Virtual Events Guide: How to Take Your Conference Online
Achieve Virtual Event Success
Pivoting from an in-person to a strictly-virtual or hybrid event format offers new opportunities to engage attendees and sponsors—all while extending your event’s reach.
When you remove the physical venue from the mix, your event experience design will require a rethink. However, it may actually make it easier for you to create the perfect flow with the right mix of presentation content and interactivity.
Same Goals, New Tactics
While your event goals and objectives will remain the same, you’ll need new tools and tactics to achieve them. In an in-person format, technology is often peripheral to the hustle and bustle of the activities onsite. In a virtual format, your event tech will take center stage. Your event flow and interaction between attendees, speakers, and sponsors will be dictated by the capabilities of the virtual events platform you choose.
A flexible, intuitive virtual events platform will give you the most latitude when designing your event experience. You should also be able to use the same platform to pivot to a hybrid or in-person format as travel and health restrictions change.
Consider how you will be able to align content and complexity with the right level of engagement. For example, small internal meetings may simply require a central hub to showcase a single live broadcast and pre-recorded video content with engagement features like group chat, while larger conferences may need to run multiple livestream and simulive sessions (pre-recorded content with live interaction) with video breakout rooms for maximum engagement.
To help you understand how you can adapt your meeting, conference, or trade show to an online format, we’ve outlined the most common event types and listed the tools and professional services that will help you create an engaging virtual event experience.
Virtual Event Type: Internal Meeting
| You’re planning…. | A short and focused meeting, e.g. • Quarterly review • Policy update • Internal training |
| You hope to… | • Educate, inform, gather feedback • Create a content library (including session slides and recordings) that will be accessible after the event ends |
| You’re looking for… | • A self-serve, easy to setup virtual event platform • Must be able to integrate with our existing webinar, livestream and registration platforms |
| Size & Scope: | • 50-500+ attendees |
| Event Duration: | • 2-4 hours in a single day, or series of short events |
| Agenda Format: | • Fairly linear – single video stream of continuous plenary, educational sessions and lectures |
| Desired Level of Engagement: | • Low – limited to live polls and Q&A during live broadcasts |
What’s important:
| Video Options: | •• | • Integrate with and stream from preferred video conference or video hosting platforms • Attendees can watch broadcasts and provide real-time feedback with live polls and Q&A • Link to recorded videos pre and post event |
| Sponsorship: | • | • Not required |
| Networking: | •• | • Basic chat and group discussions about session topics |
| Engagement: | ••• | • Polls, Q&A or gamification to gauge audience retention and gather feedback • Session surveys to get feedback on speakers and content • Private and group chat to provide networking opportunities |
| Entertainment: | • | • Not required |
| Success Metrics: | ••• | • Percentage of registrants that logged in • Number of online attendees watching livestreams and pre-recorded videos • Engagement rate (participation percentage) • Transfer of knowledge tested via pre/post surveys or live polls during broadcasts |
What you need:
| EventMobi Virtual Space | • Self-serve • Integrates with any registration platform (Swoogo, Cvent, Eventbrite, etc.), or let EventMobi build your website and registration forms • Includes session chat, live polls, Q&A, group discussions and 1:1 video meetings • Livestream and video conference integration from Zoom, GotoWebinar, Wistia, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitch, On24 or any RTMP streaming source • Upload pre-recorded videos to create a video-on-demand gallery pre or post event |
Virtual event success hinges on effective monetization, high quality video production, and the right engagement tools.
Virtual Event Type: Conference
| You’re planning…. | A mid-size event, pre-registered attendees e.g. • User conference • Sales kick-off • Premium training events |
| You hope to… | • Offer attendees and sponsors/exhibitors a variety of opportunities to connect |
| You’re looking for… | • Event marketing and registration • A sleek and professional virtual platform, easy for attendees to navigate • Set-up and day-of support • High quality production and a smooth content flow is critical |
| Size & Scope: | • 200-1000+ attendees, plus a handful of exhibitors |
| Event Duration: | • Single or multi-day program |
| Agenda Format: | • One or two broadcast channels to livestream continuous sessions, moderated by a digital emcee • Lots of pre-recorded or simulive breakouts so attendees can explore what they want, when they want |
| Desired Level of Engagement: | • High – creating fun opportunities for networking is key • Encourage 1:1 connections • Incentivize engagement with raffles or giveaways, delivering value to sponsors • Create smaller workshops or moderated roundtables to increase engagement • Enable live chat, polls and Q&A during live broadcasts |
What’s important:
| Video Tools: | ••• | • A mix of livestream and pre-recorded video, with tiered access to exclusive content • Integrate with preferred video conferencing platform for workshops and roundtables • High quality livestream production for key broadcasts with live engagement polls and Q&A |
| Sponsorship: | ••• | • Everything from virtual exhibitor booths to sponsored giveaways and banner ads • Embed sponsored videos within livestreams, or overlay sponsored messages on pre-recorded or live broadcasts |
| Networking: | ••• | • Multiple forums for attendee chat and to connect attendees with sponsors • Potential use of moderated workshops and roundtables |
| Engagement: | ••• | • Tools to encourage participation in sponsored events with gamification • Live polls, chat and Q&A during live sessions • Live raffle prize giveaways between sessions |
| Entertainment: | ••• | • Sponsored virtual cocktail hour • Live music before main session opening • Gift/swag baskets will be mailed to remote audience to be opened during the live event |
