Before the pandemic, the notion of a Malaysian virtual event company could have seemed peculiar, but because of the challenges posed by COVID-19, it is no longer considered unusual. In fact, for a virtual event company, Malaysia, is a great location to operate in because there are plenty of supportive systems, solutions and players that comprise the virtual events industry.
Although face-to-face connection will always be important, there are times when going virtual is an inescapable part of your event strategy. But how can you transform a multi-day convention into a virtual event that includes networking opportunities, educational sessions, and attendee feedback? Virtual events require the same degree of attention and care as live events.
Both events necessitate you efficiently promoting the event, engaging your attendance, creating memorable moments for participants, and demonstrating event success. The location and on-site attendance are the only things missing. By thinking of online events as value-added, engagement-driven experiences instead of one-off lectures or webinars, you can create an event that reaches well beyond a computer screen.
Virtual event management involves a different set of skills than traditional event planning, including recording and broadcasting, as well as scriptwriting and dealing with new technologies. Many event planners feel they lack the necessary knowledge and experience to run successful online events. This might be extremely alarming, especially if the events are predicted to endure for an extended period of time. Is it sufficient to have good broadcast production abilities to deliver successful virtual events? Is it more about the audience's psychology or the technology?
Is it really as overwhelming as many people think? The great news is that most of these skills required of event planners already have been gained through live event production. As a result, they may easily be transferred to help with virtual production delivery. However, there are a number of other significant features and skills that can help with the efficient implementation of virtual events.
There are four main types of virtual events:
What is a webinar, exactly? Webinars typically last 45 to 80 minutes. Participants from all over the world can virtually join in and listen to one or more presenters present the topic during a webinar. Using online payment systems, businesses can charge guests to attend webinars or give them away for free. Video conferencing features are frequently used in webinars, allowing for Q&A, the ability to broadcast live or pre-recorded video, as well as the capacity to make the event available on-demand after the fact. Because of their one-time educational nature, webinars have excelled with 100% virtual participation. This might include both internal and external training.
Like in-person conferences, virtual conferences are built around a live, sophisticated schedule that comprises keynotes, discussions, breakout sessions, and more. Virtual conferences can include content from multiple sessions as well as opportunities for community participation. While virtual conferences aren't as effective as in-person events in generating leads and networking, they do permit attendees to watch keynotes in real time, design their own agenda from precise content, and interact with other participants.
This includes town halls, sale kick-offs, business events, training, departmental meetings, and other activities. When employees are not all gathered in the same location, internal hybrid events are utilised to transmit a message to the entire firm. This is especially true for organisations that span nations, if not continents. While flying all of your employees to your headquarters would be ideal, it would be excessively expensive and time-consuming to plan. Hosting partially in-person and partially virtual events is the next best option. Virtual team development exercises can assist internal hybrid events.
These get-togethers are for those who aren't linked with your business. There are also user conferences as well as industry conferences to consider. To ensure that virtual visitors receive the same amount of service as in-person attendees, these events require a higher level of video production. Attendees who are unable to travel to the meeting can still take part in these activities and learn new things. External hybrid events are more difficult to value since in-person attendees may interact more freely and engage with information more readily than virtual attendees.
Event planners must shift their perspectives. They're no longer effectively staging real-life events; instead, they're constructing a virtual one. Instead of coordinating an event, the event planner has developed into a producer who creates a programme. This strategy highlights several key distinctions that need to be addressed.
Delegates to a live event, for instance, may not be bothered if the schedule slips and runs behind schedule. After all, there are other delegates with whom they can speak. This is not the case with virtual productions, though. If things don't go according to plan, you risk losing delegates. To plan successful virtual events, the planner must have a production mindset. By watching a news programme or an internet chat show, you may see how people are kept entertained. Some of their techniques can be borrowed and applied to your virtual event.
Listening and data analysis skills have long been essential for live events, so an experienced planner should have no trouble incorporating them into a virtual production. Always keep an eye on the metrics, pay attention to what your audience wants, and seek to enhance the return on investment of your event.
During your fact-finding, determine how long participants are inclined to remain online, how they want content to be delivered, and any subtleties, like whether they want to do group networking. There are numerous signals of how to construct a superb virtual event when you take the time and effort to understand what your audience and statistics are telling you.
Event planners can envision how an event will turn out ahead of time. This is a skill you'll require for your virtual production. Recognize that not all information can be provided online, and you'll be miles ahead of the competition. Some actions are ineffective outright. Consider the following scenario: you're arranging a virtual conference, and one of your presenters wants to give a talk about group team development.
