Coordinating a virtual event. Sounds easy right? Just take the timeline from your annual event, skip the décor, food & beverage and present it from home. Heck – you don’t even need to wear pants if you don’t want to.
Easy right?
Wrong.
An engaging and successful virtual event that will keep your attendee’s attention is not a simple task. Achieving your event goals while competing with Zoom fatigue and all the distractions your attendees will face at home takes skill and purposeful planning.
What can you do to impact the success of your virtual event?
- Work with an Audio Visual company with experience in virtual events. Professional AV always comes with a price, but missing the mark on how your event is executed is a price we promise you do not want to pay. Investing in AV results in smooth transitions, increased flexibility for live and pre-recorded presentations, and most importantly, a polished and professional experience for your attendees. Negotiate a minimum of two rehearsals into your contract to ensure your presenters are feeling confident. This will also help you iron out any wrinkles before you go live. Trust us – you’ll be grateful you partnered with a professional AV company for your virtual event.
- Build Your Event in Small Segments. It is imperative that you shorten the portions of your event into bite sized pieces. A virtual event program demands frequent host check-ins, a variety of presenters and an array of visual content. These act as a palate cleanser for the ears, eyes and brain. Keynotes should speak no longer than 10 minutes, award presentations should last no longer than 2 mins, and a panel should speak on one topic for no more than 4 minutes before inserting a brain break to reset your attendee’s focus. Idea alert – running fun Trivia Games with great prizes between segments will keep your attendees hooked – especially if the answers to the trivia are leaked out during the presentation content.
- Hire an Experienced Host. Connecting to attendees through a screen is significantly different than connecting to attendees from a stage. It’s a specialized skill, and it is guaranteed that your host will have a huge impact on the overall engagement of your event. Use social media to locate experienced Emcees – many, like Roger Haskett are posting video content regularly which will give you a first hand experience of how they will connect through the screen. Choosing a host with experience in television broadcasting is a fantastic option as well. These individuals have made a career at connecting to people in their homes and through a screen. Their skills are hard to match.
There are a lot of details and expertise that go into coordinating and executing a successful virtual event. While we can not wait to get back to planning in person events (when it is safe to do so) for now, we are living in the world of virtual events. And who knows – if we continue to execute engaging, entertaining and successful virtual events, we may see the demand continue long after this pandemic is behind us.
Laura Warren, Event Production Manager
