Engagement is key with any event, though it is even more important in a virtual event. With attendees geographically distributed, it can be more challenging to put on a virtual event that helps attendees connect and stay engaged.

So what can you do?

The answer: get creative with available technologies available, both to help facilitate session types you are already familiar with from in-person meetings (keynotes, breakouts, etc.) and to offer other forms of engagement that might have been more challenging to do in-person. We’ll break down how to leverage technology during an event and recommend fun, creative ways to engage your attendees.

Live Streams or Pre-Recordings: Which Should You Use?

First, let's talk about a few common types of event sessions and the best ways to make them engaging for virtual meetings—specifically, the pros and cons of live streaming versus pre-recording a meeting to maximize attendee engagement and the quality of your meeting.

1. Keynote addresses

Keynote speeches usually kick off a meeting and can be a good way to set the tone and feel for the rest of your event. With a live stream approach, you get the benefit of real-time activity from your speaker, allowing them to improvise and respond in real-time to queries and questions. Then again, a pre-recorded keynote, with the keynote speaker present, still offers the opportunity for the speaker to respond to questions during the speech while also ensuring a smoother production value.

2. Award ceremonies

Generally, award ceremonies are likely to be more effective and engaging when conducted in real-time. There are many moving parts that benefit from a real-time component, so live-streaming may be the way to go. However, parts of the ceremony could be pre-recorded, such as speeches, to minimize glitches, so you could consider a combination of approaches.

3. Panel Discussions

Deciding whether to live stream or pre-record a panel of speakers for discussion later depends on how much control you want to have over the meeting. Pre-recording can help minimize the risk of technical mishaps (such as faulty internet connections by a single speaker), but live streams can preserve the give-and-take, spontaneous conversations that often occur during a panel discussion, which can be generative and engaging for attendees.

4. Product Demos

Depending on your event, you may have sponsors who are hoping to sell products and offer demos to prospective buyers. As with other formats, there are pros and cons to consider. A pre-recording allows your sponsor to adequately and effectively demonstrate a product, while live-streaming gives event attendees the confidence of connecting to a sponsor representative in real-time, rather than passively watching a demonstration.

Ways to Engage Participants Beyond the “Business” of Your Event

When it comes to virtual event engagement, you’ll also want to consider other ways to keep your attendees engaged beyond the business of formal event meetings. The following are a few ideas to help engage your attendees:

• Live, interactive activities. Think about things outside of regular event meetings. This could be something as simple as a breakout yoga session—it gives your attendees a mental break, keeps them interacting with one another and, above all, keeps them engaged with your event.
• Competitions and games. Nothing wrong with a little friendly competition! Finding ways to help your attendees earn prizes, for example, can keep them engaged, attending various events, engaging with your sponsors, and so much more.
• Think about production quality. While this can relate to many aspects of your event, remember to think about the quality of your event. The early days of the pandemic are over: while witnessing dogs and kids making noise and appearing on screen was commonplace, that is no longer the expectation. People want—expect—quality, and that directly translates into their perception of your event and their overall engagement.

While there are many ways to use technology to engage your audience, the goals you and your attendees have should drive the decisions you make about technology.

As the world continues to evolve during the coronavirus pandemic with more focus on social distancing and telecommuting, virtual conferences are becoming more commonplace in nearly every career field. They negate the cost and hassle of traveling, often internationally, and you still get to share your awesome ideas from the comfort of your own home.

Here, we explore some best practices to keep in mind for virtual conferences as we kick off the 2022 conference season. While these suggestions have become almost second nature to now-experienced virtual conference attendees, it’s always good to get a refresher.

Maintain In-Person Mentality

Thanks to the power of Zoom, we can telecommute right from home. But with this luxury often comes watching your colleagues sitting in their pajamas because they literally just woke up. For all virtual meetings, but especially virtual conferences, it’s always good to keep an in-person mentality. This means remembering to get dressed up with a clean appearance as though you’re literally there at the conference itself. This includes full professional attire, not just a nice button-down shirt on top with shorts that your audience won’t see. Don’t shy away from going all out.

Professional Backgrounds

In the age of telecommuting, it’s easy to forget that your audience isn’t just looking at you, but what’s in your entire frame. Presentation and networking always matter, and it’s important to present yourself as professionally as possible in all aspects to make a better impression on your current and/or potential employer. Digital backgrounds can seem fun, but they are still in their infancy and are often distracting for an audience if your digital background doesn’t quite blend with you or your attire. While digital backgrounds are becoming very popular, especially in science, presenting a more organic background such as a full bookshelf surrounded by items relevant to your talk gives a far more professional appearance. This will actually make your audience far more attentive to what you’re talking about because your background is actually your best way to demonstrate your overall work ethic.

Rehearsal Is Still Important

Delivering a virtual conference presentation is much the same as an in-person conference. The majority of the time you’re engaging with your audience, clicking through slides, and pointing when necessary. However, virtual conferences deal with far more technological barriers than in-person conferences, specifically your internet connection. This is why it’s just as important to rehearse several times in the days and weeks leading up to your virtual talk. Do all of your slides fit? Are your videos loading correctly? Do have every talking point down to the letter? Does your background display a professional setting that correlates with your talk?

Conclusion

While virtual conferences are becoming more commonplace, it’s always important to treat them like in-person conferences. Dress professionally, display a professional background, and always rehearse several times before to ensure everything is working as it should. Like in-person conferences, virtual conferences are a fantastic way to network and meet new people. Go forth! You got this!

Virtual events are here to stay. They’re far cheaper to host and there’s far less stress on both the hosting company and the attendees. But just like with in-person events, there’s still a lot of care and attention required from all parties to make virtual events successful enough for people to keep coming back. Here we will discuss how to navigate the ins and outs of virtual events as they become more and more common in the post-pandemic era.

Virtual Events are Accessible

Virtual events are much cheaper and easier to both host and attend. The host doesn’t have to worry about paying for giant conference halls, vendors, and security, while attendees don’t have to worry about the financial and logistical hassle of traveling. Despite some upsides, there are still some downsides to virtual events that everyone should keep in mind. For instance, virtual events are still very much content-heavy and lack the luster of a unique destination, and can be far more difficult for networking, the latter of which is the very reason you attend any event. This is your chance to spend quality face-to-face time chatting with future employers/mentors/employees outside of the event itself, either at a coffee shop or going out to lunch/dinner. It’s important to remember that networking is far more difficult to accomplish at a virtual event as the heavy content (often on-demand, as well) now demands the attendees to jump from meeting to meeting during the entire event without taking the time for actual networking.

While we all got comfortable attending virtual events during the pandemic given you can attend one from your own home, it’s important to remember that the experience itself can be far less exciting. For in-person events, you’re there, immersed with the people and the action. You excitedly roam the various halls and rooms taking in everything while meeting fantastic people for coffee or dinner. Virtual events don’t have any of this as you’re often distracted by the dog or kids, so it’s important to remember that while virtual events are far less of a logistical mess, they are also far less immersive.

The New Networking

We spoke about networking, which is the very reason you attend any event. Along with the lack of immersion that in-person events offer, it’s important to remember that networking is far more difficult to achieve at virtual events, so patience is key when it comes to having those all-important face-to-face meetings. This lack of immersion is slowly being overcome by mobile event apps where you can schedule one-on-one meetings with parties of your interest. You still get face-to-face interaction while building those important connections.

While virtual events are here to stay, it’s important to remember the pros and cons of in-person events to virtual. While both cheaper and logistically easier for all parties, both hosts and attendees don’t really get the same immersive experience that in-person events offer. Keep these tips and tricks in mind when hosting or attending virtual events going forward.