Virtual events have become a very popular choice for event managers as an interim solution to the travel and socialisation restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic. For many event managers, it is an entirely brand-new world and even for those who are not new to virtual events, you’re fighting for virtual time against all the millions of video calls happening every day.

So, what can you do to make sure your event is the best possible experience for your delegates and your speakers? You can choose an experienced virtual events provider to support you.

Every great virtual event needs the following

• Reliable, easy to use platform
• Audio-visual equipment for speakers
• Audience engagement
• Registration management
• Technical support for delegates

All of the above takes time and can be difficult to master alone. Today I’d like to take you through why you should choose a virtual events solution provider to assist with your virtual events.

1: Virtual Events Platform

This is the foundation of your event. There are many different virtual event platforms out there. From Zoom to Webex, but what you will find is that some organizations don’t allow a particular platform. If your delegate list is filled with these organizations, then you won’t have a great attendance rate and your stakeholders will not be happy.

A good virtual events solution provider will include an event platform that has full cross-platform capability which means that delegates can join from whatever platform they are most comfortable with and that is allowed within their organization.

In addition to being able to join from anywhere, delegates will want the platform to be reliable. I’m sure you have experienced it when you’re attending a virtual event and the app freezes or fails to load and you know your internet connection is stable. It can be very frustrating so a reliable and robust platform is essential.

Easy to use and intuitive are another two words you should associate with your virtual events platform provider. You’ll never hear a delegate compliment you on an overly complex and hard to navigate offering.

2: Audio Visual Equipment for Speakers

To really make your event stand out, invest in some audio-visual equipment for your speakers. Not only will they be seen and heard better, but they will feel more professional and energised by setting up the equipment and knowing that they are being supported and not left to fend for themselves. To step it up again, you could hire a small meeting room in the speaker’s home location and set that up as a studio with green screens, lighting, and more. This may even allow the speakers to feel like they are on stage and give them room to move around which will, in turn, keep the delegates’ attention better.

A good virtual events provider will be able to assist you with not only the equipment but also the logistics of getting to the speaker and assisting with set up.

3: Audience Engagement

Audience engagement is essential at a live event and even more so during a virtual event. This is for two reasons. It is easy to get distracted when you’re sitting at a computer watching an event and no one is checking to see if you are listening. And it is easy for a speaker to lose momentum when they aren’t getting instant feedback from their audience. We’ve written a whole blog post on what to do to keep your audience engaged so you can check that out here.

A good virtual events provider will help you to incorporate and facilitate your audience engagement efforts and encourage interaction from the attendees.

4: Registration Management

Managing the registration of delegates and responding to delegate queries is a time-consuming task and can take you away from more important items such as marketing your virtual event and generating more interest and registrations.

A good virtual events provider will provide registration management and delegate support coming up to and during the event. They will communicate to the delegates at certain times prior to the event to ensure attendance and after the event to get any feedback for improvements.

5: Technical Support During the Event

It is inevitable that a small number of delegates or speakers may have some technical difficulties during an event. This could be that a particular page isn’t loading, or a video stream has frozen, or it could be that their own computer has firewalls that won’t allow viewing of the event. These are all issues that require someone very familiar with these potential technical issues to get the delegates or speakers back up and running with the event as quickly and painlessly as possible.

A good virtual events provider with ensure that technical support is on hand to deal with these queries before and during the event.

So, when you go looking for a supplier for your next virtual event make sure to look for these key services and we hope that you’ll bring venuesworld.com into the mix as we’d love to demonstrate our comprehensive virtual events solution to you.

Are you attending a virtual meeting or conference soon? Do you want to get the absolute most from the virtual event? Then read on, because today, we are going to share five tips to ensure you are prepared and ready for your next virtual meeting or event.

The events industry is constantly evolving and changing to keep up with current trends and demands. This can be seen now more than ever due to the current COVID 19 crisis which has rapidly led to a new trend within the sector: virtual events. Virtual events can come in many forms such as team building activities, meetings, conferences, networking events and so much more. These events are more important now than ever before because they allow a group of people to come together virtually rather than physically.

Event organizers have performed countless hours researching and preparing for these virtual events. However, delegates may be left wondering how to prepare or what to expect. Let’s find out what you can do to make it as enjoyable as possible.

1. Stable Internet Connection

We all know how devastating it can be when your internet connection drops right in the middle of the most important message of the entire virtual meeting. One of the best ways to ensure your connection will be stable is to use an ethernet cable. Ethernet cables allow you to have a stable high-speed connection. They can be easily connected to your router. These cords are an inexpensive way to ensure your internet connection is stable throughout the event and you don’t miss anything important or thought-provoking!

2. Download and Read Pre-Event Materials

Similar to live events you may be asked to read documents, download slide presentations, or decide which seminars you wish to attend. Nothing gets you more prepared for a virtual event than planning our your schedule and knowing what the event organisers are offering. It’s very important to do this beforehand to ensure you make the most of their event. Also make sure to have a pen/paper, laptop, workspace, and other essential materials ready to go!

3. Contact Information

When attending events, conferences, and meetings it’s important to have business cards when meeting new connections for them to easily contact you afterwards. This is still important even when attending events virtually. More recently online business cards have become a popular option. This allows people to easily pass their information onto others in a virtual manner. These can come in many forms such as QR code cards, thumbnail cards or even scanned business cards. Ensuring your LinkedIn is up to date is also a great idea as the professional network is commonly used to connect with peers or other event attendees. If you have a QR code scanner on your phone, why not scan our QR code below to see what your virtual business card could look like.

4. Networking

Events are great because they allow you to network and meet many different people. This is still possible during virtual events. A new concept is virtual coffee breaks, happy hours, and water-cooler chats. If your event has these breakout rooms be sure to join them. You can also easily create a video chat yourself using popular platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Skype. Create a link or two beforehand and send them to people you want to connect in more detail with after the virtual event. There are numerous ways to ensure you can still meet and connect with people. Virtual conferences are great because they allow you to meet people from the comfort of your home!

5. Have fun!

It’s important not to worry because everyone is new to online communication and connecting virtually. You may experience some bumps in the road while figuring out virtual events but be open-minded and have some fun. These are a great way to see familiar faces, create new connections, and learn new information.

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