The importance of virtual events in today's business landscape, both in-person and digital, cannot be understated, including healthcare, education, technology, government, sports and entertainment, and nonprofit organizations, to name a few. Virtual events not only enable individuals from all backgrounds and disciplines to collaborate and engage, but they also provide cost-saving opportunities, as well. Here, we will discuss myriad ways that virtual events can benefit numerous industries across the globe while fostering diversity and inclusion and building lasting relationships.
Virtual events in healthcare offer enhanced accessibility, enabling medical professionals worldwide to participate in conferences and training sessions without geographical constraints. They provide continuous medical education opportunities, fostering knowledge exchange and collaboration among specialists. Virtual events reduce costs and optimize resources by eliminating the need for travel, ultimately improving patient care by disseminating cutting-edge medical practices globally. Notable benefits and virtual event applications in healthcare include:
Virtual educational events provide increased opportunities for students, educators, and administrators worldwide to collaborate on new and exciting ideas while breaking down geographic barriers. Additionally, virtual events enable diversity and inclusion for individuals from all backgrounds by mitigating travel costs, including airfare and hotel accommodations. Notable advantages and virtual events applications in education include:
Virtual events for technology companies can bring together engineers, managers, administrators, and investors to collaborate on novel strategies regarding company cohesiveness while fostering diversity and inclusion for individuals worldwide. The cost-saving benefits from virtual events could also be used to bolster other aspects of the industry. Notable leverages and virtual events applications include:
Virtual events in corporate communications enable employees at all levels to share their thoughts, concerns, and ideas with managers and administrators, which fosters inclusivity and connectivity for individuals from across the globe. Additionally, virtual events allow investors to learn more about future products and services and make better-informed investment decisions. Notable benefits and virtual event applications in corporate communications include:
Virtual events for government outreach and engagement enable citizens and policymakers to engage and collaborate on new and exciting strategies for improving the quality of life, diversity, and inclusion of individuals from all personal and professional backgrounds. Virtual events put transparency at the forefront of policymaking while potentially using the cost savings from virtual events for the greater good. Notable advantages and virtual event applications in government outreach and engagement include:
Virtual events strengthen event planning and virtual platforms by enabling event organizers and attendees to have myriad options for bringing together individuals from all backgrounds and all over the world, fostering diversity and inclusion to new heights. Virtual events provide cost-saving opportunities for all parties, which could be used to improve virtual platforms, benefitting everyone. Notable transformative benefits and virtual event applications include:
Virtual events in professional societies furnish connectivity and inclusion across many industries and workplaces, including training, networking, and panels for individuals worldwide. Additionally, virtual events provide cost-saving benefits that could be used for membership fees while building lasting relationships for all parties. Notable benefits and virtual event applications for associations and professional societies include:
Virtual events in retail and marketing provide opportunities for employees, managers, administrators, and stakeholders to collaborate and innovate on novel strategies for improving employee well-being and customer relationships. Virtual events offer cost savings that could be used for employee bonuses or mental health programs. Notable benefits and virtual event applications for retail and marketing include:
Virtual events in finance give employees, specialists, managers, administrators, and investors the necessary tools and resources to increase profit margins while improving diversity and inclusion for individuals worldwide. The cost-saving benefits from virtual events could be used for improved employee relations and additional investment opportunities. Notable benefits and virtual event applications for the financial industry include:
Virtual events in manufacturing enable employees, engineers, managers, business leaders, and investors to collaborate on exciting novel strategies for advancing manufacturing technologies that could result in more efficient products and services while increasing profits. Virtual events offer seamless training and trade show opportunities for individuals from around the world that could improve product quality control and employee safety. Notable benefits and virtual event applications in manufacturing include:
Virtual events for nonprofit organizations enable seamless engagement for employees, managers, and stakeholders to collaborate on exciting new strategies regarding training, fundraising campaigns, and awards programs for all parties. The cost-saving benefits from virtual events could also be used to assist in these endeavors. Notable benefits and virtual event applications for nonprofit organizations include:
Virtual events in the sports and entertainment industries provide ample opportunities for athletes, entertainers, managers, agents, and fans to engage and collaborate on novel strategies for improved fan experiences and athlete well-being. Virtual events provide cost-saving opportunities that can be used for enhanced in-game experiences and fan appreciation days. Notable benefits and virtual event applications in sports and entertainment include:
Virtual events provide versatile experiences across all industries and disciplines, enabling employees, managers, business leaders, and others to collaborate and innovate novel strategies for a better future. With virtual events, both companies and individuals can save time and money on travel costs that can be used for improved workplaces and well-being. Adopting virtual event strategies for business growth cannot be understated, as virtual events enable companies to unite while fostering connectivity, diversity, and inclusion for everyone.
The importance of virtual team building cannot be understated, as it allows your company to build trust and camaraderie with individuals worldwide in the short- and long term. Additionally, virtual team building spurs innovation, boosts morale, increases productivity, enhances and improves the digital workspace experience, and enhances company culture for everyone.
Chati's role in enhancing remote team resilience is rooted in our belief in building lasting relationships and fostering connections. Here, we will discuss the steps you can take independently and with Chati to achieve your virtual team-building goals while enhancing remote workplace morale and productivity.
Understanding the definition and significance of resilience in remote teams is vital for mission success, which involves bouncing back from stressors and adversity that could impede team performance and is a critical component for team cohesiveness and development. Resilience in remote teams refers to their capacity to effectively bounce back from adversities and stressors in the virtual work environment. It serves as a linchpin for sustaining team performance and fostering a sense of unity and growth amidst turbulent circumstances.
By identifying challenges faced by remote teams, you will enable your ability to build resilience and overcome any obstacles that could impede team success. This involves seamless communication between all parties, supporting your team's well-being, and fostering a collaborative learning environment for everyone. By cultivating an acute awareness of these challenges, teams can fortify their resilience and navigate through obstacles adeptly. Central to this endeavor is the cultivation of seamless communication channels across remote team members, ensuring clarity, coherence, and connectivity. Additionally, prioritizing the holistic well-being of team members emerges as a cornerstone for resilience-building efforts. This encompasses providing adequate support mechanisms, fostering a culture of psychological safety, and nurturing a collaborative ethos that promotes mutual learning and growth.
Exploring the benefits of building resilience will enable you to achieve virtual workplace success for both the short and long term, and this comes from both team members and leaders. The benefits of bolstering resilience extend beyond mere survival in the remote workplace. Team leaders are there to guide, lead, and mentor the team members through trials and tribulations by encouraging well-being and mental health. Other benefits include enhanced team cohesiveness, allowing everyone to stick together during the tough times. The dividends of such a support system manifest in heightened team cohesion, wherein individuals rally together in solidarity during challenging times, fortifying the fabric of the team and propelling it towards its objectives.
Chati's comprehensive platform offers a diverse array of tools and resources tailored to meet the unique needs of virtual team building. This includes tools and resources that you can use for your virtual team-building needs, including trivia games, breakout rooms, fun facts, scavenger hunts, mysteries, workshops, and much more. These tools enable companies to keep their virtual employees engaged, motivated, and productive, regardless of their geographic locations.
