Managing The Virtual Experience White Paper v1 PDF

M A N A G I N G
THE VIRTUAL
EXPERIENCE
1 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE
COPYRIGHT
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TABLE OF CONTENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR 4
This report is brought to you by EventMB Studio.
THE FRAMEWORK 5
Industry Snapshot 6 EventMB Studio is a boutique content marketing service

The Virtual Experience Paradigm 8 that produces top quality digital content assets for
Designing Online Experiences 13 market leaders in the event and hospitality industry.
The Psychology of Virtual Experiences 17
Get in touch with our Sales team at eventmbsales@
Covid-19 As a Rite of Passage: Critical Lessons From Your Virtual Event 22
skift.com for a free consultation.
EVENTTECH INSIGHTS 24
Keep the Focus on Attendees for Simple, Memorable Virtual Events 25

EventMB Studio is powered by EventMB.com, the
Choose the Right Tech for Better Virtual Event Delivery 28
most influential website in the meeting and event
Full-Service Tools Mean Rich, Frictionless Experiences 30 industry. Founded in 2007, EventMB has been widely
Vary Engagement and Personalize Networking to Maximize Value 33 referenced as the go-to resource for innovative event
ACTIONABLE ADVICE 35 professionals wanting to learn more about trends in
Production Considerations - A Bullet Point Session - 36 the event planning industry.
CASE STUDIES 43
EventMB releases industry reports and intelligence
The Salesforce Pivot 44
about event technology, social media, and
Learnings from the World’s Largest One-Day Leadership Conference 49
engagement at events.
How Virtual Experiences Deliver More Revenue 53
EXPERIENCE SPOTLIGHT 58
Thousands of event professionals have downloaded
CMP CREDITS 61 EventMB’s free reports at https://www.
DISCLAIMER 61 eventmanagerblog.com.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
The coronavirus keeps having a devastating of orchestrating connections and content, with
effect on the event industry. an obsession for details, with the aim to achieve
business objectives.
With many event professionals being laid off or
furloughed, virtual events are the lifeline of many To give event professionals confidence to advance
in the industry. or reposition their career in the context of virtual
events, we gathered the world’s most renowned
How can event professionals prove their experts on experience design together with virtual
worth in a virtual environment? On April 30th, event planners that have been working on virtual
2020 EventMB hosted Managing the Virtual events for decades.
Experience, a three-hour event on elevating
virtual events to virtual experiences. The result was an event watched by thousands of
event professionals. We now bring you a synopsis of
Event planners in their latest iteration are our conversation, so you can take immediate action
experience designers. They are those capable to elevate your virtual event to a virtual experience.
Julius Solaris
Editor, EventMB - a Skift Brand

THE FRAMEWORK

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT
Thousands of participants attended Managing the Virtual Experience.
Such a sizable sample is a great opportunity to get a snapshot of the industry.
INDUSTRY COMEBACK PRE-RECORDED SESSIONS
When will events go back to live? This is the question every event We ran an experiment during the event, streaming a pre-recorded session
professional wants an answer to. The truth is that this is a complex matter as it was happening live. Whether to use pre-recorded sessions or not is
that must account for the latest information on government policies, one of the key discussion items for those planning virtual events.
consumer confidence, the coronavirus itself, and event planners’ feedback.
Surprisingly, over 70% of respondents don’t mind or actually like pre-
We asked our audience to share their perspective. Despite the rush to recorded sessions. These can lower the risk of last-minute connection
reopen everything, event professionals concur that the fourth quarter is the problems, blunders and mistakes, general nervousness on the part of the
most likely bet with 2021 being the second most popular option. Very few speaker, and they offer economies of scale for some speakers who cannot
planners want to venture into live events in the third quarter. be there.
WHEN ARE YOU WHAT’S YOUR OPINION

PLANNING TO GO BACK ON PRE-RECORDED
TO LIVE EVENTS? SESSIONS?
47.7% - Oct-Dec 48.5% - I like them

38.6% - 2021 29.0% - I don’t like them
13.7% - June-Sept 22.5% - I find it hard to tell
the difference
Total Sample: 1,286 Total Sample: 1,286

MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE
Live graphic recording by Chris Shipton - liveillustration.co.uk - chris@liveillustration.co.uk - Twitter: @livepens
7
THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE
PARADIGM
JOSEPH PINE Some people say experiences are How do virtual experiences differ from
Co-founder, Strategic Horizons LLP and author dead, do you think that’s the case? live experiences, if they differ at all?
of The Experience Economy Absolutely not, and that’s because we are social Two things make virtual experiences different from
beings. We crave experiences. In fact, if anything, live experiences: scale and attention.
Email: explore@StrategicHorizons.com
this crisis is causing us to really value the
Twitter: @joepine
experiences that we have, to think of the fact that, We have much more scale with virtual experiences.
www.StrategicHorizons.com
if you look at our progression of economic value This event right now is attended by almost 10,000
as we go from commodities to goods to services, people. Have you ever imagined being able to get
experiences, we don’t need more stuff. We’ve got 10,000 people to a live event like this from all over
enough stuff. the world?
What we value are the experiences that we have Scale is a huge thing, but this still is a live
and those experiences are now more here versus experience. We’re attending at the same time, just
out there, more familial versus public, more from different places. Research shows that, when
digital versus physical. But we still crave these people watch a recording, they pay less attention
experiences and, given the opportunity, we will go to it, they get less out of it. But as long as we know
out again and we’ll have the experiences that really that we’re live, we can still have a great virtual
give life meaning. experience online, as we can in the real world.

The second difference is also probably the most detrimental part of virtual they’re not having their attention diverted by all the other things going on.
experiences: it’s so easy to detract from people’s attention. In our book The
Experience Economy, we point out that the smartphone is the number one Creating a cohesive experience means
competitor for attention for any business, especially when nobody can see choosing a good theme, deciding what’s in
you pick up your phone and use it. That’s the biggest difference between the experience versus what’s out. Every great
virtual and live. We do have to keep people’s attention when we’re staging a experience needs that cohesiveness that a
virtual experience. theme can bring to it.
Apart from these aspects, all the usual design principles apply, whether Building personal experiences means recognizing that the experience
you’re doing something physically or digitally. actually happens inside of us. It’s our reaction to the events that are staged in
front of us. You have to engage people, reach inside of them and create that
If you want to capture people’s attention, memorable experience within them.
you want to stage experiences that are
robust, cohesive, personal, dramatic and even Customization lifts you up while commoditization tends to tear you down. So
transformative. how do we reach inside of people and create that customization within them?
Treat your experiences like Lego building blocks. What are the different
To create a robust experience, it’s more than just thinking of it as an things we can do for people? It’s hard to do that with a mass experience, but
information exchange, as a purely educational experience. You need to ask you can do some polling and try to understand your audience beforehand so
yourself: what is the environment? What are the aesthetics of it? that you can customize to them.
It includes asking yourself if you have the right lighting, a good background, Then dramatic experiences are about creating levels of the experience,
etc, but also thinking about the people on the other end: if they don’t have like a theatrical arc. The experience needs to rise up to a climax and climb
a great environment, then they’re not going to have a great experience. back down again. There’s a great book from Brenda Laurel, Computers As
Obviously, we can’t control that everywhere, but in some individual Theater, that I highly recommend if you’re doing anything digital. In it, she
company events it is possible. People are going to be working out of their encourages people to think of the computer not only as a tool but as a
homes for a while, and companies need to do things to give them the right medium, and we need to give drama to it. She also quotes Don Norman,
environment to be able to do it. We need to make it entertaining as well, so the inventor of user experience, who says drama has always considered

