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Live streaming is a great way to give an in-person feel to a virtual event. With live streaming, a virtual audience watches presenters in real time. At Chati, we recommend event hosts look for specific live streaming features and capabilities when planning their virtual event.
The top live video streaming services should offer:
All of these features can increase attendee and sponsor satisfaction, which means an increased return on your investment (ROI).
Projected event size factors into how to choose a live streaming service. For smaller events, look for a service that offers simple, straightforward tools. For larger events, look for services that offer more features, like those that help with event management, offer more variety in attendee engagement tools, and provide analytics that prove your event ROI.
Some popular websites like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube offer free live streaming services for businesses to better connect with their audiences. Businesses may use them to sell products and promote content to their customers or might share demos and educational content with other businesses they’re working with. While these platforms offer features like event scheduling, live chat, live polling, graphics sharing, and monetization through ad sharing, they don’t offer multi-streaming capabilities across other platforms—if you’re using Facebook, your content stays on just Facebook. These platforms also do not offer customer support, and they interrupt your audience’s streaming with ads. YouTube, however, does allow you to remove ads for a fee.
A hit virtual event can take your brand to a whole new level. How do you decide what kind of live streaming service is right for you? Chati recommends you consider the following factors:
Online events can be comfortable and convenient, but they can also be underwhelming without the right technology. If you’re hosting a virtual event, you don’t want it to be just another Zoom meeting where people listen to a presenter talk. You need a virtual event platform that’s fun and exciting, incorporates a large number of people, and keeps your audience engaged and glued to their screen.
A little background- a virtual event platform is an all-in-one technological tool that helps you give an in-person feel to a large-scale virtual event. It offers a way to organize and streamline your event using a variety of options and features and keeps your audience doing what’s at the heart of these events—socializing and interacting, even if they can’t all meet in person. Some features that virtual event platforms offer are: tools for event registration and ticketing, virtual networking opportunities, games, live streaming, polls, Q&As, and workshops.
Here are Chati’s must-have tips for making sure you’re picking a virtual event platform that makes your event a must-see production.
Knowing what’s important when selecting a virtual event platform can make all the difference in your experience as a virtual event host. Chati is a highly scalable, customizable, and user-friendly virtual event platform with demos available. We organize virtual event features for you so your vision for audience engagement comes to life seamlessly on the screen.
Hybrid events offer the best of both worlds. They give event organizers the chance to reach a wider audience and attendees the option of attending however they’re more comfortable, in person or virtually. But what’s an event organizer to do to pull off the best hybrid event and make all attendees feel engaged and included? Read on for tips on what you can do and how hybrid events can be used to your advantage.
First Steps First, Planning a Hybrid Event
Make sure your event doesn’t fall short on technology. Event platforms like Chati can offer vital features for event planners to simulate that in-person experience in the virtual world:
If your budget allows, having two separate teams plan for the in-person and virtual aspects of the event can help streamline the event-planning process.
An event checklist can also help make sure you’ve dotted your “i’s” and crossed your “t’s”. Some things to include on the checklist:
Creating Suspense
Don’t save virtual footage for only virtual attendees the day of the event. Use technology to your advantage to get people interested and boost event ticket sales. Play on the fear of missing out with sneak peeks of the event in the form of warm-up sessions in the weeks leading up to the event.
The Day of the Event
You’ve planned your event, now you’re ready to see it through. First up, registration. For virtual goers, have a registration suite. For in-person attendees, have a check-in area with printed badges and Although a well-planned event is sure to captivate its audience, attendees may need a break to step away for a bit. Keep them tuned in wherever they go with mobile apps that allow them to access footage on other devices.
In terms of content, don’t just stream presentations from the in-person event to the virtual audience and call it a hybrid event. Re-create an in-person experience in a virtual world while making virtual attendees feel like they’re there in person. Do provide streams of the in-person event, but also offer virtual attendees their own exclusive content. This can include having them join in on the in-person Q&A sessions or having their own Q&A sessions, roundtables, live polls, and VIP networking. If both groups join in on the same Q&A session, you may choose to have a camera that pans in on the person asking the question at the physical venue and/or give virtual attendees the chance to ask questions live on camera, too.