The customized team bonding activities on Chati allow companies from many scientific disciplines, including academia, biotechnology, health care, research, and much more, to cultivate their corporate heritage and values in new and exciting ways. With Chati, you can take your virtual team building to new heights while fostering relationships and connections among your employees and team leaders.
In addition to Chati's innovative offerings, various online collaboration solutions, such as Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Slack Channels, complement the virtual team-building experience. These platforms serve as indispensable tools for remote teams to communicate, collaborate, and innovate seamlessly, further enhancing virtual teams' overall effectiveness and cohesion in diverse professional settings.
Below are a few broad strategies to improve remote team resilience through virtual methods. By implementing the strategies below, organizations can cultivate resilience within their remote teams, fostering a collaborative and supportive work culture that empowers team members to thrive in virtual environments.
In addition to the tools and resources listed above, leveraging gamification and engagement for virtual team building is one of the most popular ways to enhance productivity, as it provides a means to interact with each other on a more personal level. Through gamification, you can promote healthy competition through strategy and collaboration, which will only strengthen your team's bond and overall short- and long-term success.
Like virtual and hybrid events, utilizing analytics and performance tracking will enable you to monitor your employees' engagement and collaboration in real time, improving virtual team resilience in the short and long term.
One Chati feature that can be used is ChatiConnect for bridging time zones and team bonding. This video feature is designed to foster collaboration, innovation, and engagement for your virtual team members and leaders. With ChatiConnect, you can access workable video chat rooms, customizable room management tools, and seamless screen sharing to accomplish your remote resilience needs.
Some benefits of virtual team building and remote resilience include encouraging well-being and mental health for team members and leaders, enabling everyone to overcome obstacles, and bouncing back from adversity that will result in improved team performance for both the short and long term.
Through this, we hope to encourage remote teams to embrace resilience, which will lead to increased morale, engagement, and production for everyone, regardless of their geographic location.
Here, we invite you to explore Chati's solutions for building resilient remote team culture through our myriad of tools and resources, specifically with ChatiConnect, which will enable you to build team resilience while fostering collaboration and engagement for both the short and long term.
Sources: Zapier, Fierce, Harvard Business Review, Chati, Chati (1), Loumee, Chati (2)
Regarding virtual networking, webinars have become one of the most mainstream methods of sharing ideas and building connections, and embracing the power of webinars in modern marketing and engagement will help you do just that.
Webinars help unveil the triple impact of virtual networking and building your brand: leads, relationships, and education, which all work together to foster inclusivity and connections for everyone. Leads help you build your network, which results in building relationships and gaining an education by sharing knowledge and ideas with people from different backgrounds and disciplines.
Defining the role of webinars in lead generation and education is vital to help build your brand and foster lasting connections. Webinars provide a valuable opportunity for attendees to share knowledge and ideas through their ability to learn at their own pace while effectively delivering quality information from various sources, including speakers and videos that attendees can use to build their virtual network.
Webinars provide an incredible opportunity to recognize the value of building relationships through virtual events. This is because you can engage and interact with individuals from all over the world for an in-person event instead of a limited number of individuals. Additionally, they provide many tools to help you share ideas and knowledge, including Q&A sessions, breakout rooms, and much more.
An important first step in building webinars with the goal of lead generation is identifying target audiences and their pain points, which involves adhering to their challenges and concerns. You can accomplish this through emails, social media, surveys, and additional feedback.
Designing webinars that address audience needs and offer solutions is critical to finding your audience and gathering high-quality leads. These needs might include disability accommodations for the seeing- and hearing-impaired but also might include tailoring the webinar content based on the audience’s goals, whether they’re personal, professional, or educational. If your audience desires content to build their virtual network, a solution could be to provide speakers who can help them achieve that goal.
One way to generate leads is to utilize webinars to nurture prospects along the sales pipeline, a common tactic in sales designed to convert leads into relationships. The first step is to successfully promote your webinar through social media, emails, and your website. The second step is to thank your audience for attending while confirming their attendance. Finally, you need to host a great webinar! Maintain high levels of engagement and present content that compels your audience and gets them excited for more.
Another way to generate leads is by incorporating follow-up strategies to maximize lead conversion, which can be accomplished using targeted attendee emails and social media strategies. A clear follow-up system lets you keep track of your leads; an automatic reporting system is ideal for keeping your leads organized. However, like any endeavor, it’s vital to remember that most leads will be “cold”, and you could end up with very few good or “hot” leads. It’s okay to dump cold leads and nurture the good ones long-term.
Possibly the most notable aspect of webinars is fostering audience interaction and connection, which is accomplished with creative and educational content designed to keep audience members engaged and interacting both during and after the webinar, which will only result in building and fostering relationships and connections for both the short- and long-term.
Several of the same techniques for establishing trust and building stronger relationships in the real world also exist in webinars, including effective communication, honesty, transparency, setting boundaries, active listening, integrity, and consistency, to name a few.
A webinar’s success comes from designing educational content that provides value, with that value being the ability for your audience members to generate leads, build connections, and foster relationships for both the short- and long-term. This is accomplished through tailoring to your audience’s goals, surprising your audience with new content, and keeping the same tone and pitch throughout the webinar.
Additional content strategies include creating webinars that combine information and engagement, accomplished through captivating invitations, powerful openings, and inspiring graphics, to name a few.
Successful webinars keep their audiences engaged, and this is accomplished with interactive polls, Q&A sessions, and discussions, which are also designed to break up any monotony your audience might experience throughout the webinar. Additionally, using gamification to enhance participation and learning is also an excellent technique, which is an excellent way to enable your audience to generate leads and build connections throughout the webinar.
Successful webinars and nearly all online events begin with choosing the right webinar platform and tools that will demonstrate quality performance while enabling your audience to engage and interact with each other seamlessly. Examples of platforms include Zoom Events, Zoho, Livestorm, Contrast, and Webex, which can be used based on your requirements and audience needs.
At Chati, we believe in enhancing engagement through interactive features, and we Are proud to offer a myriad of them, including content management, templates and 3D spaces, gamification, integrations, ChatiConnect, analytics and reporting, and so much more!
All successful webinars incorporate successful promotion strategies, including leveraging social media, email, and many networks to excite your audience for the upcoming webinar. While email could be the primary method, you can create custom social media accounts and websites just for the webinar, which gives it an extra professional appeal for your audience.
Another method involves crafting compelling registration pages to boost attendance, as they also offer a more professional appeal designed to attract attendees who might have yet to consider attending your webinar.
Successful webinars ensure your audience is engaged and achieves their lead generation goals. This is accomplished by tracking attendance and engagement throughout the webinar. This can be accomplished through artificial intelligence or one-on-one support from your hosting team, where your audience can interact with a real person and provide real-time feedback on their experience throughout the webinar.