the normal dimension of experience, one totally absent from computer and Being true to yourself is not trying to create an environment that’s not you,
design, and that’s time. Experiences are designed within a time frame. just because it’s virtual. Understand who you are and how you can then
represent yourself to your audience, the customers that you have for this
What you want your customers to get from this virtual experience.
virtual experience is time well-spent versus
time well-saved, which is what services are I’ll come back again to drama. I think drama is incredibly important in being
really about. human, and people often think of drama as being fake or phony. This is not
the case. When you stage experiences, it’s a matter of choosing what parts
And finally, a great experience is transformative. Creating of yourself to reveal to those in front of you. And a way to think about it is
transformative experiences is about recognizing that we can have life-changing “what” versus “how.”
experiences. Think about the difference we can make in our customers’ lives t The “what” are all the functional things you have to do:
when we think in terms of transformation, not just experience. begin a process of virtual experience, going through your
slides, etc.
Human connection is one of the main drivers of events — t How you go about doing those is what can turn every
some kind of serendipitous way of finding meaningful,
mundane interaction into an engaging encounter.
potentially lucrative connections. How are we delivering
on that human interaction element in a virtual
One difference between physical and virtual is that it’s more difficult to get
environment?
any energy from your audience, so you have to generate that energy yourself
It’s more difficult to do. You can’t shake each other’s hand. You can’t look
and impart that to your audience to capture their attention.
each other directly in the eye and know that you’ve made that personal
connection. But it is also a matter of being authentic to who you are.
Can we achieve that transformative aspect of great
experiences online as well as live, and how can we
In one of our books, Authenticity: What
manage that?
Consumers Really Want, we talked about two
Going back to the concept that customization raises you up, when you
key components: being true to self and being
customize an experience, you’re designing it so it is appropriate for a
what you say to others.
specific audience. It is then very important to understand why people are
coming to this event, why they are online with you.

If we go back to physical events: why are they physically coming and spending t Phase 3
their money and travelling all this way? It’s not just for the information Finally, you need the last phase of ‘follow through,’ which is not follow-
that you’re imparting, it’s not just for the great experience, including all the up but ensuring that the transformation takes hold. It means you need
networking which is often the best part of those physical experiences. a relationship. Particularly if you’re doing this virtually, you need a
relationship to understand people upfront, give them the sets of virtual
It’s because they want to be different. They
and physical experiences they need, and then follow through to ensure
have aspirations, whether for their work life
that the transformation takes hold and is sustained through time.
or for their personal life. They’re coming here
because they have an aspiration that they want
to achieve, and if you can help them do that,
you succeeded.
So the basic way to think about transformations relies on three phases.

t Phase 1
First, you have to understand who this person is, what they want and
what’s the gap between where they are today and what they want to
achieve.
t Phase 2
Then you design the set of experiences. It’s generally not one life
transforming experience but a set of experiences that takes them
there. You may be able to do that over a two- or three-day event.
You may be able to do that over a weeklong event. How do you do
that over a three-hour virtual event? You probably won’t be able to
fully transform people in one virtual event, but your event can be an
element of the transformation and you can help people put together
the right elements virtually.

12
DESIGNING ONLINE
EXPERIENCES
The Event Canvas for Experience We will need to keep experimenting with online
RUUD JANSSEN
CMM, DES Design and hybrid events and figuring out the pathways
Events involve many different aspects, from event to success.
http//eventcanvas.org
sponsorship, to the participation journey, security,
hygiene, catering, speakers, event ownership, The first thing you need is a
and the host city, or in this case, the platform process. A process leads to an outcome,
that you’re using to host it. This complexity is and without a process, there’s a giant set of
compounded when you have to adapt to a new confusions. First of all, you need to consciously
format and translate the social layers, sense of design an event and articulate the event story in
direction, feedback, listening, need for action, etc. a 60-second format.
— all of this can be quite stressful for some.
You also need to bring your
It’s important to accept the team together. Allot time for event
situation and focus on moving design before you go into execution mode and
forward, and then you can spending. You need to spend this time in the
find stability in your team as beginning figuring out what you need, steeping
you create a new narrative on in the challenges you’re trying to solve and really
different platforms. discovering from various perspectives how that
will work as you move forward.