For in-person attendees, when keynote speakers swap out, they normally can network with each other or sponsors. What’s a virtual attendee to do during these breaks? Give them similar opportunities. Encourage them to network with other virtual but also onsite attendees using mobile event apps. Show content from sponsors or offer them entertainment or games to keep them reeled in. Entertainment ideas can get creative—think DJs, comedians, and trivia questions.
Last but not least, don’t forget the swag. What’s an event without free stuff? And what better way to get your brand out there than to stamp it on this free stuff? Virtual attendees can also partake in the swag excitement. Mail them their swag before the event starts so they’ll have it by the event. Use a virtual photo booth where virtual attendees can show off their swag.
A Hybrid Event’s Lasting Impression
Not only do they let your attendees experience the event their way, but hybrid events give your brand greater outreach and scope with the larger audience. It’s a win-win. Plus, with virtual data collection easily incorporated through your event platform, you get concrete results on your ROI you can use when promoting your brand to sponsors for future events.
The sponsorship package, what would an event be without it? It’s that all-important, mutually beneficial relationship between an event host and sponsors who contribute to an event. Sponsors give hosts an increased budget to pull off a top-notch event. Hosts, in return, give sponsors an opportunity to get their name out there and increase their customer base.
But how does an event planner go about finding sponsors and convincing them to participate in their event? Start with an irresistible event sponsorship package. Here’s how.
Find the Right Event Sponsors for Your Event
Do your research on potential sponsors first. Understand how they want to market themselves so you can explain how your sponsorship package will help them. You also need to nail the explanation of your event in a way that captures its main purpose and complements your target sponsor’s objectives.
Base your sponsor search on how well their business aligns with yours, meaning you should focus on the quality rather than the quantity of sponsors.
Social media platforms can prove useful tools in searching for sponsors.
Make Potential Sponsors an Offer They Can’t Refuse
That irresistible sponsorship package needs to outline clear-cut, tangible benefits for each sponsor, and that starts with a great pitch. The proper way to go about it includes pitching verbally in person or on a call or sending a written proposal.
Pitches should be engaging, comprehensive in scope, and specific about what the event has to offer the sponsor and how your event in particular sets you apart from the competition. When possible, provide testimonials from past sponsors.
A good pitch provides a detailed event description, attendee demographics, like age, job title, and location, and specific examples of how sponsors will gain attendees’ attention to increase their visibility.
Make Sponsors the Center of Attention
Visibility, visibility, and more visibility. Ways to offer sponsors more visibility through partnership with you:
You can also take a more creative approach in offering sponsors the spotlight, especially if your sponsors are in creative industries. This may look like art installations and exhibits to show off their products, a chance to entertain the audience if they’re from the entertainment industry, or food recipes or workout sessions for attendees to take part in.
Communicate a Clear Return on Investment (ROI)
You can offer sponsors a good explanation of your common interests and how you’ll increase their visibility, but you also need to give them investment options for their comfort levels and clear-cut examples of the return on their investment in your event.
You can take a couple of different approaches when asking them to invest: the tiered model or the a la carte model.
The tiered model lets sponsors pick from a sliding scale how much they wish to contribute. At higher contribution levels, sponsors get better access and promotional opportunities. By doing so, a tiered model gives sponsors a chance to feel more exclusive, can bring in a wider range of sponsors since it gives them varying levels of participation, and provides a clear distinction between different sponsor packages and pricing.
The a la carte option is more flexible and isn’t on a set scale. It lets sponsors customize their package to suit their individual goals and can make it easier for sponsors to track their ROI based on those goals.
Whatever approach is taken, when pitching your event to potential sponsors, make sure to be as specific as possible with ROI talk. Tell them what percentage of attendees are projected to become customers, estimate the lifetime value of each customer, give figures on how much they can expect to make through the increase in customer base.
Be direct and detailed on what your event can offer your sponsors, and you’re sure to have that irresistible event sponsorship package that sets you apart from the rest.
Virtual conferences allow event organizers to utilize new technology and to reach a larger audience. While virtual conferences open the door to exciting technological possibilities, a poorly executed event can leave participants feeling less engaged that an in-person event. Here are eleven tips for engaging your audience and boosting online attendance:
1.) Invest in an event website
Invest in an event website that highlights the conference’s content and events. This website will act as the main hub for attendees to learn about the conference and navigate to events. A strong foundation is crucial to keep guests engaged and in the loop.
