Corporate Virtual Events: Easy or Hard?

The level of difficulty really is based on the knowledge/know how you or your team members have available to execute. Virtual events are new to most so there will be a learning curve involved in execution. Consider the capabilities of your staff to onboard a new skill to help execution.

So is it easy?

Well, with any event the most important element that determines its success is planning. Virtual Events may seem a bit easier to plan as some elements are removed from consideration such as catering, decor, venue (to an extent) and accommodation costs. But the remaining factors now require adapting to the virtual space – videography will now become streaming, your content now has to be tailored for online delivery and your speakers now have to bring their energy levels through a screen rather than feed off of the energy in a full room. You will now have to “hold your attendees hands” and help them through the transition of attending an online event through communication – education/information.

It’s important to know that there are some factors that immediately help ease you into your next virtual corporate event. You should definitely know the objective(s) of your event and then be clear on what you need to happen during the event (the content of the event). These two factors will then determine the scale at which your event needs to be executed and how the variables we compared will factor in.

What you should additionally consider is other elements such as the level of engagement you wish to have at the event i.e. how do you wish for attendees or stakeholders to actively participate. Half of the work is done once you have established the foundation on which to build your event (objectives & content).

Our breakdown above covered 6 areas which we think are standard across the different types of events. Whilst they are not the only areas, they are the main ones to be considered in your decision to go virtual.

1. EVENT STRATEGY

   Developing the Who, What, When, Why and How of your event.

2. EVENT PLATFORM

   The “online venue” for your event. Where will your attendees to be logging into to attend the event? What services will you be using to stream. We discussed options in another blog here: Virtual Event Platforms – Pros and Cons

3. PUBLIC RELATIONS & COMMUNICATIONS

   Going virtual most likely means it’s new experience for your attendees therefore a bit more information will need to be shared to help understand how the event is going to be rolled out and what is expected of attendees, and what they can expect. Their experience therefore starts before the event day.

4. MARKETING

   As a support to PR & Comms, particularly for paid events, the information included in your marketing strategy will have to be intentionally curated to share information on and around the virtual event experience.

5. ATTENDEE ENGAGEMENT

   How are attendees (and other stakeholders) going to interact during the event. Apart from the popular Q&A and polling – do you wish for your attendees to be able to work together in groups, network with each other one on one, engage with sponsors & exhibitors directly?

6. EXECUTION

   Based the details of your event, the level of execution required will vary. Will you be streaming from one location with some or all of your speakers? Is it simple enough for all stakeholders to also be virtual and deliver effectively. Do you need external resources or can your team handle everything?

We trust that this helps bring some clarity on helping you decide how to take your event online. We have had the opportunity to execute a variety of virtual events. This has been adding so much to our experience, that has allowed us to formulate the basic guidelines on how they can be executed.

If you’re still feeling overwhelmed or lost, reach out to us for your next corporate event. Click the button below for more on our Virtual Event Services and how we can support you on your next corporate event.