| Success Metrics: | ••• | • Attendee log-in and video play counts • Engagement rate (participation percentage) • Transfer of knowledge tested via pre/post surveys or live polls during the broadcast • Sponsor video play counts and banner ad clicks • Strong post-event use case |
What You Need:
| Event Marketing Website and Registration | • Choose a pre-designed template or fully custom design • Integrate teaser videos, sponsor banner ads and robust sponsor profiles • Agenda sneak peek • Offer tiered ticket types, allow registrants to sign up for sessions, manage session caps, etc. |
| Social Media Dashboard | • Monitor social media posts and track social account data • Identify and understand the impact of event influencers • Embed a live social media wall in your event marketing website and virtual event space |
| EventMobi Virtual Event Space and GoLive! Services | • Setup, design and build out of virtual event space • Agenda with links to video sessions, entertainment and social activities • Video and livestream integration • Add live polls, surveys, Q&A to sessions • Enable networking via session chat, 1:1 video meetings, private messaging and group discussions • Gated video roundtable discussions • Gamification challenges • Sponsor logos and banner ads |
| Exhibitor Management | Complete setup of virtual exhibitor booths: • Exhibitor logo, description, contact info, video, company representatives, CTA button for lead generation • One-on-one chat • Production of a 1-hour sponsor presentation • Lead capture raffle strategy |
| Speaker Management | • Pre-session preparation and virtual space setup • Day-of support for live streaming or pre-recorded content capture |
| Session Pre-Production | Production of pre-recorded (simulive) sessions includes: • Title card • Branding, text and graphics overlays • Add pre and post session sponsor video |
| Live Production | • Show flow preparation • Live support for hosts and speakers |
| Live Support for Attendees | • Live chat to assist with access, features and general troubleshooting |
Virtual Event Type: Conference & Expo
| You’re planning…. | A large scale event, e.g. • Annual meeting • Conference • Expo |
| You hope to… | • Offer a variety of educational sessions in different formats • Help to connect attendees and sponsors/exhibitors • Create brand exposure and lead gen opportunities for sponsors |
| You’re looking for… | • All the bells & whistles and full support • From design and video production to day-of execution and live support – this event will require all hands on deck |
| Size & Scope: | • 1000-20000+ attendees, 100+ exhibitors |
| Event Duration: | • Multi-day program |
| Agenda Format: | • Open – multiple concurrent streams, breakouts and some scheduled sessions • Flexibility to ‘choose your own adventure’ for attendees, with recorded content pre and post event |
| Desired Level of Engagement: | • Medium – online session participation is important for some sessions but not all broadcasts • Opportunities to connect sponsors and attendees via chat or sponsored workshops or roundtables • Attendee networking can be facilitated with pre-scheduled appointments, chat and video calls |
What’s important:
| Video Tools: | ••• | • Anything and everything from pre-recorded sessions and livestreams to video-on-demand with live Q&A – but the quality must be top-notch • Ability to simulive (play pre-recorded videos) and then bring the host and speaker live to take Q&A |
| Sponsorship: | ••• | • Critical for revenue generation • Require unlimited opportunities to drive brand awareness and generate leads for partners • Depending on ticket price and sponsorship package, potential opportunity to mail out swag box in advance of the event |
| Networking: | ••• | • Create an environment for spontaneous, organic networking between all participants – whether attendees, speakers or sponsors |
| Engagement: | ••• | • Interactivity is key – virtual roundtables, sponsored webinars and live panel sessions with real-time Q&A |
| Entertainment: | ••• | • Everything from live shows to virtual social mixers |
| Success Metrics: | ••• | • Attendee log-in and video play counts • Engagement rate • Sponsor video play counts and banner ad clicks |
What You Need:
| Event Marketing Website and Registration | • Choose a pre-designed template or fully custom design • Integrate teaser videos, sponsor banner ads and robust sponsor profiles • Agenda sneak peek • Offer tiered ticket types, allow registrants to sign up for sessions, manage session caps, etc. |
| Social Media Dashboard | • Monitor social media posts and track social account data • Identify and understand the impact of event influencers • Embed a live social media wall in your event marketing website and virtual event space |
| EventMobi Virtual Event Space and GoLive! Services | • Setup, design and build out of virtual event space • Agenda with links to video sessions, entertainment and social activities • Video and livestream integration • Add live polls, surveys, Q&A to sessions • Enable networking via session chat, 1:1 video meetings, private messaging and group discussions • Gated video roundtable discussions • Gamification challenges • Sponsor logos and banner ads |
| Exhibitor Management | Complete setup of virtual exhibitor booths includes: • Exhibitor logo, description, contact info, video, company representatives, CTA button for lead generation • One-on-one chat • Production of a 1-hour sponsor presentation • Lead capture raffle strategy |
| Speaker Management | • Pre-session preparation and virtual space setup • Day-of support for live streaming or pre-recorded content capture |
| Session Pre-Production | Production of pre-recorded (simulive) sessions includes: • Title card • Branding, text and graphics overlays • Add pre and post session sponsor video |
| Live Production | • Show flow preparation • Live support for hosts and speakers |
| Live Support for Attendees | • Live chat to assist with access, features and general troubleshooting |
These are just a few of the event types using the EventMobi end-to-end platform to pivot to virtual. From event promotion and registration to going live on the day, we’re here to help you every step of the way. Book your personal demo to learn more about the EventMobi Virtual Space and GoLive! Professional Services.
This article was co-authored by Amanda Toms, EventMobi Sr. Account Manager, Global Enterprise & Key Accounts. Connect with her on LinkedIn