How To Plan Virtual Events

Virtual events are here to stay, majorly as a fallout of the COVID 19 Pandemic. Many companies and organizations find themselves organizing and hosting virtual events. To make a virtual event successful requires a lot of planning and effort to engage the participants remotely. 

Virtual events include webinars, online meetings, and shows. You must be careful to plan these events as strategically as you would plan a face-to-face event. Sometimes virtual events require more strategic planning than physical events, with keen attention to detail.

Types of Virtual Events

It is important to identify the types of virtual events before setting out to plan them.

1. Webinars

Webinars are short online events, starting from 5 minutes for a short talk to anywhere around 60 to 90 minutes. Attendees from every part of the world can join a webinar and gain from speakers at the event. Sometimes some organizations charge the attendees for the webinar events. The video conferencing tools used for webinars make it possible for attendees to ask questions and receive answers, making it a great method for training.

2. Virtual Conference

These conferences usually feature engagement tools to keep the audience busy. They are held in real-time, with attendees having access to the contents being shared. 

3. Hybrid Events

These events could be internal or external. Internal hybrid events could be town hall meetings for all employees in all locations. External hybrid events include people from outside the organization.

Virtual Events Planning

Before the event, certain things need to be put in place to ensure that it is successful. 

• Event Promotion: Getting people excited about the upcoming event will set the tone for the day. Ensure to get the word out as much as possible. Tell people what to expect from the events, and highlight the keynote speakers that will be present at the event. You can also use your website as a tool to promote the event as this is usually where most people will be visiting to get information.

• Get a good Registration Tool: After deciding to attend the event, people would need to register. This is a great way to capture the data of our attendees. Ensure that your registration tool is very effective and captures all the information you want. It should also redirect attendees to where they can make payments if payment is required.

• Engage Attendees: Using the information you gather from registration, engage attendees before the event. You can use email marketing for this.

• Engage Keynote Speakers: Ensure that you choose the best keynote speakers for your virtual events, and engage them before the main event.

• Choose the right technology tool: This is a very important decision to make because your conferencing tool will either make the event a success or not. Ensure that the features of the video conferencing tool you want to use meets all the events requirements, and will encourage maximum participation.

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