Your job as the virtual event producer is to figure out if the idea is viable and will improve the delegate experience. Recently, a speaker was discussing with tech firms about how they hadn't been able to find a solution for a group exercise he desired. In a physical situation, his workout is successful, but it would not work in a virtual setting.
Design is another vital skill for a good virtual production. Consider the length of the presentation, the usage of audience engagement devices, and, most importantly, the benefits to your audience. All of these skills are already recognisable to event planners. However, many people are concerned about the speed with which time evaporates when participating in virtual events.
You'll need to delve down into each session and design accordingly once you've decided on the major content aspects. Let’s say for instance that you have a half-hour slot for a session.
There must be an introduction from the host, time for the speaker to give their presentation, time for questions as well as polling, and time for the host to wrap up the session. The 30-minute timeframe suddenly appears to be rather tight. At this point, you must decide whether to extend the time limit or rearrange the meeting.
Event planners are already competent at dealing with minutiae when it comes to virtual events, but this knowledge is taken to a whole new level. There is still a lot of work to be done in terms of testing. When it comes to virtual events, there is no such thing as too much testing. The user experience must be evaluated across a variety of devices, internet browsers, and, of course, the latest versions of any apps. The use of web links and tools for audience engagement must also be thoroughly investigated. If you aren't totally conversant with polling, don't expect your attendees to figure it out.
While paying attention to the details isn't the most exciting component of a virtual producer's job, it is quite important. One of the easiest techniques to judge whether you are providing a great experience for your delegates is to sit in their chairs. Try it out and make adjustments before going live. Taking your time and paying attention to the details will greatly improve the quality of your event.
While guiding speakers may be a new skill for some, it is vital for virtual productions. A planner will usually let the presenters do their thing without intruding too much at live events. After all, the speaker is an expert, which the planner anticipates. The planner will have briefed the speaker, and that will be the end of the matter. Things can, however, go awry at any time. Speakers may go over time, ignore the audience, or spend far too much time talking about themselves, for example. In virtual production, none of those things can be tolerated.
Your speakers should be pointed in a specific direction. You'll need to write extensive speaker briefing notes. Your presenters are required to attend rehearsals with you. There's a lot more to consider: evaluating their presentation skills, how they appear on camera, sound quality, and where they're placed are just a few of the things that event planners must consider.
It's critical to have a backup plan for any event, but it's extremely critical for virtual production. What will you do if one of the speakers isn't visible or audible? What if they are unable to attend because of a personal tragedy? You're desperate for a solution, and you need it right now. One option is to have them prepare a pre-recorded presentation and send it in ahead of time. If you employ the services of a "virtual host," you can deal with such issues as they arise.
It's a good idea to anticipate any potential issues. However, not everything can be predicted. If you attend a live event, you may have more time to evaluate and resolve issues. In virtual manufacturing, however, you must be able to solve difficulties considerably more swiftly and in real time. Your viewers will lose interest and depart if you do not make rapid selections. Remember what we said about the TV production attitude before.
Send event attendees a follow-up email the next day, exactly as you would after a good meeting. It's crucial to follow up while the situation is still fresh in their thoughts. Event recordings, relevant information, next steps, or a calendar of upcoming events they can attend could all be included in the email. You might also want to include or send a survey to your visitors so that they can give you feedback anonymously. Although check-ins will be made during the event, attendees will be able to provide more honest feedback due to their anonymity.
Look for any interesting posts about your event or group on social media. Make sure to like the post, express gratitude to the visitor, and reshare if necessary. Your virtual event should provide you and your team with enough useful content. You can immediately start writing a recap post (or several) for social networks and your blog. Depending on the topic of your virtual event, you may be able to slice up the footage into microlessons. Ultimately, you may turn your event recording into a podcast (or a series of podcasts), which will allow you to reach a new audience.
Every project, in-person event, and the virtual event should have a post mortem. Whether you think your event was a success or not, it's critical to identify difficulties and areas for development. Take notes on how you can improve your event by watching it back. Invite coworkers and friends to witness the event and provide comments. Negative input, we believe, is valuable. But don't forget to acknowledge and applaud what went well. Last year, we discovered how to unleash human connection in virtual spaces, which was the biggest challenge for facilitation. You might believe that meaningful connections can only be made in close, face-to-face situations. Virtual events, on the other hand, can have a huge impact on your participants if they're done right.
Boom is an online event platform offered to anyone or any business, a stage to showcase and sell their products live to event attendees.
Learn more at: https://boom.rocks/
