Category: Planning

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.

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.

  1. Why are you doing this event?
  2. Who will be your audience (and therefore, what type of content will attract them)?
  3. Who will be your speaker(s)?
  4. Do you want sponsors? If so, who will your sponsors be?
  5. 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!