2.) Tease the content
In most cases, the expectation of high-quality content is the main reason guests are attending your event. One way of indicating to participants that the content will be high quality is by giving them a glimpse of the content beforehand. Hosting exclusive written interviews with event speakers on the event website or linking to a recording of their previous talks will get attendees excited about attending the event.
3.) Ensure the conference goes off without a hitch
Given the number of virtual meetings and events in the last few years, audiences have high standards when it comes to the technical aspect of a virtual conference. Preparation is key in ensuring there are no technical difficulties or distracting background noises. Work with speakers to make sure they have a distraction-free location for their events. Event planners can also work with an IT professional to do a dry-run of the event and check that there are no issues with internet connectivity.
4.) Plan industry announcements around the event
Conference attendees want to feel that an event is in touch with their industry. If there are exciting new technologies, re-organizations, or news affecting the industry, save these announcements for the conference. This will create a feeling of industry relevance and will make your conference feel like the place to be.
5.) Give guests a platform to interact with each other
At an in-person conference, attendees can discuss the event in real time and have organic conversations about panels. To recreate the experience virtually, Slack and other communications platforms allow guests to interact with each other in an environment only open to attendees. These platforms facilitate networking between event attendees and help to replicate the in-person experience.
6.) Provide real-time updates on social media
Using Twitter and the event website, provide updates on what is happening at the conference. Having a dedicated employee or team to cover the main talking points of the conference will help with visibility among conference attendees and among those not attending.
7.) Use an event hashtag
Whether on Twitter or Instagram, using a hashtag for the event will allow related posts to be aggregated in one location. Attendees will receive more views and engagement on their posts by using the event’s hashtag. Event organizers can interact with the crowd by re-tweeting posts related to their takeaways from the event.
8.) Allow guests to interact with speakers
Using a virtual Q&A allows guests to ask questions or comment on an event. This is a great way to boost engagement by allowing attendees to interact directly with speakers.
9.) Provide networking opportunities
Networking is one of the biggest draws of an in-person conference. Facilitate virtual networking by hosting introductory events and breakout sessions for participants. Depending on the size of the conference, local in-person popup events can also be planned in areas where many attendees work.
10.) Consider interactive sponsorships
Engaging conference attendees and sponsors is a win-win: it allows guests to feel like sponsors are contributing to the event in a meaningful way and increases the likelihood that sponsors will return for future events. Create engaging sponsorships by sending guests sponsored swag items before the event, hosting exclusive events for sponsors, or included curated content related to sponsors on the event website.
11.) Follow up after the event
After the event is complete, ask attendees to provide feedback. This can be a valuable learning experience for event organizers to see which areas of the event provided the most engagement.
Virtual events can be a great way to reach a wider audience without being limited to a geographic location. In recent years, virtual events have become the new norm and audience expectations are higher than ever. As an event planner, an organized approach to planning your virtual event will help maximize attendance and participation.
Focus on content
Before you can begin promoting your event, you will need a firm grasp on the events’ goals and scope. Create two checklists of what will be achieved during the event and the event’s expected outcome—one from an event planner’s perspective and one from an attendee perceptive. Though goals and expectations will be different for both, it’s important to work toward planning a successful event for both parties. Promoting an exciting event with wide appeal is easier than promoting a boring one. If the content of the event is engaging, the event will speak for itself in promotions and advertisements.
Promotions should be focus on the content of the event. If your event includes a remarkable keynote speaker, highlight this in advertisements. You can curate written or video interviews with the keynote speaker before the event to give your audience a sense of what they can expect. If the event’s speaker has participated in previous talks, link to them on your event website or social media pages.
If you’re planning a networking event, focus on what sets yours apart. Maybe the event focuses on a niche part of an industry or will include creative networking exercises. Whatever the strength of your event is should be the focus of your promotions. Audiences will be more excited about attending an event that is clearly well-organized and engaging.
Advertisements
Driving attendance to your virtual event requires promoting it through some type of advertisement. Depending on the nature of your event, advertising it may look very different. Here are some potential tools to advertise your event:
Promote through existing networks
As an event planner, you should focus on curating a robust network over time. These connections are highly valuable in driving attendance and engagement to your events. Utilize these connections effectively to promote your event.