Additionally, analyzing lead generation metrics for continuous improvement is an important method for ensuring future webinars are even more successful than the one you just hosted. These metrics not only allow for continuous improvement but also provide you with the necessary feedback and tools to enable future audiences to achieve their networking goals.
Predicting trends and innovations in webinar practices is vital to ensure the long-term success of webinars. This is accomplished through receiving appropriate and timely feedback from your audience during and after the webinar. Through this feedback, you can gauge your future audience needs and establish what new and exciting innovations need to be made to ensure successful webinars in the future.
Additionally, embracing new technologies for enhanced impact is another method for ensuring a successful future for webinars. Research what platforms or technical innovations other webinars have embraced the technologies that interest you and consider how these might be integrated into your webinar presentations.
Webinars offer a holistic approach to lead generation, relationship building, and education for individuals worldwide. With the proper promotion, platform, and content, your audience will achieve their networking and lead-generation goals for both the short- and long-term. Additionally, webinars help by elevating your virtual events to drive results and engagement that will allow everyone to build relationships and foster connections with individuals worldwide.
Sources: LinkedIn, Flow, Corefactors, PositivePsychology.com, Rock Content, Banzai International, Contrast
One of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic was the rise of virtual networking. While born from necessity, virtual networking created new and exciting ways for individuals to grow and learn from each other like never before. With virtual networking, you can take your ideas and talent to new heights by building connections and fostering relationships for both the short- and long-term.
Here, Chati outlines a guide to mastering effective virtual networking skills. We discuss the importance of virtual networking, tests, and strategies for reaching networking goals.
Virtual networking, or digital networking, is a professional connection and engagement method where people can share ideas and build relationships. Effective virtual networking is essential for increasing inclusivity and connectivity and fostering professional relationships in the short and long term.
One of the most difficult tasks in digital networking is transitioning from in-person to virtual, as this new environment comes with different sets of guidelines and protocols, which will be discussed further below. There are many benefits of going digital in networking, with the primary benefit being your reach, as virtual networking allows you to engage with professionals in your field from all over the world in a fraction of the time as in-person networking. The level of online tools at your disposal also far surpasses in-person networking, including social media, email, and Google, to name a few.
One of the most essential virtual networking tools is crafting an effective elevator pitch, which means keeping ideas short and direct. When you're meeting in person, you can share your ideas slowly and naturally within a conversation. However, since virtual networking often involves interacting with a larger number of people at a faster pace, reformatting your thoughts and ideas into bite-sized formats allows everyone to share.
Additional strategies for building successful digital relationships include the same strategies for building in-person relationships, including knowing your audience and being able to address the group's goals in addition to your own. However, virtual networking is different because you're utilizing additional digital tools, such as social media, for your networking needs.
Another critical aspect of virtual networking is maximizing the potential of social media platforms to share your ideas and build your brand. This doesn't necessarily mean using the most popular platforms but focusing on those that will maximize the range of your ideas and reach instead. For example, using platforms where you've had accounts for a while will work best since you're familiar with the layout and flow. You may also have a longer history on the platform, making your profile appear more organic and natural. You can create alternative accounts for your brand while linking it to your personal account so everyone knows it's you.
When using social media for networking, it's vital to remember the dos and don'ts. This includes keeping your posts short and direct while managing the number of posts, as you don't want to scare people off with too much "spam." Additionally, while engaging with people is strongly encouraged, it's important to pick your battles and not engage with negative users, as you want to avoid getting dragged into a heated debate where everyone can see what you're saying.
With digital networking, as with face-to-face, every minute counts. An elevator pitch is a condensed version of your vision, and social media can help create the building blocks for your brand, but real time interaction is the key to success. Authentic conversations in real-time can create a genuine connection between you and your audience, making them feel valued and heard. To engage in real time digital networking, research virtual events with dedicated networking sessions and set up informative interviews with professionals working in your chosen field. Informative interviews are informal conversations where you can learn about job responsibilities and professional experiences.
As mentioned above, you can find dedicated virtual networking sessions within a wide range of virtual events, but you may also see breakout sessions called ‘Virtual Happy Hours’. These breakout sessions typically have a less formal feel and encourage conversations outside of the typical professional development topics. While this may sound counter intuitive, these informal conversations can lead to memorable experiences for attendees. You’re more likely to remember a conversation with someone that makes you laugh!
Speed networking is exactly what it sounds like. Within a speed networking event you are paired with others in your field to quickly and effectively connect. Remember that elevator pitch? It’ll really come in handy here. Be on the lookout for speed networking events to make multiple new contacts in a short period of time.
A common critique of virtual events is the lack of face-to-face spontaneous conversations that are the bread and butter of in-person events. However, video conferencing has come a long way in this department, and there are now options to recreate that spontaneous face-to-face experience. When attending a virtual event for networking purposes, check and see what platform they are using to promote face-to-face interaction. For example, with Chati, we have ChatiConnect. The video chat tool allows for small breakout groups and both planned and spontaneous conversations.
Virtual networking has many benefits, but sharing your contact information safely and effectively is important. This starts with trust, as you don't want to share your contact information with someone who could use it against you. Online scammers are paid to steal contact information and then sell it to third parties, so you must have complete confidence in the person you're interacting with before you share contact information.
Another vital tip is managing and organizing contact information privately or publicly. Either method means providing a short, detailed list of your most pertinent contact information, which will garner a sense of professionalism for your network. This includes email signatures, your LinkedIn profile, and social media pages, to name a few.
Pay attention to the importance of continuous improvement. While your goal is to build your virtual network, you are also looking for ways to improve yourself personally and professionally. This can be accomplished through a simple conversation or over the long-term through countless conversations you will have while building your network.
It's vital to stay ahead of the curve in virtual networking. This includes keeping your information up to date on social media platforms, specifically LinkedIn, where your entire CV/résumé is publicly available. You can regularly update your other social media platforms to reflect title changes, new positions, promotions, accolades, awards, and more!
At Chati, we pride ourselves on building connections and fostering professional relationships for both the short and long term. Within a Chati event, our internal virtual networking platform, ChatiConnect, helps facilitate meaningful connections throughout the event and in small group breakout sessions. Chat messaging is also effective, but video chats like ChatiConnect give those interested in networking that personal touch often lost in translation from in-person to virtual events.
Whether your goals are to build your brand or your network, it's vital to understand the importance of virtual networking and its benefits and strategies to achieve your networking goals. Additionally, it's vital to remember that you're here to learn, grow, and improve, both personally and professionally, while sharing ideas and fostering connections for both the short- and long-term, which includes safely sharing your contact information while keeping it up to date. At Chati, you can accomplish your networking goals with our myriad of tools and resources, and we hope you come away from this feeling more confident than ever that you can meet your networking goals!
Sources: Chati, Digital Road, Forum One, Princeton University, HubSpot, Government of Canada, Chati (1), Chati (2)
At Chati, we strive to create the most impactful and engaging online learning experiences for everyone. We wholeheartedly believe that personal engagement matters in online education and is critical to its success. Our platform promotes online educational communities that foster connectivity and inclusivity for everyone. Here, we offer a step-by-step guide to setting the stage for engaging online learning, which includes establishing goals and objectives, targeting the right audience, incorporating multimedia aspects, and much more.