If you’re not the event owner, how can you justify claiming that time to Never Design Alone
them? The issue is that they might not have a fully clear idea of what If you want to change behaviors, you need to
they’re asking of you, and it falls on you and your team to manage and be ready to change yours.
coordinate the execution of that event.
The way we create events is broken, and this is what we’re trying to fix
This is where you articulate the change, here. The building blocks of the event canvas can be applied to any type
define the event framework with all the of event. First, you have to figure out the change in behavior you want
restrictions, and create the actual prototypes. to make, then define any restrictions you need to incorporate into that
That leads to the event canvas. change, and finally prototype potential solutions.
When you go through the process, it can look something like this:
The event canvas is available in 14 languages for free at
1. Build a long list of stakeholders
eventcanvas.org. You can also access the first hundred pages of
2. Define who has a stake
the handbook, which give you instructions on how to use it, as well
as guiding questions on the event canvas. 3. Figure out who has high power and high interest
4. Analyze those stakes
5. Write up the design restrictions within the design
Events create value through behavior change from entry to exit for multiple framework
stakeholders who may have different types of behavior changes. Your 6. Prototype the potential solutions to ultimately
team needs to know exactly what they’re doing and to think collaboratively
come out with your event narrative
to bring that together. The event canvas exists to get everyone on the
same page.
If a group of people do that together, and perhaps use some role cards
to make that process fun, ultimately what you can do is leverage the
brainpower of the group to spend that time very wisely.
The moral of the story is never design alone.

This is not a solo sport.

Map Out Your Strategy Virtual and Hybrid Event Complexity
But how do you design at the speed of change when change is going so So what’s changing for the event professional? Well, as you can see,
quickly? teams and people are changing. Based on a study from 2012, some of the
roles that a hybrid event team needs include production director, creative
Study what these events are doing, and map out things that you think director, technical director, digital strategist, consultant, emcees, marketing
would work for your event, as well as things that don’t currently work. We managers, and educators. All these roles are significant in the future.
have these types of galleries for all the current events and past events we
have designed. With hybrid events, you can play with space and time. You can have the
event in the same place at the same time, in multiple places simultaneously,
Study what these events are doing, and map out things that you think spread the event out in a given location over a longer period of time, etc.
would work for your event, as well as things that don’t currently work. We
have these types of galleries for all the current events and past events we And you have these modularities of building blocks to remote, face to
have designed. face, studio events without audiences (or small audiences), and then
online individuals. Then, we have all the connectivity from realtime one-
Then, we map them on the axis as you see here from structure and way broadcasts to two-way connections to on-demand broadcast streams
virtuality, from self-organizer to highly defined, and from face-to-face to realtime. This is how we can play with the various modularities of
offline to remote online. All of these bubbles that you see are formats, connecting your event in various ways to pods, studios, and individuals
event brands, or case studies that move along these axes in a certain across the planet. Then you’re dealing with complex time zones and the
direction. They grow, they shrink, they move from being more self- most complex thing, the audio.
organizing to more highly defined, or from offline to online as we’ve seen
recently with many of the events. And all of these changes have been
documented in research, how-to guides, and case studies that are made
available in the report that you will get after this.

16
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF
VIRTUAL EXPERIENCES
A range of sciences such as common psychology, 3 Fundamental Concepts for Delivering

VICTORIA MATEY
social psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral Successful Event Experiences
Co-founder, Matey Events
science to planning events provides us with
Email: matey.events@gmail.com 1. Humans are cognitive
valuable, actionable insights into how people
Linkedin: Victoria Matey compromisers.
think, why they behave the way they do, how they
matey.events Our brains are wired to compromise. According to
communicate, and how they make decisions about
scientists, we make about 227 decisions on food
the event. Essentially, what makes them buy a
alone each day, and some say that a person makes
ticket, engage, and come back.
up to 35,000 decisions in a day overall. If we really
had to think over each of those 35,000 decisions,
When you understand the even 300 would be enough to go crazy.
behavior of an attendee, you
are able to achieve far greater In most cases, our brains
impact. react on autopilot because
that is more energy efficient.
To review the load and save
energy resources, our brains
avoid cognitive effort as much
as possible.