LinkedIn connections are a great resource for promoting professional virtual events. Professional virtual events can include networking events, conferences, or talks related to a specific industry. Consider posting the upcoming even on your LinkedIn feed or reaching out to connections individually if you already have an established rapport.
Twitter, Instagram, and other social media sites are a great way to engage with your virtual event audience. Twitter and Instagram both allow you to create an event hashtag, consolidating all content related to the event in one location. This can be an effective way of cultivating a brand surrounding the event.
Depending on the event, consider investing in an event website. This is particularly important if the event is part of a series, as it will allow prospective attendees to find information related to the events in one centralized location. An event website can help create an organized and focused image for your event.
Networking events provide an opportunity for professionals to expand their network, forge connections, and secure future job opportunities. A virtual networking event can be a great way to reach a wider audience without being limited to a geographic location. As an event planner, an organized approach to planning your networking event will help maximize attendance and participation.
Convincing people to attend your event:
The first step of hosting a virtual networking event is convincing people to attend. Having a curated guest list will set your event up for success and provide more effective networking for those in attendance.
Professionals are more likely to attend a networking event when they are invited by a trusted source. Consider your professional connections. Do you personally know the manager of a company in the industry for which you are hosting the event? If so, reach out to them directly and ask them to spread the word to their employees. Do you have thousands of LinkedIn connections? If so, reach out to them individually and post the event on your feed.
If you’re using an invitation or flier to advertise the event, consider hiring a graphic designer to create an eye catching one. Curating a professional image surrounding the event will draw in attendees. Keep the invitation succinct while including information about the event’s time and date, target audience, and what attendees can expect from the event.
While planning and advertising the event, keep attendees in mind. What are they gaining from your event that they can’t gain elsewhere? Counterintuitively, keeping your event niche might be your key to attracting a larger, more engaged crowd. A ‘networking event for STEM professionals’ might be too broad to attract attendees, while a ‘networking event for security software engineers’ is going to grab the attention of those in that group. In the first example, a breakout room of ten STEM professionals might have little in common, while a breakout room of security software engineers is guaranteed to have lots to discuss.
Planning the event:
Sticking a group of attendees in a virtual Zoom meeting and letting them network freely is a recipe for a chaotic networking event that will leave attendees dissatisfied. Organization is crucial in guaranteeing that your virtual networking event goes smoothly and that attendees are able to forge meaningful professional connections.
Most networking events will start off with an introduction, so plan some creative icebreakers that relate to the content of the event. If the networking event is specific to a particular industry, consider having a quick trivia round related to the industry’s current events.
Ask yourself what the main attraction of your networking event is and plan the event around it. If there is a keynote speaker, plan to start the event there and facilitate breakout discussions afterwards.
Consider the size of your event. If there are dozens of attendees, breakout rooms are a necessity. Breakout rooms are used to divide participants into smaller groups, which can be a great way to facilitate focused conversation. Since participants are often more comfortable speaking and engaging with a few colleagues than a large group, this is a great way to promote focused conversation.
Instead of leaving participants to fend for themselves in breakout rooms, provide them with discussion prompts specific to the event. The event host can bounce between breakout rooms and provide additional prompts if the conversation isn’t flowing.
While planning the event, it’s also important to consider potential technical difficulties. As the event host, ensure that you have stable internet connection. Do a dry-run of the event beforehand to make sure you can easily transition the group to breakout rooms, mute participants if necessary, and that all event links are functional.
After the event:
After the event, facilitate follow-ups between event attendees. Having a centralized LinkedIn event page can help guests in contacting each other after the event. Let guests know where they can share their LinkedIn profiles or other contact information.
If you are planning on hosting similar events in the future, let attendees know where they can receive notifications about future events. Consider setting up an email listserv for attendees that are interested in future events. Solicit feedback from attendees to determine what went well and what didn’t. After the event is a great time to solidify your network and start planning for future events.
Remote work is more common than ever. Telecommuting has grown 216% since 2005, and many workplaces that transitioned to remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic have made these changes permanent. Whether your virtual meeting is for a singular event or recurring team meeting, keeping the meeting fun and interactive will make it memorable.
