July 16, 2020 | By Lindsay Crafford
While hosting day-long virtual conference
during social distancing protocols presents obvious logistical challenges,
believe it or not, it can be done.
In fact, hosting a virtual conference these
days can actually present a real opportunity for businesses. Because more and
more industries are looking for support and connection, providing a forum for
discussion and growth can help build and maintain relationships that last well
beyond the pandemic.
So if you’re considering an all-day long
virtual conference for your company, here are seven things you need to know to
make it work.
1. Create and share
the agenda beforehand
For virtual events that are going to be
several hours long, having an agenda allows attendees to prioritize the
sessions and speakers they’re most interested in. They also effectively
illustrate the event’s overall value.
2. Ensure a seamless
registration experience
Registration for your virtual event is key,
since you’ll want all your attendees to be able to sign up and access your
event with total ease. Email is the best way to promote your webinars and
continue the conversation long after the live event ends.
At GoToWebinar, we’ve found that 73% of our webinar registrations typically come from
email. We use email to attract our webinar audience, then use it to
nurture prospects through the funnel. So remember: webinar success hinges on an
effective email strategy.
3. Optimize your
speakers’ virtual environments
Reach out to your speakers ahead of time to
discuss where they’re planning to join the webinar from. If necessary, provide
them with the hardware required to produce a professional-looking stream
consistent with the rest of your event’s agenda.
Unless they’re an experienced full-time remote
worker, an exhibitor is unlikely to have a professional studio setup in their
home. But with a decent USB microphone, an external camera, and a simple
backdrop, they can still lead a highly interactive session.
4. Conduct a dry run
With so many possible points of failure,
you’ll likely run into a few technical hitches when organizing a virtual conference.
To avoid this on the day of, have your speakers run through their presentations
ahead of time as much as possible. Don’t assume your guests are tech-savvy.
Test equipment and Internet connection speeds, and identify solutions and
backup plans should things go south.
5. Use social media
During a lengthy virtual conference, social
media platforms like Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are where
conversations between attendees are most likely to take place. Lead the charge
and create an atmosphere of sharing by establishing an event hashtag, and
encourage your speakers and attendees to use it.
6. Take plenty of
breaks to allow attendees to socialize and network
Social distancing makes it more difficult to
be, well, social – but this doesn’t mean a virtual conference can’t offer the
same networking opportunities you’d find at an in-person event.
Platforms such as GoToWebinar and GoToTraining
come with comprehensive features that empower engagement during sessions, as
well as the ability to break out* into smaller groups with other attendees.
Learn to leverage these tools, and you’ll find that virtual conferences can be
just as effective as in-person events at bringing people together.
*Breakout feature only available in
GoToTraining.
7. A.B.E (Always Be
Engaging!)
Create opportunities to interact with
attendees through live Q&A sessions as well as tools like polls,
activities, or even quizzes. Remember that you’re competing for people’s
attention at all times, and by inviting viewers to participate rather than be
passive, you’ll ramp up engagement while creating additional content.
Try inviting attendees to submit suggestions
or questions ahead of sessions, and then address those submissions as the
session comes to an end. People who ask questions are far more likely to stick
around to hear them answered.
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