When building your online learning experience, defining the critical elements of online engagement will ensure your attendees have the most successful and engaging experience possible. These online engagement elements include social, emotional, collaborative, behavioral, and cognitive engagement. Understanding how these elements work together can ensure a successful online learning experience for everyone.
Another aspect to consider when building your virtual education event is recognizing the benefits of engaged online learning, which includes flexibility regarding both time and potential workspaces and reduces financial obligations commonly incurred when attending an in-person event, seminar, or educational session.
Setting clear objectives and goals is the first step in achieving successful online experiences. Your goals form the foundation for organizing your online experience, including webinars and virtual or hybrid events. For instance, is the objective to build your brand, attendance numbers, or something else? Setting clear objectives and goals will ensure a seamless online learning experience for everyone.
For any speaking engagement, the first rule is to know your audience, and creating online learning experiences is no different. For instance, is your target audience from industry or academia? Entry-level employees, seasoned industry professionals, undergraduates, or graduate students? What are their objectives for this online learning experience? Are they attending to gain knowledge or network? These questions are key to understanding your target audience, enabling you to create a successful and engaging online experience for everyone.
Once you've understood your target audience, the next step is designing engaging content, which you can do by incorporating multimedia, videos, and simulations to give your attendees the most engaging experience possible. Examples include Q&A sessions, breakout rooms, one-on-one chat sessions, speaking engagements, interactive videos, quizzes, polls, gamification, and more. Incorporating multimedia into your online experience creates an environment that offers creativity, inclusivity, and knowledge-sharing for everyone.
The overarching goal of any online learning experience is to foster collaboration and peer interaction, regardless of the brand goals and objectives you established beforehand. Through this, you establish an environment where inclusivity and engagement are at the forefront of your online learning experience, where individuals from all over the world can come together and share knowledge for the betterment of everyone.
One way to accomplish this is through implementing discussion boards and virtual group activities, which allow your attendees to share knowledge and engage in either a small or large group setting. Through this, your attendees can engage in a comfortable environment of their choosing, which will enhance the online learning experience.
An important step to ensure a seamless online learning experience is formatting content for online consumption, as online experiences can differ from in-person experiences. There is a common feeling among virtual event attendees of experiencing a lack of connection. You can overcome this by implementing microlearning and bite-sized sessions since losing focus in an online environment is easy. Examples include having short paragraphs and using bullets, lists, and tables instead of long sentences and paragraphs in your presentations. Avoid using fancy lettering like italics and uppercase, and use boldface to highlight key parts of sentences.
To complement the multimedia aspect discussed above, hosting live webinars, virtual lectures, and synchronous sessions will help make your online learning experience much more engaging and successful for everyone. These offer an extra layer of interaction that might not be accomplished through Q&A or live chat sessions, as the goal is to enhance engagement with as many tools as possible.
To ensure the most successful online learning experience possible, tracking learner interaction and participation metrics is one way to ensure your attendees are engaging and connecting at levels that will enable them to achieve their networking and knowledge-sharing goals. As discussed above, you can track metrics through artificial intelligence software or even live chats with support channels. You can also use your virtual event platforms' built-in analytics systems. For instance, Chati offers an analytics dashboard that lets you monitor real-time event performance.
All events require feedback for improvement, and obtaining constructive feedback on assessments by your attendees will ensure the success of future online learning experiences. Try sending post-event surveys and emails immediately after the event or at a later date, as your attendees might have additional input and be given more time to consider the event.
Another way to gain timely feedback is through virtual office hours and online support channels. Through this, your attendees can have the chance to share feedback one-on-one with appropriate personnel without waiting for an email response sometime later.
This step-by-step guide will help empower you to create engaging online learning experiences for individuals from a myriad of diverse backgrounds, personally and professionally. With the right goals and objectives, tools, and execution, you will enable your attendees to foster connections and build relationships through the power of online learning experiences, which will lead to enhanced inclusivity and connectivity for everyone.
Sources: Times Higher Education, LinkedIn, Empire State University
Chati recently presented a guide to planning hybrid events in 2024. Here, we will discuss how hybrid events encompass the best of both in-person and virtual aspects of an event or conference to enable the best opportunity for inclusivity and connectivity on a global scale.
Over the past few years, virtual events have become mainstream in networking and building connections. However, in-person events still hold benefits, primarily due to the real-life engagement aspect. Unfortunately, not everyone can attend in-person events for many possible reasons, including financial or logistical, and this is where hybrid events shine.
In this age of virtual networking, embracing a dual approach towards networking will enable you to reach levels of engagement and connectivity like never before, and this can be accomplished through hybrid events where you can meet people in real life or connect with them virtually. Embracing the dual approach makes hybrid events crucial in both the short- and long-term.
Hybrid events enable event organizers to amplify audience reach and engagement during and after the event. This is due to the ability to connect individuals from around the world, as 47 percent of event hosts believe that hybrid events are the answer to bringing people together from around the world. Other characteristics include offering the choice of attending in-person or virtually while increasing attendee engagement rates since some of your attendees might still be hesitant to attend in person because of COVID-19.
Hybrid events help bridge the gap between physical and digital audiences so individuals worldwide maximize their engagement and connectivity. Along with being hesitant to attend in-person events due to COVID-19, attendees might also be unable to attend due to a physical disability or financial instability, and hybrid events enable these individuals to seamlessly attend your event and engage with in-person individuals so they can share the experience.
The primary goal of hybrid events is crafting content to engage both audiences, which will increase engagement and enable your attendees to improve their networking skills while building connections and fostering relationships for both the short- and long-term. For example, guest speakers should be able to engage with both audiences seamlessly. At the same time, breakout rooms and gamification features allow both audiences to engage with each other seamlessly.
Through this, your hybrid event will maximize interaction and participation across all channels, leading to greater levels of inclusivity, diversity, and engagement for individuals worldwide.
Addressing technical and logistical considerations is vital for all endeavors, but hybrid events are especially important since organizers are balancing two different audiences. For example, guest speakers require the ability to convey their message while engaging with both audiences, which brings more challenges for your virtual audience, as ensuring all internet connections are functioning properly will allow your virtual audience to engage simultaneously with your in-person audience. Other technical and logistical challenges are to consider providing resources for the seeing- and hearing-impaired, which need to be addressed for both audiences.
For these reasons and many more, balancing engagement and interaction across in-person and virtual formats is essential to achieve the most successful hybrid event. Through this, event organizers can maximize engagement, connectivity, inclusivity, and diversity on a global scale.
Chati has emphasized in numerous blogs the importance of tracking engagement metrics for webinars and virtual events, making this practice even more important for hybrid events as event organizers are responsible for in-person and virtual attendees. However, the same tracking methods used for webinars and virtual events can easily be used for the virtual aspects of hybrid events, including those collected via artificial intelligence. You can even periodically engage with your attendees to ensure they’re getting the most out of your hybrid event.