Prepare to keep the meeting organized and structured
Create a strong foundation for your meeting through planning and preparation. Being stuck in a disorganized meeting can make participants feel like they’re wasting their time. No one wants to be in a meeting where the host can’t figure out how to turn their volume on or read Q&A questions. If the meeting host is going to be using technology that they’re unfamiliar with, they should do a run-through beforehand to ensure everything works as expected.
The host should also practice muting participants ahead of time. You don’t want to be scrambling to find the mute button in case of distracting background noise coming from an unresponsive participant’s channel.
Keep accessibility in mind
Ensuring accessibility is an important way to keep a meeting fun and interactive for all guests, especially in a situation where you might not know everyone in the audience. Virtual meeting hosting platforms offer multiple tools that can ensure accessibility, including adding captions to live streams and recording the meetings.
Use creative icebreakers
Now for the fun stuff! Icebreakers can be a great tool to get participants interacting with each other and to get over the stage fright of talking during a virtual event. Cliched, overused icebreakers are a dreaded part of work events so make sure to keep icebreakers original to keep participants engaged. Some creative virtual icebreakers include a round of trivia, an interactive survey to get participants’ initial opinion on topics relevant to the meeting, or a funny team photo! As always, use your best judgment depending on the audience of the meeting.
Utilize additional virtual features
Virtual meeting hosting services have added dozens of additional features to improve virtual meetings. The tools listed below are already at your disposal through most virtual meeting platforms to make your virtual meetings more interactive:
Breakout rooms
Breakout rooms are used to divide participants into smaller groups. This can be a great way to facilitate brainstorming and focused conversation. When the group comes back together as a whole, breakout groups can share all of their great ideas. Since participants are often more comfortable speaking and engaging with a few colleagues than an intimidatingly large group, this is a great way to increase interactivity.
Polls
Polls allow you to ask participants about their views on a topic. The host can use a poll at the beginning of a meeting to establish a baseline for how the group is feeling about a topic and then follow up with a second poll at the end to see how opinions have changed. Polls allow the entire group to gauge information in real time.
Virtual hand raising
If meeting participants are reserved, encourage participants to raise their hand virtually when they want to speak. This takes stress off of participants by letting them know that they’re next in line for their ideas to be heard without having to wait for the perfect time to interject.
Use a virtual whiteboard
Virtual whiteboards allow for visual collaboration between meeting participants in real time. Using a virtual whiteboard, participants can brainstorm ideas live with others by adding sticky notes, text boxes, and photos to replicate that in-person brainstorming experience.
Ensuring a fun and interactive virtual meeting requires preparation, creativity, and understanding the audience. Utilizing virtual features, icebreakers, and ensuring accessibility will keep participants engaged and set your virtual meeting apart from others.
Virtual conferences are becoming more commonplace and have multiple advantages over in-person. Hosting a virtual conference can expand your potential audience. Instead of traveling to your conference, guests can simply log on from their computer. Without the cost of renting an event space, companies can invest in an effective virtual conference platform and quality content. Here are ten tips for hosting a compelling virtual conference:
1.) Get the word out
Good attendance is key to a successful event. Maximizing attendance requires understanding your industry and event. If this is an event where participants are being sent by their employer, make sure to emphasize the skills and knowledge that the employee will receive when advertising the event. Employers are more likely to send multiple employees to an event where they will gain hard skills that can improve their job performance and expertise.
2.) Focus on content
High quality content is the backbone of a virtual conference. Focus on providing quality information in an engaging way. If there will be an important speaker or a big announcement at the conference, ensure that participants are aware beforehand. Virtual conferences typically have fewer, higher quality events than an in-person conference.
3.) Organize beforehand to prevent technical hiccups
Don’t be afraid to hire technical experts to ensure high quality audio and video. Consider the scale and content of your event—if you expect limited interaction from the crowd, set up the event so that participants are always muted. Consult with a professional to identify which virtual event technology is right for your event.
4.) Ask what participants are gaining
Are participants attending the event for information, networking, or career advice? A networking event will look very different from a learning event. If guests feel that they gained something from the experience, they will be more likely to return to future events and even recommend similar events to their colleagues. Make it clear in communicating the event what guests will get from the experience.
