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Why Virtual?

Why Virtual?
Josh Harrison, Producer

Before we dig into the more technical stuff, I have to get this out of the way to be sure we’re all on the same page (No, my bosses did not make me write this).

Chances are, you’re reading this because you have something you need to distribute to an audience. It’s also possible that you are considering distributing it via a “virtual event”. Before we go any further I should clarify what I mean by virtual event. To me (YMMV*), a virtual event is a happening that people attend online or over the internet. This could mean a presentation, a meeting, a learning session, or a time and place to eat pizza together… virtually. The sky’s the limit! It’s also important to note that I personally think that the word “virtual” when applied to an event sounds a bit like we’re all going to play a game in a 3D environment so I will substitute the word “online” for “virtual”. Call me crazy, but it makes more practical sense to me.

In our case here at vConferenceOnline, the need for online events came about via conferences. Organizations usually have members and interested parties. These entities need a way to communicate with each other and share their information. In the old days what we now call “in person” conventions or conferences were organized in large cities where people would come from all over to take part in the “event”. This also applied to meetings, continuing education, and many other forms of organized events. This worked pretty well for many years.

In recent years event organizers have seen their “in person” attendance drop. People were busier than ever and their time and budgets were limited. A solution was needed… “Hey, what about the internet?” Online events were born. It became possible to include many more people in the events by offering a “virtual event” online to those who could not come to the “in person” event.

Today, some choose to do online events alongside in person events. Some do them at separate times, and others do online only. There are many factors (which we will discuss in future articles) to consider when deciding HOW you will do your event. Overall, the main reason WHY you should do an online event is to widen your audience options. From there the rest starts to make more sense.

In the next article I’ll discuss types of events and how you might choose what is right for you.

*Your mileage may vary

Sessions, Content and Your Attendees

Some keys to great virtual conferences, webcasts and e-learning courses. It’s all about the presentation and a great environment to take it all in.

For your event, you will be working on determining the best possible mix of how-to and promotional materials. It’s this mix that will drive the success of future events, will drive expectations of this and future events and will help your attendees make the most of your sessions…

“But wait, I’m not selling stuff at my event!”

Sure, you might not be selling goods and services directly, but you are selling, at the very least, your event. Your services. Your next event. Your content. You are “selling” because you have to convince people it’s worth it to spend their time on your event. It’s critical to keep in mind that you have to earn their time and attention. They call it “spending time” and “paying attention” for a reason after all.

A couple of quick tips on putting together sessions.

Speaker Intros, Bios and Contact Info
Speakers should focus on the meat of the session. By this I mean that speakers should avoid bragging about their accomplishments, should avoid talking about their products (unless the session is clearly a demo-based session of course). Instead, consider having an event host that talks about and introduces the speaker. Spend 60-90 seconds at the start of the session to outline the presenter’s qualifications and their background, projects and how to contact them (and whether they’re available for consulting/gigs/etc.).

At the end of the presentation, consider coming back in the session and thanking the speaker, again offering contact info. Using these two informational points (the intro and exit points), you can show that the speaker is authoritative, you give the audience a handle on the presentation so they know what to expect. In addition, the audience knows you won’t be talking forever about the presenter, it’ll be a quick intro, then into the meat of the presentation. It let’s them know they’re not wasting their time or attention.

Content (content, content, content)
It’s far better to have an information-packed 20 minute session than a too-long-for-the-content 60 minute session. Attendees are much more concerned with excellent information, tips, experiences and real-world information than they are with filling an allotted time slot. Make sure your speakers are keeping presentations on track and that the attendees can take in and use the information as quickly as possible.

In today’s “short attention span theater” type world, it’s critical to give points that can be used immediately, while also giving direction and food for thought type guidance for looking a bit more to the future.

It can also help to follow the rule of:

Tell them what you’ll be telling them
Tell them what you want to tell them
Tell them what you told them

This lets you present what you’ll be talking about – then the topic at hand. Wrap it up with a summary and touch on the key points and attendees will have a great opportunity to really ingest the information you’re presenting.