In addition to tracking engagement metrics, Chati has frequently discussed the importance of extracting valuable insights from attendee feedback, and this aspect is even more important for hybrid events as organizers are balancing two audiences instead of one, with attendees engaging from all over the world. This feedback can be accomplished through post-event surveys, which are encouraged to be sent out immediately as soon as possible once the hybrid event concludes so the event is still fresh in your attendees’ minds. Additionally, follow-up emails a few weeks to a few months after the event allow your attendees to provide additional feedback if they missed something in the post-event surveys.
At Chati, we encourage all event organizers to unleash the power of hybrid events, which encompass the best of both in-person and virtual events, into a fun and engaging experience for individuals worldwide. From creating memorable experiences to overcoming technical and logistical challenges to monitoring engagement metrics and post-event feedback, we are confident you will walk away from this better prepared to host a successful hybrid event for years to come.
Sources: Chati, Interprefy, WorkCast, Frameable, Cvent, Socio Labs, Chati (1)
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the world's population to reshape their lives as everyone stayed indoors to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The result was that traditional, in-person events, where networking was the priority, quickly became virtual-only events. In this post-Covid world, many of these events have returned to being in-person while continuing to include a virtual aspect. These 'hybrid' events are rapidly becoming the new norm for networking. A recent survey found that 66.5% of event professionals predicted that hybrid events will be incorporated into all future event strategies.
Due to geographic boundaries and financial costs, many would-be event attendees worldwide are unable to attend in-person events. These factors alone highlight the increased relevance of blending physical and virtual events. With a hybrid approach, your event can increase inclusivity and diversity, which will build stronger relationships and foster connectivity for both the short- and long-term. As we enter 2024, it's essential to understand not only the fiscal benefits of going hybrid but also how to develop successful and effective hybrid events. Here, we will discuss the steps to create a truly successful hybrid event in 2024.
Hybrid events offer many benefits compared to strictly virtual or in-person events, including extended reach, improved engagement, and flexibility. Much like virtual events, hybrid events break down geographic barriers so individuals have the choice to attend in-person or virtually. Adding virtual components opens the door to those who may be unable to attend due to geographic, financial, or scheduling circumstances.
By harnessing the power of both worlds, hybrid events provide greater inclusivity, engagement, and networking opportunities that virtual or in-person events can't provide on their own. Additionally, they provide an opportunity for first-time attendees to "dip their toes" into your brand, allowing them to attend in person for future events.
When planning your hybrid event, understanding and catering to physical and virtual attendees are crucial for your success. Maintaining equal engagement levels for both audiences is complicated but vital. For instance, if you are hybridizing a conference, a good starting point is to include strong and consistent live-streaming with a reliable internet connection so your virtual audience can engage with speakers and in-person audience members in real-time.
Like all events, hybrid events require tailored content and engagement to meet the needs of both virtual and in-person attendees. Provide resources for the seeing- and hearing-impaired and opportunities for individuals in various time zones to participate through easily accessible taped talks, real-time captioning, multi-lingual captioning, and landing pages or virtual event spaces that can be easily converted from text to speech/audio.
Selecting a venue that supports physical and virtual components is vital when planning your hybrid event. If considering a hybrid element, make sure the venue you choose has a reliable internet connection, AV accessibility, and adequate facilities for the on-site virtual event management staff. With these features, your virtual audience may experience a more engaging event.
All successful hybrid events require effective event management practices, beginning with registration, ticketing, and attendee support for both audiences. When promoting your event, providing a seamless registration process provides your attendees with an excellent first impression of your event. Ongoing attendee support ensures attendees that the event is effectively managed. Peace of mind in the little things makes a huge difference for both audiences.
The importance of a seamless attendee experience must be noticed and addressed, from the registration page to the sessions to the post-event feedback. When your attendees have the most seamless experience possible, they leave your event with a sense of fulfillment and are excited for your future events.
Since some of your hybrid event attendees will inevitably be virtual, it's vital to consider the various time zones they will be attending from. Some attendees will not be able to see certain sessions live, so it's recommended to provide archived sessions on-demand so they can view them later, either during the event or afterward. Having streamed sessions available on-demand ensures a wider reach for your content and allows attendees to view content they would otherwise have missed.
Additional strategies for accommodating global participants include captioning available in multiple languages, flexible scheduling, and 24-hour virtual support.
Regarding enhancing attendee engagement and interaction, breakout rooms offer enormous opportunities to foster small group discussions and networking for in-person and virtual audiences. This is because breakout rooms are exactly as their name describes, as a break from the chaos and large crowds of the event and an opportunity to breathe and engage one-on-one with other audience members, which increases inclusivity and diversity while building lasting relationships and fostering valuable connections. Virtual match-making allows those with shared interests to meet and interact with one another when they may otherwise feel left out of the in-person experience.
Hybrid events thrive on live interaction and engagement between in-person and virtual audiences, and the value of live Q&A sessions for attendee engagement cannot be overstated. Live interaction allows both audiences to share and learn from each other, building relationships and fostering connections for both the short- and long-term.
When facilitating interactive Q&A sessions, it's vital to maintain a sense of direction and order, as having the right session host or chairperson can help keep everyone on the same page and allow everyone the opportunity to interact equally, whether from the virtual or in-person audience.
Taking advantage of the social media landscape is vital to a successful hybrid event. This can include using your company's social media pages to promote and broadcast the event and creating alternative social media pages for various event components. The myriad of social media platforms, including Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram, Bluesky, and Mastodon, to name a few, makes it possible to target your audience effectively and interact with them in a familiar and friendly environment.
By harnessing the power of social media, your hybrid event and your brand can amplify real-time interaction for virtual and in-person audiences worldwide. This can be accomplished through live streaming on social media platforms or encouraging direct messaging if you wish to engage with an attendee one-on-one.
Collecting and analyzing data during and after the event will provide valuable feedback regarding engagement and logistical metrics, ensuring your attendees from both aspects of the event obtain equal engagement and networking opportunities. This includes ensuring strong and consistent live-streaming capabilities for your virtual audience and seamless engagement with in-person attendees.
All endeavors require feedback to ensure success going forward, and obtaining feedback for hybrid events is crucial since there are two different types of audiences you're helping. This can be conducted with post-event surveys and emails, but also provide contact information in case your attendees might remember aspects of the event later.
Successful feedback will not only ensure your latest event's success. Still, it will also inform future hybrid events on what steps need to be taken to ensure maximum engagement, inclusivity, and diversity for attendees worldwide.
Hybrid events have become a cornerstone to networking and engagement, especially in this post-Covid world, and following these strategies will ensure that 2024 will have even more successful hybrid events that improve inclusivity, diversity, and engagement for everyone. This includes providing appropriate venues, technological and logistical readiness, catering to your audience's needs, and receiving relevant feedback from your audience, both virtually and in person.
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, future trends and hybrid event experiences will also continue to evolve. With these strategies, you can ensure solid and impactful hybrid events through 2024 and beyond!
