How to Host the Perfect Virtual Event
Event Anywhere Team
Virtual events are becoming increasingly common in this day and age. No matter what sector you work in, if your job demands interacting with other people, you’ll need to attend and host online events.
Many things can go wrong in a virtual event and while we cannot control certain factors, others are avoidable with a little planning and preparation.
Let’s find out how to host virtual events without hiccups and glitches.
Know your platform
Gone are the days when virtual events were synonymous with Zoom meetings. Now we can host anything from a musical event to an educational conference on platforms customized for those purposes. That makes it even more difficult for hosts since it is not possible to be equally acquainted with each platform.
The solution lies in doing your research, checking out features, and figuring out the common problems. You also need to know how to troubleshoot common problems. After you use the platform, read about it, and explore the options, you’ll be much better prepared to organize a virtual event on it.
Don’t overlook trials
You cannot know what could go wrong with a platform until you actually use it. Dozens of things can go wrong at every stage, and we may not expect most of them. The only way to find out is through trial runs.
On the other hand, unsuccessful trial runs can cause a great deal of last-minute anxiety. Nobody would want that before an important event. Here again, you can do yourself a favor and check the ins and outs of your platform. The more you know before the trials, the smoother they will be.
Have a detailed plan (with room for errors)
The sad truth of virtual events, or any event, is that things can go wrong even with the best preparation. But that does not mean you should leave it fate and do nothing. A detailed plan, with dedicated segments for mishaps, can keep your event running no matter what.
Your virtual event planning needs to be more specific than what you would do for physical events. In the latter, there is enough scope for improvisation and last-minute changes. In virtual events, unfortunately, small errors can bring the entire event to a standstill. To ensure that does not happen to you, know all the things that can go wrong, and have a plan to deal with them if and when they arise.
Make your speakers comfortable
You might do all the necessary prep at your end, but the speakers are by no means compelled to do the same. Instead of being mad at them for being irresponsible, consider making them comfortable with the platform and tell them the key pointers that they should know. You can also acquaint your speakers with things that can go wrong and how you plan on dealing with them. When the speakers understand these basic steps, your work will become much easier.
Engage with audience
Virtual events are difficult places to engage with an audience. One wrong step and your event will turn into a chaotic mess. At the same time, not engaging with the audience will make your event a failure. The solution is to arrive at a middle ground, where you engage with the audience while maintaining decorum.
A good option is to have the audience submit their responses via text instead of audio/video. That makes the event much less chaotic, and your speakers will get the chance of speaking without interruption. Have a dedicated session for audience engagement that you can filter beforehand with the text information you already have.
Ensure post-event content availability
The best thing about virtual events is that the content stays even after the conference ends. With proper transcripts, timestamps, and annotations, you can turn your virtual event into valuable content. That will help with both promotions of future events and asynchronous audience engagement.
Hosting virtual events can be difficult, but if you follow the simple steps above, it can make your virtual event more seamless.
Event Anywhere is an all-in-one virtual events platform and has all the features and functionalities needed to make your future events a success. Contact us to arrange a demo.