Therefore, when people have to make a decision on something, they go for Let’s do a small experiment right now. It is called a ‘bouba/kiki’ test.
whatever helps them minimize their cognitive effort. In practice, it means You need to imagine you’ve landed on an alien planet and found these
that when people make a decision about something in business or in their organisms here. Tell me which one is Kiki and which one is Bouba.
personal life, they are inclined toward solutions and experiences that are
cognitively effortless — that is, easy and simple.
When we provide attendees with experiences, we need to make it as simple

as possible, and to take whatever actions are required from our attendees as
intuitive as possible.
1. Choose a platform with an intuitive interface — very user friendly,

one your mom could easily use.
1. 2.
2. Provide detailed checklists, tutorials and step-by-step guides that
will help them navigate throughout the experience.
3. Remove friction, anything that hinders the journey, and any

WHICH ONE IS KIKI AND WHICH ONE IS BOUBA?
unnecessary steps that make it harder for them to do what you
want them to do.
For example, if you want them to share the content, make sure that the share
69,4% - 1. Bouba, 2. Kiki
buttons are noticeable, easily accessible, that no extra clicks are required. Or 30,6% - 1. Kiki, 2. Bouba
even better, have some ready-to-go quotes available to share.
A majority decided that the first one is Bouba and the second one is Kiki.
2. Humans are irrational. Both are completely made up and have no meaning, but we instinctively
We’d like to think about ourselves as very logical and rational creatures, but attribute the names in a predictable manner.
we’re not. Science has very hard evidence for that.
This was first introduced by the German-American psychologist Wolfgang
Köhler in 1929, and it has been repeated numerous times since then. Almost

with no exception, people say that the bulbous or bubbly shape is associated by It may seem harder to do online, but we’ve got a lot of tools for that. For example,
the majority of people with the Bouba word, and the star-like shape with the Kiki. we can have fun and we can leverage the power of laughter and humor, and
include as many activities as possible that make people smile. The more fun your
We’ve got two systems. One is rational and attendees have, the more they stick to the screens and the more memorable the
very slow, and it deals with reason, control, and event becomes. Surprise and intrigue are also powerful emotions.
logic. The other one is irrational and very fast.
It’s emotional, and it deals with associations. t Unveil a secret speaker for your event.
t Have a game or a quest built into the event app with
Our initial reaction to something is always an unconscious, emotional some prizes to incentivize participation.
reaction. Jonathan Hade came up with a great visual model to describe how t Transform your content so that it triggers emotions by
we behave based on those two modes of thinking. He says it’s like a rider telling stories and using compelling visuals and music.
and an elephant. The rider is the thoughtful rational self and the elephant
represents the irrational or emotional part of us. I may want to go a given These are great tools for not only creating a specific atmosphere, but also
way based on specific logic and reasoning, but it’s the elephant who has the for impacting cognitive functions, like focus and attention.
power to make the decision based on impulses. If the elephant decides to
go in the opposite direction, the rider can do little. Yes, the rider can push the
3. Attention is our most valuable currency at the moment.
elephant and try to leave the elephant. But, in fact, if the elephant decides to
Keeping people focused is as important for virtual events as it is for live, but
do something, it will do it regardless of what the rider wants.
it seems that attention is much more scarce online. We have many more
distractions and much less control.
Appeal to the Emotional Brain First
The key takeaway is that, when we want to
Attendees have a smartphone by their sides, most likely. Push notifications,
make a real impact, we should always address
incoming texts or emails, maybe calls from family members. They may have
the emotional part of our attendees’ minds.
kids running around, they may have a courier knocking at the door. These
When you create online experiences, you need
are external distractions, but you also have internal distractions, feelings
to focus on emotions first.
and thoughts going on in your mind. These distractions are also distracting
factors. Maintaining people’s concentration becomes critical for the online
experience.

How can we manage attention? There are many ways to To recap, when you create virtual experiences, make sure that you build them
do that. with these three concepts in mind.
t First, humans are cognitive compromisers, so make it

1. Be salient. Salience is an evolutionary cognitive bias that makes
us focus on things, items, and information that are more prominent simple.
and striking. When you’re different, it can work to attract attention. t Humans are irrational, so focus on emotions first.
When you’re salient, it is easier to compete with potentially
t And finally, attention is our most valuable currency, so
hundreds of other online events and grab the attention of your
attendees in the first place.
manage attention at every point.
2. Use breaks. Breaks are a powerful way to keep people focused.