Sources: Impact XM, Stova, Deal Room, vFairs, Airmeet, MeetingPulse
With virtual events becoming one of the mainstream ways to network and build connections worldwide, setting the stage for successful virtual events is vital to ensuring the highest levels of engagement and connection-building for both the organizers and attendees.
Here, we will discuss the importance of planning a virtual event like a pro, from event planning and promotion to event design to execution to feedback. Understanding these steps will ensure you achieve the highest levels of engagement, connectivity, and inclusivity for everyone.
When planning your virtual event, identifying goals and objectives is critical to achieving the highest level of success for everyone. Asking questions like, what are we trying to accomplish for the short and long term, how will we achieve it, and what impact will we make will not only ensure a successful virtual event but will help you achieve the maximum possible engagement levels and connectivity for everyone.
A primary starting point is understanding the purpose of your event. Are you trying to help your attendees improve their networking skills, advance their careers, or provide valuable information or education that could help them personally or professionally? Once you understand your event's purpose, you can plan and promote it more easily.
Once you identify goals and objectives and understand the event's purpose, the next step is determining the scale of the event, which will allow you to establish how many attendees you will be hosting. This ensures that you target the right audience with the necessary level of engagement and promotion without going overboard on the logistics before, during, and after the event.
All successful events have successful teams behind the scenes, and this begins with establishing the role of a project manager, sometimes known as the virtual event planner, whose role is to ensure everything runs smoothly from start to finish. This includes ensuring all team members are on the same page and carefully documenting all aspects of the planning and implementation of the virtual event, as well. The most essential characteristic of the project manager is to stay in constant communication with all team members to ensure that everything stays on track from start to finish.
Once a project manager is assigned, the next step is building a well-rounded team assigned to different aspects of the virtual event, from promotion and planning to event design and execution to how feedback will be collected and documented. No matter how small the task, a well-rounded team will successfully contribute to the success of the virtual event from start to finish.
Virtual events aim to achieve the highest level of engagement and connectivity for everyone; you can accomplish this by designing engaging team-building activities to create camaraderie among your attendees. Team-building activities allow your attendees to network and build connections through interpersonal engagement and interaction, which can foster connections and build inclusive relationships for everyone.
Incorporating real-time interactions is another method to develop engaging content and activities, as this offers your attendees the opportunity for live discussions and knowledge-sharing, which will only achieve the highest level of engagement and inclusivity for everyone. Through these real-time interactions, your attendees can hone their networking skills while learning from many individuals worldwide.
One strategy for a successful virtual event is leveraging happy hours and face-to-face moments with your attendees, which will allow them to engage and interact with each other in a more personal and relaxed setting. Face-to-face communication also offers attendees increased knowledge-sharing and enables them to learn from each other more personally.
While the project manager's job is to ensure all team members are on the same page through the planning and execution of the virtual event, the marketing manager's role is essential in promoting the event. This includes ensuring they target the right audience, streamlined registration, and sending invites to all attendees leading up to the event.
Successful event promotions ensure you are maximizing brand awareness both leading up to the event and through the event, as the goal is to build connections among your attendees while building your brand, which will ensure your attendees will return for future events you might host.
Social media has become a part of our daily lives, and harnessing the power of social media for promoting your virtual event cannot be understated. This includes using company social media pages, such as X, Instagram, or Facebook, to promote your event and even having a social media account solely dedicated to your virtual event, especially if the event is part of a series.
Throughout the virtual event, monitoring and gathering data on attendee engagement and audience interaction is paramount for achieving the most impactful and successful virtual event. This can be accomplished either by your team members or through artificial intelligence and will ensure your attendees achieve the highest level of engagement and connectivity possible.
Another way to ensure a successful virtual event is by evaluating the impact of the team-building activities to ensure everyone has the highest level of engagement and connectivity. Determining which activities are the most and least impactful will ensure your attendees are engaged while setting the stage for successful virtual events.
A significant step to ensure you continue to have successful virtual events is analyzing post-event data and feedback from your team and attendees. Feedback surveys sent via email or within your event platform are an excellent way to collect feedback immediately following the event. It's best to do this quickly following your event so the information is fresh in everyone's minds and you receive the most valuable information as fast as possible.
One area to focus on is identifying areas for improvement; this includes everything from event planning and promotion to targeting audiences to event management and even how you collect feedback. Concentrating on improvement will ensure you build the best team and host the most impactful event in the future, ensuring more significant levels of engagement and connection-building for everyone.
When planning a virtual event like a pro, having the right team and objectives in place will ensure a smoother and more successful virtual event, from event planning and promotion to event design to execution to feedback. Through this, you ensure the maximum level of engagement and interaction for your attendees and allow them the best opportunity for networking and connectivity with individuals from all over the world. We encourage event planners to embrace these best practices when planning a virtual event like a pro, which will ensure connectivity and inclusivity remain a top priority for everyone.
Sources: Cvent, Wrike, EventBuilder, Think Orion, Attendee Interactive, The Social Media Hat
Conferences and seminars have always been the cornerstone of networking and fostering lasting connections. However, technological advancements combined with the Covid-19 pandemic have contributed to the evolving events landscape. This has enabled individuals from around the globe to embrace virtual and hybrid events and give rise to virtual networking.
As virtual networking continues to take hold, there are still enormous benefits to attending in-person events, most importantly the human aspect of networking. This is why hybrid events have entered the mainstream, allowing individuals to choose what works best financially or socially.
As their name implies, hybrid events combine in-person and virtual events where individuals can capture the same level of engagement and networking opportunities across the globe. They are significant in scope and reachability while offering the same benefits as in-person or virtual events alone.
Hybrid events aim to help bridge the gap between in-person and virtual experiences, thus enabling the same rewards, such as inclusivity, networking, and fostering lasting connections. The primary goal of any event is to meet people and build your brand, and hybrid events have a proven track record of accomplishing this across the globe and all disciplines and backgrounds.
When enhancing audience engagement, you must create a welcoming and exciting environment for everyone. This includes targeting the right audience depending on the topic of your hybrid event, along with having appropriate speakers and sessions that keep your attendees engaged and longing for more.
Additionally, examples of maintaining audience engagement throughout your hybrid event include breakout rooms and interactive sessions, which allow your attendees to engage and interact with each other in smaller settings away from the larger conference group. This allows your attendees to have more targeted discussions and networking opportunities that you might not get in larger settings.
Chati recently explored the environmental impact, specifically carbon footprints, from in-person events, such as travel, waste, and food production. In contrast, virtual events offer significant environmental benefits that help mitigate those issues. However, since hybrid events are in-person, environmental concerns should be addressed to mitigate those concerns.
Since hybrid events are partially in-person, steps can be taken to mitigate environmental concerns, including choosing an appropriate venue, eco-friendly supplies, and materials, enhancing your technology and equipment, and evaluating your environmental impact and performance.
