Many people especially look forward to event dining or sponsor treats when they attend a conference, symposium, or other organized gatherings. Instead of (or in addition to) sending a t-shirt and USB hub, send a delicious box of sponsored food swag. You can even conduct a survey ahead of time to send each virtual attendee the sponsored treats and booth food they’d been looking forward to.
Some events that traditionally offer a hosted dinner – like nonprofit fundraisers – are using delivery services (DoorDash, Grubhub, etc) to send real-time dinners to accompany the virtual event. Get creative and partner with local restaurants to enhance the experience of your local events.
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”).