Moving from live to virtual events

We have seen a huge shift from live events to virtual or hybrid events in the last few months. There will always be obvious fails like Mayweather v McGregor and some spectacular wins like Travis Scott with Fortnite. Most will fall somewhere in the middle.

We have worked on several hybrid experiences over the last few years with Vodafone, Genever and 53 Degrees North so we feel well placed to work with our existing clients to deliver their virtual experiences.

Here’s a few things we would like to share with you if you are considering running a virtual or hybrid event:

Livestream or Pre Record?

Livestreaming is often the backbone of virtual events, and it can be a very effective way to replace in-person presentations and sessions. However, there are other approaches that may work for your event, depending on your goals and the scale of the event. For example, Adobe decided to forego live streams for their recent Summit and went the prerecorded route instead.

What prerecorded sessions may lack in real-time engagement they make up for in production value, as they benefit from the ability to be edited or enhanced. This can greatly improve certain speakers' performances. They also eliminate many common challenges of virtual events, such as planning around different time zones and connectivity issues during the event.

They also minimize people getting bored and tuning out of the live stream. Adobe uploaded the event's content to their custom web platform on the day of the event, and from there, viewers were — and still are — able to choose to watch whatever sessions they wanted, whenever they wanted. This allowed each person to personalize their own experience and interact with the content that would bring them the most value on their own time.

Adobe's event sessions are available online completely free of charge, which allows for maximum viewing. However, if you choose to charge for your event, you could also follow a similar format while implementing a paywall or registration page before granting attendees access to the content.

One thing to note if you decide to go this route is that, with people viewing the content on their own time, you’ll want to erect forums or schedule specific times for Q&As and networking sessions where people can connect about the topic and continue the dialogue.

Make it Immersive

While many virtual events are implementing virtual expo booths and networking tools, the SBC Digital Summit scheduled for next week will be taking these elements one step farther by designing their virtual space based on a physical conference center.

For example, the home screen from which attendees can access the different parts of the event is named Lobby and features a background of a convention center lobby. Similarly, the Networking Lounge feature looks like an actual lounge with chat windows that attendees can interact with.

Although not quite VR, these environments will allow attendees to feel familiar aspects of event spaces through the virtual format instead of just clicking through screens and videos that all look the same. Using design elements to give your event a unique look and feel will help set your event apart and serve to distinguish various spaces within the event as well.

Media Training

You wouldn’t hop up on stage in front of 10,000 people without some form of presentation training. You certainly wouldn’t appear on TV without media coaching. Why do people persist in speaking at virtual experiences without the correct training?

We have no idea. It’s one of the first pieces of advice we give our clients. We work with them closely on their messaging, presentation and how they appear on screen. In a world where you are watching from home distractions are plentiful so it’s vital to stay succinct and keep people engaged. And let’s remember that the camera is always rolling…

You can find out more about virtual and hybrid events here.

Thanks to Events Manager Blog for the additional content.