Like all events, hybrid events require proper planning and promotion to ensure their short- and long-term success. One method of promotion is through social media, which has become one of the cornerstone methods in building brands and connections across the globe. While promoting a hybrid event can primarily be accomplished through company social media pages, it’s vital to remember that balance is key, as oversaturating your social media feed with your event could turn people away. Therefore, periodic posts are likely the best way to promote your event for the best results.
While social media posts can be an effective way to promote your hybrid event, video streaming can enhance your promotional strategies through a more engaging approach, which could keep past attendees and add new ones.
Like all events, hybrid events are successful through analyzing event impact and engagement metrics, both during and after the event. Through this, organizers can learn the best strategies for enhancing attendee engagement and receive appropriate feedback on how future hybrid events can be improved.
While tracking engagement metrics during the event is crucial, developing and executing strategies for post-event engagement is even more important to keep attendees informed and coming back for future events. This includes personalized emails to attendees thanking them for attending, saying you hope to see them again, and providing a brief overview of the event’s highlights.
Additional strategies for post-event engagement also include collecting attendee feedback for improvement on future events. This can be accomplished through email or immediate surveys to collect feedback as soon as possible so the event is fresh in your attendees’ minds.
Hybrid events are here to stay, and embracing evolving trends in hybrid event planning will benefit organizers and attendees worldwide. While the overall goal involves bridging the gap between in-person and virtual events, this can be accomplished by targeting the right audience, proper planning, and promotion, keeping attendees engaged with breakout sessions and speakers, and receiving appropriate feedback through surveys and emails.
For these reasons, we are encouraging event organizers to embrace hybrid events, as hybrid events provide the same level of inclusivity, engagement, and networking potential as in-person or virtual events alone. When hybrid events are embraced, they can redefine event engagement in the future.
EventTx, Freeman, WeMobi, LinkedIn, Event Builder, dacast
While attending in-person events can seem uneventful from an environmental perspective, the amount of carbon emissions produced by air travel, waste, and food production that occurs while you’re en-route, attending, and departing the event is exacerbated depending on the size of the event.
The significance of reducing the carbon footprint of events must be considered, as the reduction would have several positive impacts on the environment, including mitigating climate change, stimulating the global economy, improving public health, and sustaining worldwide biodiversity. The less we are required to travel, the fewer negative impacts on the environment while enhancing the positive effects.
For these reasons, transitioning to virtual and hybrid formats for events has become crucial in the fight against climate change and reducing carbon footprints worldwide. Through virtual and hybrid events, we reduce the need to travel and reduce waste and food production, leading to a cleaner climate and environment for everyone.
Carbon emissions and greenhouse gases are the primary drivers of climate change. Human-caused (anthropogenic) carbon emissions and greenhouse gases come from burning fossil fuels, which produce carbon dioxide (CO2) and contribute to air pollution, which drives climate change by warming the Earth’s atmosphere. All this together is known as a carbon footprint.
One definition of a carbon footprint is “the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, event or product.” This includes automobiles, factories, airplanes, and food production, to name a few. The carbon emissions these activities produce contribute to the global carbon footprint.
If carbon emissions contribute to climate change, carbon neutrality has the opposite effect, including reduced environmental pollution while improving public health and economic growth. Carbon neutrality also contributes to increased biodiversity while improving food security by reducing the impact of climate change on the environment.
As noted above, traditional events result in high energy consumption and environmental consequences through travel, waste, and food production. Some reports have estimated that 70 to 90 percent of the total carbon emissions from attending an event comes from travel alone, with each attendee accounting for 400 pounds of carbon emissions per day. This number can reach 2,000 pounds per day if substantial travel is required.
These environmental consequences pose significant challenges for event organizers. While their priority is hosting a successful event, they must also account for the ecological impact their event will have. For example, the location of their event might benefit some attendees for travel while burdening others. If the event has tens of thousands of attendees, the organizers must ensure they have the right amount of food for everyone. Ultimately, this leads to a large carbon footprint for everyone.
To help mitigate the environmental impacts and organizational challenges of hosting traditional events, virtual conferences and hybrid events offer a cleaner and more efficient method of bringing people together worldwide without the need for travel, waste, and massive food production.
The advantages of virtual event platforms include reduced—if not completely mitigated—travel requirements and reduced waste and food production while maintaining the same level of inclusivity and engagement as traditional events.
Virtual and hybrid events have become the mainstream method for meeting the needs of an international conference. This is because they break down geographic barriers and successfully reduce carbon emissions from the reduced travel, waste, and food production that traditional events require. Additionally, virtual and hybrid events offer the same level of inclusivity and engagement as conventional events.
There are enormous benefits of virtual conferences for the environment. For example, a single-day virtual event with 200 attendees results in 66 times fewer carbon emissions than if that same event was held in person. A virtual conference with 5000 attendees also helps reduce carbon emissions, equivalent to 158 American households annually.
Virtual and hybrid events can help event organizers and attendees lower their energy consumption, leading to a cleaner and healthier future for everyone. This comes from reduced travel, waste, and food production while maintaining the same level of engagement and inclusivity that traditional events offer.
While traditional events contribute to carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, and ultimately, a large carbon footprint and increased climate change, virtual and hybrid events can ensure that carbon footprints are significantly reduced worldwide. By utilizing virtual and hybrid events, attendees and event organizers contribute to a carbon-neutral future, decreasing pollution and increasing public health.
Sources: Impactful Ninja, Our World In Data, University of Michigan, Iberdrola, BeaconLive, Chati, Chati (1), IEEE
As noted in previous blogs, virtual events offer an enormous opportunity to break down geographic barriers while fostering connections, building your brand, and increasing inclusivity for everyone. Marketing your virtual event effectively is vital to increase your brand and reach the global community. Here, we discuss the steps you can take to properly market your virtual event through ads, e-mails, social media, and much more to meet your virtual event marketing goals.
Several key elements contribute to a successful virtual event marketing campaign, including identifying and reaching a wider audience, using your website to communicate your virtual event's value, choosing the correct time to begin event promotions, maintaining your marketing strategy throughout the process (i.e., before, during, and after the virtual event), involving multiple sponsors and speakers, and offering incentives for attending your virtual event.
Below, we take you through Chati's top four virtual event marketing strategies:
One method to promote your virtual event is through Google Ads, the largest provider of online search advertising. There are currently more than 2 million Google Ad accounts, which collectively reach over 2 million websites. With Google being the most visited search domain in the world at more than 106 billion hits, Google Ads is the primary method to market your virtual event.
To ensure your virtual event gets the proper recognition, make sure to optimize Google Ads, including keywords that users can search to find your virtual event, leveraging assets (previously called ad extensions) that enable your marketing campaign to go beyond the basics and reach the right target audience, and taking advantage of specialized platforms, to name a few.
With e-mail being the primary form of online communication, utilizing e-mail marketing efficiently and effectively is increasingly important. E-mail marketing allows you to stay connected with your target audience, engage with them in real time, and increase brand awareness, to name a few.
Some of the best strategies for creating engaging event-related e-mail campaigns include personalized messages, mobile-friendly e-mails, automated e-mails, creative subject lines, and timeliness, to name a few. Be sure to speak to your audience authentically; almost 50% of e-mails are categorized as spam, and you want to avoid ending up in the junk folder.
