Wouldn’t it be exciting if 2021 brought us a back to a world in which we’re standing shoulder to shoulder at live events?
With no vaccine to date, fluctuating numbers of COVID-positive cases, and companies restricting non-essential travel, the pandemic has left many organizations in a holding pattern. This lack of certainty needed for planning important business events in the coming year can feel daunting.
Some companies are placing their bets that in-person events will be back, and are planning to host live events in 2021. Others have decided to keep their events virtual for part or all of the next year. Others are simply stuck in a holding pattern, confused by the uncertainty and afraid of making the wrong decision.
Without a crystal ball, it’s difficult to know when we can gather again safely. Yet, 2021 is just a few months away and organizations need a strategy to leverage events to achieve a variety of goals. For example, employees need to be engaged now more than ever as working remotely has become the norm, organizations need to share their thought leadership to connect with clients and industry peers and nonprofit organizations need to host events to expand brand awareness and raise funds. Events are the vehicle to meet all of these goals and more.
As long as there is uncertainty about in-person events, leaders and organizations need to plan an event strategy that will be successful in any format.
Here are five things you can do to make your event strategy adaptable to any situation.
Venue Selection: Find a venue that will accommodate social distancing requirements and hold your audience comfortably and safely. Work with the venue to learn about the safety protocols in place for meeting rooms, sleeping rooms, and common areas such as elevators and lobbies. Work with meeting and Audio/Visual teams to learn about their capability to livestream so that you have the option of doing a hybrid model. Finally, carefully review the venue’s cancellation policy before booking your event.
Virtual Event Technology: Research and test virtual event platforms to find the best option for your event’s format, objectives and budget. Zoom has become the go-to platform for virtual one-to-one and team meetings. However, there are other platforms that may offer capabilities needed for other event formats such as large scale virtual conferences.
In addition to selecting the platform that aligns with your event objectives, train staff, or work with vendor partners who have experience with virtual events. Select a vendor partner that is tech savvy, has knowledge and experience with the virtual platform and can provide the staffing you need to run a successful event.
Speaker Selection: When selecting speakers, it’s important to recruit speakers who can present an engaging discussion online and on stage. A keynote speaker’s high energy stage presence may not translate on camera. Speaker’s need to be tech savvy – and be able to respond and trouble shoot quickly when a tech issue pops up.
Look for speakers who know how to create interaction, and leverage all of the tools at their disposable. Make sure they leave time for Q&A in their presentation and prompt active participation. This is important in a ballroom, and even more important when attendees are in their virtual homes or offices.
Attendee Experience: Whether in-person or virtual, creating an experience is what makes an event memorable. Audiences have been forgiving of tech issues such as poor sound quality, video and audio out of sync or delays between presentations. However, the demand for better programming and a quality technical experience will increase as audiences participate in more virtual events.
Integrate the audience experience into the program as you design it. Change up presentation formats, facilitate discussions and Q&A sessions with attendees and incorporate networking opportunities to keep the audience engaged.
Networking & Special Experiences: Attendees want to connect with one another whether in-person or online. Roundtable discussions, wine tastings, and speaker Q&As can all be held in person or virtually. If an event can’t be held in person, there are many creative ways attendees can create meaningful connections through virtual icebreakers, scavenger hunts or game nights.
Do you need help adapting your event strategy for 2021? This is my specialty – let’s chat! Schedule a time for us to meet. Whether I give you some quick tips, or you need more in-depth help, rest assured that the conversation will be a worthwhile use of your time.