Why is it important to hire a production partner for these virtual events?
If your goal is to broadcast a professional and polished event, having a partner you trust and understands your needs is critical. These days people are getting “zoomed out” and tired of sitting behind their computers on zoom meetings. Broadcasting a professional presentation will take things into account like changing the screen from live video to PowerPoint or adding supporting graphics to help keep attendees engaged. These little things make a big difference in the viewers (attendees) experience.
What platform do you recommend for virtual events?
The platform you use depends on the need. For example, will there be a need for attendee engagement (Q&A)? If you need live Q&A we may suggest using a different platform than if there is only a presentation and no engagement. Another thing to consider is how many speakers will be presenting…….will there be a panel discussion taking place? If so, are the panelists located in separate locations? The answers to those questions, will help us decide what platform to use. The top two platforms we have been using are Zoom and Vimeo. Both are great options.
What are some good attendee engagement options for virtual events?
Attendee engagement for virtual events is completely dependent on your attendee base. There are fun ways to host game shows, do trivia between sessions, run contests, etc. There are also educational focused ways to keep attendees engaged. Ask a set of questions before a breakout session and whoever answers the questions correctly is entered to win a prize. If your attendees enjoy happy hour, you could set up various breakout rooms and allow attendees to freely navigate between rooms and meet with industry friends over a cocktail.
When hybrid events come into play next year, will it be expensive to broadcast a live presentation to remote attendees?
The cost to broadcast from general session and breakout rooms for remote attendees is NOT difficult or all that more expensive than producing a live event. This too depends on the scope of program but the technical capability to do this is relatively easy to do. Having a production partner who knows how to do this and how to best work with the venue is key.
What are some good options for CEU credits that ensure attendees view the entire presentation?
When events are live, it’s easy to scan attendees in and out of sessions to ensure that they stay the entire time. When the presentation is virtual and attendees need to receive credits based on participation and attendance, it’s not as easy to ensure that they are not only present but also paying attention. A couple ways we’ve been handling this are running a set of codes throughout a presentation that attendees need to write down and turn in. For instance, we will flash a code at the start of a presentation (ABCD), then in the middle flash another set (1234) and flash a third set at the end (XYZ). The attendee must submit all 3 codes in order to get credit for a session. Also, a short quiz at the end of a presentation is another good way to ensure attendees are paying attention throughout. Finally, you can always take a roster list out of zoom and see when they log in and log off. That’s probably the easiest way but there is no way to tell if the attendee is actually paying attention.