Additional e-mail marketing strategies include highlighting speakers, easy signup processes, event invite reminders, adding e-mail testimonials from past virtual events you hosted, last-minute invites and reminders, and much more. You can reach the right target audience through these strategies with timely promotion leading to the virtual event.
Social media has become a critical aspect of our daily lives, with several platforms to choose from where you can engage with your global audience. As of April 2023, an estimated 4.8 billion people use social media in some capacity, and because of this global reach, social media marketing has become one of the primary methods of promoting an event.
There are two advertising methods to consider when designing a social media marketing campaign: organic and paid advertising, both with their benefits and drawbacks. For example, while an organic social media campaign utilizes your social media pages to market your campaign, saving you money on paid advertising, these posts are limited to your followers. In contrast, paid social media advertising is when you pay social media companies (i.e., Facebook, Instagram, etc.) to share your content on their respective pages, which can reach beyond your personal or business pages. We recommend combining both strategies, as you can promote quality content to a broader audience while remaining true to your core audience who follow your accounts.
Search engine optimization (SEO) has become a cornerstone for marketing strategies because search engines like Google aren't perfect. Therefore, optimizing your search criteria is a great way to ensure your virtual event marketing can achieve its maximum potential. Through SEO, you can identify your target audience, focusing on keywords you think your attendees will use when searching for your virtual event. If you need extra help identifying these keywords, keyword research tools like SEM Rush can help narrow your options.
SEO can improve your event website's visibility through lead generation and increased organic traffic. By optimizing your on-page SEO, your brand can stand out from the crowded digital landscape and help you acquire consistent, qualified, and organic traffic. This will ensure you target the right audience for your virtual event while maximizing your promotion potential.
Virtual events aim to build your brand and foster lasting connections. With the right tools and strategies, such as Google Ads, e-mail marketing, social media marketing, and SEO, you can maximize your virtual event marketing potential and ensure your target audience returns for future virtual events.
Sources: Chati, Cvent, Digital Third Coast, HawkSEM, Site-Seeker, SuperOffice, GlueUp, Smart Insights, Hootsuite, vFairs, Salesmate
With an increasing number of companies shifting to a fully remote workplace, maintaining team cohesiveness is more important than ever. Remote work and its lack of in-person engagement run the risk of causing teams to experience social isolation and the potential blurring of work-life boundaries. Therefore, companies and workplaces must adopt strategic remote team-building methods specific to this type of work. Here, we will discuss how simple things like icebreakers and trivia games can help ensure a team is at the top of its game while providing the necessary level of cohesiveness and camaraderie.
Remote work allows for greater flexibility and increased productivity but can also lead to social isolation, with additional challenges including trouble communicating and time management. Like in-person work, remote employees also experience procrastination, but remote work can amplify these habits as many work from home and have access to things that promote procrastination. By increasing camaraderie and social interaction in the virtual workplace, you can reduce the likelihood of succumbing to these distractions and sources of procrastination.
Online games and icebreaker questions aim to alleviate social anxiety from working in a team and metaphorically 'break the ice,' that separates virtual team members who may have never met in person. Straightforward tasks geared towards helping your team get to know each other better lead to increased workplace engagement.
Several types of online games are suitable for remote teams, including virtual escape rooms, team-based video games, and collaborative online puzzles. Other possibilities include gift swaps, messy desk pics, social chat channels, and book clubs, to name a few. While some activities can be accomplished occasionally, others can be accomplished regularly. Balance is critical, and striking the right balance of games and trivia within the workplace will help build a more robust long-term team.
Examples of successful online game-based team-building activities include Pancakes vs Waffles, Virtual Pub Crawl, Typing Speed Race, Virtual Dance Party, Jackbox, and Spreadsheet Pixel Art, to name a few. Be sure to check virtual event companies like Chati for virtual team-building games that would suit the size and format of your team. These activities can be fun and impactful while requiring minimal effort in producing and engaging.
As the popularity of remote workplaces has increased, so has the popularity of virtual trivia games, which help bring people together while encouraging teamwork and promoting learning within the remote working environment. Additionally, virtual trivia games boost employee engagement, enhance problem-solving skills, and promote collaborative efforts among remote employees.
Successful virtual trivia sessions start with proper organization, framework, and goals, like all endeavors. This involves constant communication with your team regarding the time of the event and what the sessions hope to accomplish in the short- and long-term. An essential first step is to plan the virtual trivia event well in advance, possibly several weeks or months ahead, allowing your team plenty of time to prepare. Additionally, periodic reminders of the event are also helpful in allowing your team to come prepared the closer the event arrives.
A significant benefit of virtual trivia is that it promotes knowledge-sharing and camaraderie among remote employees, as the event provides your employees the rare opportunity to get to know each other and learn about each other, which only builds lasting connections, much like a virtual event or webinar.
The primary role of icebreaker questions in remote team meetings is to increase inclusivity, which builds team bonds and allows them to engage on a more personal level. These bonds will carry over into the workplace environment, leading to more success in daily practice.
Examples of creative icebreaker questions for virtual team sessions include:
The important note is to keep things simple with questions that spark conversation and engagement. These icebreaker questions can range from fun to awkward and can be catered to individuals based on interests you already know about. Just like virtual events and webinars, it's essential to receive feedback before the event to gauge what questions could impact cohesiveness and camaraderie most. Try sending out a survey to glean some preliminary information about the participants. Do several people enjoy reading? Video games? Cooking? Incorporate these elements into your icebreaker questions!
Real-time communication and engagement in remote work must be balanced, as constant contact is vital to successful business and team engagement. While Slack has become one of the most mainstream platforms for remote work, other platforms include Microsoft Teams, Discord, Google Chat, Troop Messenger, and Flock. Research shows that spontaneous conversation sparks novel ideas among co-workers. These platforms allow for real-time communication, ensuring a constant flow of information throughout the workplace and promoting these 'spontaneous' interactions.
Like virtual events and webinars, surveys and feedback are vital to gauging the impact of team-building efforts, maintaining camaraderie, and building cohesiveness among remote work employees and employers. A survey could inquire about their level of engagement and what aspects of the event they enjoy the most and which aspects the least. This feedback will also ensure the next virtual team-building event is much more successful.
While remote work has some drawbacks in terms of team bonding and engagement, virtual team-building exercises like online games, trivia, and icebreakers can increase inclusivity and camaraderie while building team cohesiveness for both the short- and long-term. When developing virtual team building activities, make sure to give your employees plenty of notice ahead of time while keeping the activities simple, along with getting appropriate feedback afterward.
The importance of team building cannot be overstated, and using team building activities will ensure employees are engaged and ready for the next challenge. Employees work the best when under the least stress, and virtual team-building activities are an excellent way to break the social isolation that comes with remote work while building camaraderie among everyone.
Sources: Calendar.com, HubSpot Blog, Atlassian, MuseumHack, MuseumHack 2, Funny-Business, Fortune
