Author: Liz Latham, MeetingsNet
Face-to-face events benefit from the personal touch. Here’s how to ensure your virtual events do, too.
In mid-March, everything changed. Since then, I’ve spent my days running remote advisory councils, remote Haute Dokimazo (my company) strategy sessions, remote HD(x) events, and consulting with people on virtual experiences. (If you need Zoom tips, I’m kind of an expert now—give me a shout!) I’ve joined a couple of virtual events as well, and a few were awesome…but most of them have been unbearable information dumps.
After gathering feedback from these events, I wanted to share my top 10 ways to make your virtual events not suck.
10. The Welcome
The welcoming moments of the attendee experience are just as vital to the online experience as they are at your in-person event. Have some background music, have trivia wallpaper going, and have someone welcome people either through chat or voice-over as they join to let them know they have been noticed and you’re glad they’re here.
9. Staff Correctly
This isn’t a one-person show. Virtual events are a team sport. If you have breakout rooms, you need a room administrator in each room. You need a host/emcee to welcome everyone, and you need a host/administrator to “personably” manage the technical aspects of the experience for the attendees (this is a combination of customer support and technical administration). And have an extra room administrator in case one of the primary folks lose internet connection; ditto if you have notetakers in the rooms. Have a few extra people!