It’s About the Attendees
No matter if you’re producing a virtual event for sponsors, for continuing education, best practices, tips, tricks or something else entirely, it’s about the attendees. They need to be able to get the most from your content and speakers. If you don’t have attendees for your virtual event (webcast, webinar, virtual conference or online learning course), you’ll have a hard time continuing with the virtual event in the future.

Content (and presentation) truly is king.

Introduction from The Producer

Why Virtual?
Josh Harrison, Producer

Introduction
As a provider of virtual events, the company I work for has a vested interest in putting “the right foot forward” in these articles. That is my disclaimer and I’m sticking to it. On the other hand as a technical staff member for said company I am able to offer a slightly less marketing/sales perspective on the whole thing. Which may be why my wise bosses asked me to write this in the first place. You’ll probably find these articles to be mostly about the “production” side of producing events. Which is where most questions arise once the overall concept is understood.

Just a little info about me so you get where I am coming from. I love all things technology, digital and analog. I grew up taking things apart and putting them back together (although sometimes as different things). When digital became a reality it opened a whole new world of possibilities for taking things apart and putting things together (although sometimes as different things). I started playing with machines when I was young. Coming from a musical background, I enjoyed the engineering side of audio. This lead to enjoying the engineering side of video. All of that lead me to where I am now with vConference Online as a content producer for video.

Now a little history on vConferenceOnline. Founded by Stephen Wynkoop, our parent company, Bits on the Wire, was working on a project for a community site we own known to the Database world as SSWUG.org. We wanted a way to share all of the technical knowledge from our partner experts in a way that was intriguing and interesting. Further, we had learned that people like to watch way more than they like to read (exceptions to every rule of course… as you are reading this). We decided to take what were daily audio podcasts and make them into a video show, “Like TV” said Stephen with a twinkle in his eye.

That’s where it all started back in 2006. Online video was just starting to poke it’s head out along with the infrastructure to support it. What we found in that particular space of technical learning was a lot of telephoned in audio and slide presentations, with little to no production value. We set out to change the way techy’s take in their techness. We said, “Let’s take broadcast level production and merge it with top end IT knowledge. People will love it!” So we started with a small camera, a green screen and a lot of really hot lights. The first virtual event we did was in Spring of 2008. We had 1 camera, a plasma screen with slides, and a huge desire to show the world that technical presentations didn’t have to be mind numbing. 1 year later we had grown from 1 10×20 foot room to a 4500 sq ft office with 2 full studios. Then we had another great idea (pat selves on back)… “We have this platform for virtual events built, why not let the rest of the world in on it?” That’s where vConferenceOnline was born. The whole premise behind our virtual event platform was to offer HD video with supporting materials like slides rather than offer slides with supporting thumbnail video. We built studios with one purpose, to allow presenters to show their computer screens and slides while making a connection to their audience via the camera. “Like TV” said Stephen with a twinkle in his eye.

Many events, clients and features later, we feel we have one of the best (if not THE best) platform for online events. In this series of articles I’m hoping to walk you through the production side with a tiny bit of marketing and sales on the What, Why and How of virtual events. Stick with me, this is going to have a lot of quotation marks and parenthesis.

Encouraging Interaction During the Virtual Conference or Webcast

One of the biggest challenges during an event, whether it’s a webcast or a virtual conference or… whatever you may be doing, is keeping the attention of your attendees. After all, Facebook beckons!

There are many things you can do – but you need a good mixture of options. Some people love taking in the video, others want to follow along with slides, still others want related tasks. One idea that can help is email during the event. Keep in mind that your attendees have many things on their respective plates. Chances are, they’re keeping track of their email as well.

You can play to this a bit by sending out emails with additional information during the event. Perhaps an email to those that are in a specific meeting at the time, or to those that visit a booth. You can use email touches to provide quick tidbits and suggestions – perhaps additional tips, best practices or other ideas that go in line with the presentation. You can even link to specific assets in the event and let them download them. These emails are great touch points for offering check lists and other items that support the materials presented.

What you’re looking for are reasons to keep the attendee engaged. A little tidbit here, a tidbit there and they will begin to really see additional value from related elements in the event. This is really helpful when the sessions build on one-another as well. Perhaps send out a session track map – one that shows how the current session will lead into another, with a preview of what to expect.