5.) Consider accessibility
When hosting a virtual conference, you won’t know everyone in the audience which can make it difficult to anticipate their needs. Virtual event platforms offer multiple tools that can ensure accessibility, including adding captions to live streams and recording the meetings.
6.) Keep it interactive
Virtual meeting hosting services have dozens of features to increase interactivity. Breakout rooms are used to divide participants into smaller groups, which can be a great way to facilitate brainstorming and focused conversation. Since participants are often more comfortable speaking and engaging with a few colleagues than an intimidatingly large group, this is a great way to increase interactivity. Breakout rooms are particularly effective during low-energy times like right after lunch.
7.) Consider on-demand content
Depending on the event, pre-recorded content might allow participants more flexibility and lead to increased engagement. If the event is learning-focused, participants might learn more if they are able to pause and take breaks at their own pace. For a networking event, a live session is essential to provide a sense of community.
8.) Be strategic about sponsorships
Sponsorships are an important way of keeping a conference profitable and ensuring industry relevance, but participants don’t want to feel like sponsorships are interfering with the objectivity of the information they’re receiving. Sponsorships at a virtual event can include video ads, placement on the event website, or even a virtual trade show. Be creative when planning event sponsorships to ensure that participants are engaged with sponsors.
9.) Capture data from the event
Each virtual conference should be considered a valuable opportunity to learn about your unique audience. Keep an eye on when attendees register and attend sessions and how they engage in live Q&A and polling. If something isn’t working for your event, cut it for the next one. Ask your guests for feedback when the event is over so that you can learn from their experience.
10.) Learn from the event once it’s over
Once all the planning and preparation is finally over, it’s natural for conference planners to want to take a break. But immediately after the event is over, take time to review what went well and what didn’t. This will be key to improving future events.
Let’s be real, no one likes taking surveys, especially ones that take longer than thirty seconds. However, surveys are still the most important means of getting feedback for any type of event, whether it’s in-person, virtual, or hybrid. With virtual events still being in their infancy, it’s extremely vital to get as much feedback as you can to make future virtual events that much better. Here we will discuss the advantages of virtual event surveys and why they’re so important.
Like with all surveys, their purpose is to give the most reliable feedback after an event or meeting so the hosts can find out how to improve future events. This gives attendees the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of various aspects of your events such as individual speakers, seminar topics, training sessions, product demonstrations, exhibitors and sponsors, accommodations, as well as rate their overall experience with the event. However, even with all of these aspects it’s still important to keep surveys as easy, short, and direct as possible in hopes of getting the most effective feedback. Since all of the aforementioned aspects apply for both in-person and virtual events, it’s even more important to send surveys immediately after the event, which is much easier for virtual events than in-person since the latter often sends out surveys weeks after the event ended, whereas virtual events can send surveys almost immediately.
Despite their much-needed feedback, 77% of event professionals aren’t using surveys at all, ultimately denying them vital feedback to improve their events for future audiences. This feedback can generally include, but is not limited to generating more leads, winning more marketing budget based on the feedback, understanding your audience better to include their challenges and desires, collecting social proof and other vital data points for future marketing efforts.
As mentioned, one major advantage of virtual event surveys is the ability to send them out immediately instead of days or even weeks after an in-person event. This can be accomplished either via email or as a final step on the last day of the event before an audience member leaves the event for good, and even offer the audience member an incentive in completing the survey, either through a “Thank You” email or other small token of appreciation. This immediate feedback will provide the host an equally immediate opportunity to begin improving the various aspects of their event for future audiences. Since it’s important to keep surveys as short as possible, some general feedback questions might include: “What were your primary objectives for the event (knowledge, networking, etc.)? Did the event meet your objectives? What could the event organizers have done differently?” Some speaker feedback questions might include: "Was the session topic delivered as promised? Was the speaker engaging? What were your objectives for this session?”
Regardless of the event, feedback is the important way to make future events better and using surveys to get this feedback is the most effective way to improve any and all aspects of your event. Virtual events offer the advantage of getting surveys out to audience members faster, which equates to getting necessary feedback that much faster, too. Keeping surveys short and simple will help increase participation, as well.
