Virtual events offer a cost-effective way to hold business meetings and training sessions. They allow you to share your expertise with a larger audience before the event, then deliver the content to groups that can’t join you in person. You can interact with each participant as if you were meeting face-to-face and tailor your presentation for those who tune in.
However, virtual events pose challenges to speaker management, technological preparedness, and schedule management. The list of challenges doesn’t end here.
Find out all the common challenges you might encounter while planning a virtual event, along with some virtual event ideas that can mitigate them.
Finding The Right Venue
There are no physical walls to break down, but it is hard to connect attendees and speakers if they can’t see each other. Finding a venue that supports video conferencing and audio chat is key, as well as one that is open to you using its space at any time of day or night. The virtual world doesn’t have conventional business hours.
Securing Speakers
No matter what type of virtual event you’re organizing, securing top-notch speakers is one of your biggest challenges. They have limited availability and can cost a pretty penny—and if you’re trying to connect industry leaders, their price tags only go up. This means there’s a lot on your plate as an event organizer. Following tips can help you mitigate such and other commonly faced challenges.
An Economic Idea!
Offer something to your potential guests or speakers that they can’t refuse. It doesn’t necessarily have to be money, and it could also be free publicity for their company or even recognition for past achievements.
What makes it one of the most incredible virtual event ideas is that offering something enticing enough will entice them to come to speak at your virtual event, even though they may not have time or interest otherwise.
Keeping Attendees Engaged
Since virtual events are more challenging to follow than in-person events, you must find ways to keep attendees engaged. Here are some ideas:
- Take polls or surveys from audience members.
- Encourage them to share their thoughts and experiences with other participants.
- Hold online discussions on specific topics related to your industry.
Generating Good Conversations
Think about your target audience when it comes to virtual events. What kinds of questions and discussions will they want to have? You can also open a suggestion box for attendees who might not know what direction to take. This way, you’ll get quality conversations going from Day 1.
Just make sure you don’t let guests hijack all your time. Maybe allow them five minutes per hour to raise their hands and share their thoughts with you directly.
Getting Quality Sponsorships
If you don’t have funding for your event, sponsorships can help cover costs and add visibility to your conference. Getting solid sponsorship commitments is easier said than done.
You’ll need to offer incentives such as free booth space, print advertising, or even product giveaways to potential sponsors. Just be sure not to over-promise or under-deliver what these companies will get out of their relationship with you and your conference.
Planning For Reputation Management
Knowing how to respond to questions or potential problems before they arise can help keep things running smoothly throughout your entire event. This is especially important if you’re planning on live streaming your event.
Reputation management will prepare you for what might happen, how it might impact your reputation, and how you can recover quickly if anything negative happens at all during your virtual event.
Final Thoughts
Virtual conferences are rapidly growing in popularity as they offer people the chance to join the conversation from anywhere in the world, at any time. They can be cost-effective to organize and can cut down on travel time and costs for attendees.
With any event, there are always challenges to overcome. Whether you’re hosting an in-person event or a virtual event, the experience you’re providing your attendees is what ultimately matters.