Not every break is equally efficient, so you need to switch between
different types of breaks and switch between activities often to
make it work.
3. Talk through every relevant step. When we’re at a live event,

we’re able to use all of our senses. But at an online event, our
sensory information is limited, and we rely mostly on what we hear
and see. Therefore, you need to talk through every relevant step
that you want your attendees to pay attention to. Make them your
partner in crime by educating them about how bad multitasking is
and how bad the distractions are for the event experience. Once
they realize that, they will be less likely to get distracted.
4. Avoid content fatigue. Don’t overwhelm attendees with

information. Attention spans are short, and too much information
can lead to content fatigue. If you have a lot of great content,
repurpose it and use it in different formats before or after the event.

21
COVID-19 AS A RITE OF
PASSAGE: CRITICAL LESSONS
FROM YOUR VIRTUAL EVENT
Grackle contacted us to let us know about a recent important updates to your guests about your event,
L U CA S S PA N N
report they created on how the global pandemic is your industry and even the world at large — whatever
Creative Director & Founding Partner, Grackle
a rite of passage, and viewing it in this framework is relevant to your unique audience.
creates an opportunity for us to process what
happened and move forward. Self-care: Few things are more important
as people slowly move into a “new world.” It was
As the correspondence turned to how it could be a trend before and that will only increase. Virtual
applied to virtual events, our contact offered the spaces are perfect for this. Low-hanging fruit is
following amended phase of their process courtesy splitting up your virtual event with reflection time,
of founding partner Lucas Spann, which is chock- meditation time, yoga, etc. But you can go more
full of creative ideas to implement and perspective innovative with meditative, guided lunch tastings,
to help you not just manage but take advantage of splitting up your event into a week-long yoga series
virtual events. (stretch and listen), bringing in a cheesy cover-band

for a live-streamed “all request” lunch, etc.
TRANSITION
Guidance: Increased awareness and adoption Find a way to naturally work
of virtual meeting tools present a great opportunity self-care into your event and
for streamlining communication with your event everyone wins.
stakeholders, which can give you faster, more
Rituals: The use of virtual spaces, particularly
responsive flexibility while event planning in uncertain
social media, is already a ritual for most people.
times. You can also use your virtual platform to relay
These rituals are great touch points for building anticipation, both in terms
Fun but responsible contact: Finding ways to bridge the
of building excitement and social conversation. Create something your
physical remoteness of virtual events with the feeling of togetherness is a
guests can engage in: daily recommendations, zen, musings and missives.
great way to add value for your guests. Look for ways to create a shared
Curate and circulate guest submissions. Work them into your event
condition, like “outside only” events, or “bring your kid” sessions. Also, use
somehow to give attendees a moment in the spotlight.
virtual events to lighten the load on your in-person experiences.
Solidarity: Online communities can act as virtual support groups, Virtual extensions to physical events create great opportunities to facilitate
reinforcing confidence and encouraging commitment. Activating your event remote attendance while reducing the occurrences of dense crowds at a time
groups with regular, relevant topics is a great way to prime them for your when they represent a health risk.
event in an endearing manner.
Evolved connection: People will be looking to use the virtual
Build a solid community here and you’ll reap the skills and tools used in quarantine to streamline their lives, making more
benefits with increased attendance and participation. room for the things that matter to them. Using virtual spaces to give guests
opportunities to interact with and attend your event in a variety of ways (i.e.
INCORPORATION on their own terms) will go a long way in melding them with your brand. The
Initiation reward: Using virtual campaigns and promotions key here is to stay abreast and fluent in trending and emerging platforms.
to celebrate making it through/beyond Covid-19 is a great way to build
awareness around your brand and event while creating a sense of Find ways to meet your audience where they are, even
community and solidarity with your audience. if it’s inside a video game — an especially interesting
forum to host teambuilding or networking events.
Instead of inviting guests to your event, indoctrinate
them. Reflection: Your audiences on event pages and forums represent a
group of like-minded people who have all gone through a massive shared
Create an identity for your guests to rally under in order to create a feeling
experience. Encouraging conversations around reflection will not only further
of status and accomplishment, and then give them an easy way to share
endear your guests with your event, but will also provide a focus group of
it, like personalized Zoom backgrounds or special sticker packs (like the
insights to draw on when planning. Use guests’ quarantine experiences to
#StayHome pack people are rallying behind on Instagram at the moment).
enrich your event (perhaps everybody makes the same quarantini for a virtual
happy hour where you give everybody a chance to step up and toast).