The key is to make sure the attendee knows all they can get from your virtual conference or webcast/webinar. Many times people are so caught up in getting into the event and getting settled, then getting distracted, that they don’t realize they can get slides, can watch a short, related video or that there is a method to the madness of the session schedule.

This is also a great time to have the email include information about sponsors in a subtle way. It’s more of a product placement logo footer than a “Go check out our sponsor” type message, but it’s valuable and reinforces the brands associated with your event.

Pre-Event Teasers

When you set up your event, you’ll be creating the information pages – the pages that people will use to find out more about your event. Typically these include information about the event, registration, speaker information and sessions.

One of the areas you can make a big difference in your attendee’s perception and expectations for the event is the Thank You page. It’s often missed because it actually comes after the registration is completed.

Add Video for Great Impact
After the attendee has registered, take them to a page that shows them information about the event, their confirmation and, typically, behind the scenes an email is sent out that confirms their registration.

You can increase the marketing impact though if you also include a link in that confirmation email to real, usable information. Give them a taste of what the event has in store. Put together a short, 2-5 minute video and provide a small take-away of what they can expect. Of course make sure you also talk about your presenters, the sponsors (if you have them) and so-on – that helps solidify the event in the attendee’s mind.

The key to the video is to put it on a page that is only accessible by having a direct link (like from the confirmation email). But the trick is to suggest sharing the link to the video with others that may be interested in the event. This can help build buzz, provide a reason for sharing and more.

Provide Follow-Up
Follow-up with your attendees – you can provide additional information about the event, the speakers, new speakers and/or sponsors you’ve added, contests you’ll be holding, etc. Make your attendees part of the evolution of your event during the deployment of different pieces.

As with the Thank You video above, consider making the follow-up a short video – make it share-ready (even on YouTube or Facebook if desired) so they can let others know about the event. Short, sweet and personable – provide a tip or two and suggest they share it if it sounds like something others would enjoy as well.

Both of these items, taken together, provide great outreach, provide reasons to share for your attendees and at the same time validate that they’ve elected to register for and attend a great event.

5 Steps To Planning an Online Event

When you get started with your first event, there are a few things you’ll want to make sure you have considered as you get things rolling.

Why are you doing this event?
Who will be your audience (and therefore, what type of content will attract them)?
Who will be your speaker(s)?
Do you want sponsors? If so, who will your sponsors be?
How will you market your event to your potential attendees?

Why Are You Doing the Event?

This question is key because it will drive your choices for all of the others. Your typical choices are 1) to generate awareness of your brand, product and/or service, 2) to generate sales, 3) to generate leads, or 4) to create dedicated fans of your products and/or services. These choices impact the type of sessions you’ll want to have in your virtual conference. It’s a simple thing after deciding this, then, to drive the content agenda and make your selections for what will best serve your attendees, speakers and sponsors for your virtual event.

Keep in mind that no matter what reason you have for doing the event, no one wants to come simply to attend a sales presentation. Make sure you have good materials and informative presentations with worth-while information. Work with your presenters to produce good information that includes how-to instruction, tips, tricks, and lessons learned. This not only gives the attendees a solid take-away from the sessions in your virtual event, but also establishes the speaker’s knowledge.

Who Will Your Audience Be?
Determining your audience will drive the types of content that you’ll need to present in your sessions for your event. For example: if the audience is of a managerial level, you’ll want to have information on that level that they can use. Putting out information on the nuts and bolts might be less useful while how to manage or help others that you’re working with may be more interesting to these types of folks.

Try thinking about a “model” attendee or attendees. This means trying to think of an imaginary person that represents your target attendee. Use this model person to drive your decisions on content, duration of your event and so-on. You can have more than one, but limit the number of model attendees to two or three. This can keep the scope from becoming too broad for your event.

Some areas to consider (as examples):

What types of information would be most helpful to your model attendee(s)?
What level of information (think on a college course scale, 100, 200, 300) should be presented?
What would make the virtual conference a truly excellent experience? “If only I could learn about…“

Cater your content to that model attendee.

Who Will Be Your Speakers?
Speaker selection is a key element to the marketing of your virtual conference. People are very interested in coming to hear from people that have “been there, done that.” In studies completed by vConferenceOnline, attendees were more interested to hear from real-life experiences and less interested in presenters that relied solely on their name recognition. Of course the best of all worlds is a speaker that will talk from experience and knowledge, while at the same time being well-known in the industry.

Do You Want Sponsors?
If so, this adds a layer of complexity, but certainly helps to pay for the event as well. Make sure your sponsors are closely related to the topic at hand. If you’ll be doing a virtual conference in the B2B marketplace about a technology idea, having a sponsor talking about planting a garden might not be the best fit. People do look at the sponsors to get a feel for the types of information that will be presented, so seeing sponsors in the same field and in related areas is optimal.

Consider having multiple packages available for sponsorships. You can offer “Bronze,” “Silver,” and “Gold” packages for example. Each level can and should have different price points and features. Perhaps one is a logo-only and the top package includes a sponsored session in the virtual conference. You should work closely with your virtual event platform provider to determine best package ideas for your audience, but typical considerations include elements available to attendees, access to attendee marketing lists, logo placement and promotion before, during and after sessions as the event progresses.

How Will You Market Your Event?
The final piece will help determine the attendee-success of your event. You should take careful stock of how you’ll market the event. This will typically include your different sources of attendee information:

Email lists
Snail-mail lists
Social media (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc.)
Other customer lists
Partner lists and customer contacts

You can use this to determine your target, and lay out a marketing plan. You’ll want to make sure you provide excellent information about your virtual event, provide a taste of the virtual conference platform and show people what to expect at the event. A sample video with the platform and the sessions is helpful, as can be an introductory video from a key presenter or two. Keep it short and sweet and make sure that people understand what they’ll get (remember: you defined the target attendee and what they’d want from the event above in a prior section) when they attend your virtual conference.

Target your contacts as much as possible, reach out to people with a well thought-out message and offer and you can be amazed at how people will respond to excellent content and participants for your virtual event.

Have a great virtual conference event!

Events, Conferences, Continuing Education and More

Understanding Different Types of Events
I realize that the name of our platform might lead some to think that we only do conferences online. However, there are so many different kinds of events that you can create with any online event platform.

Conferences
These may be the most popular and well known types of events simply because there are so many and they generally happen in every area of interest. From finances to comic books, there are people with like interests that need to gather and communicate. For the most part these consist of keynote sessions to start off and general sessions combined with a show floor or exhibition hall for vendors to tout their offerings to attendees.

Depending on the area of interest you’re probably going to a conference for the sessions or the exhibits. A subgroup to conferences would be shows or exhibition events for vendors. The attendees at these events only represent a very small portion of the actual audience for their topics. Many can’t get away from their daily lives or simply can’t afford to travel and attend.

Continuing Education (CE)
This is also a very popular type of event. In most professional industries there is some sort of CE implemented to keep pros up to date. There are requirements and standards that must be met to qualify for these CE credits. Professionals are usually busy, and time is money, so fitting in travel or even leaving the office for CE is usually a struggle.

Training
Training events are usually done on a smaller scale in person. There will be an instructor going over hours if not days worth of courseware with a select group of people. Some training programs will do a circuit or tour run to try and reach as many people in different locations as possible. Still, the reach is limited and you have an instructor repeatedly delivering material to a small audience. This requires higher registration prices due to trainer costs and can eliminate some potential trainees due to travel or costs.

Promotions
Marketers have long been creating events to attract attention to their product or services. A company may be releasing a new product and they want to tell the press or educate potential customers/clients. In many of these situations these are small events that require their attendees to travel.

If you are starting to see the trend, you’ll see the advantages of Online Events. Factor in time and costs for travel, food, lodging and attendance charges and you may see why in person events have seen a decline in attendance.

One final tip: give the people what they want. In today’s world, individuals and businesses are accustomed to instant gratification. Everything is at their fingertips thanks to the internet. If your information isn’t easily available to the world they will find another option as quickly as type, point and click. The good news is all of these events and more can be done online.