EVENTTECH INSIGHTS

KEEP THE FOCUS ON ATTENDEES
FOR SIMPLE, MEMORABLE
VIRTUAL EVENTS
How does your company help planners manage expands and builds into a flourishing community
COREY MCCARTHY
virtual events? that extends beyond the time constraints of a
Chief Marketing Officer, Socio
Socio recognizes that virtual events are new for singular event. Socio keeps people meeting and
all of us, and we stand with our clients to ensure engaging, even if it’s not face-to-face.
seamless implementation during their virtual
event. This is achieved through our recently Socio honors the investment planners make in
unveiled Orange Glove service, enabling clients learning and adopting new technology by ensuring
to get all their virtual event tech in place and that the same technology will also strengthen live
working properly. events once they spring back into action.
Our new Orange Glove support offering What is the most important thing planners can do
compliments platform updates specifically to deliver an impactful experience with virtual?
designed to address the immediate needs that A seamless attendee experience is a prerequisite
virtual events have brought to the table. Now for one that delights attendees at every step.
more than ever, an event app is the hub where Focus on your attendees and remember that this
all event technology and touchpoints for virtual whole virtual thing is new for them too.
events come together — and we didn’t stop there.

Start by keeping everything housed in one place
To accomplish everything that would typically and easily accessible. Some redundancy can be a
happen at a live event, planners need an app that good thing: schedules, speaker bios, and links to

live streams should be accessible through multiple channels on any device at AD
any time.
In quarantine, there are no rules and time is fluid. Many people will want on
demand content, which will need to be easily accessible as well.
Before the event, lean into the excitement and anticipation by opening up
chat rooms and networking so people can start to introduce themselves, ask
questions, and chat.
During the event, it’s increasingly important for planners to keep things
exciting and impactful, and to provide actionable insights with any virtual
experience. If attendees don’t walk away with a new golden nugget of
information or something actionable, then why come back?
Invest in transforming your event into a community and see how much more
impactful that experience can become if it extends.
What are the top 3 things planners should do to keep virtual audiences
engaged?
1. Make it memorable. Zoom fatigue is a real thing. Inject your

virtual event with energy and creative things people haven’t seen
done online before. Have a great MC or host for your virtual event that
keeps things moving while revealing all the treats you have in store.
2. Get people connecting. Open the lines of communication at

least a week before your event and encourage networking through

gamification if you need to get things going. Social walls, Q&A sessions, We also suggest setting up a social wall. Right now, the video call selfie is
and sponsor connections are all important elements. Opening channels all the rage, so use that enthusiasm to get people liking and sharing each
of communication beforehand will strengthen their impact during the other’s photos. Just because we can’t be within six feet of each other right
event. doesn’t mean networking is out the window.
3. Keep in touch. Be mindful of the differences in attention span

Sponsor visibility will be an important element of creating lucrative leads
between live and in-person events by creating a regular series of
and meetings for your sponsors. Create a space where attendees can
content in more manageable segments of time over a course of
explore event sponsors, download information, and have the option to
weeks and months. Just like a live event, keeping communication
schedule time with them one on one.
lines open between you and your attendees is critical to keeping the
event running smoothly and having it provide the impact you want.
What can planners do to facilitate lucrative connections at their virtual

event?
We may not have lunch or cocktail parties to meet people face to face,
but that doesn’t mean we can’t connect. Support the networking needs
of everyone at your event by allowing them to see attendee, speaker, and
sponsor profiles and send connection requests. Enhance connections with
filters for common interests.
Allow attendees to build profiles and connect with other attendees in

one-on-one chats that can lead to interactions outside the event. Getting
the right people together in a room for a “coffee breakout” session can
also prove valuable, and it’s a great way to break up the day and transition
between sessions.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT TECH
FOR BETTER VIRTUAL EVENT
DELIVERY
How does your company help planners manage organisers an all-inclusive environment to manage
J E L M E R VA N A ST
virtual events? the complete event experience.
CEO & Founder, Conference Compass
Our mission has always been to develop apps
that change the way people experience events. What is the most important thing planners can do
For in-person live events, our apps help to increase to deliver an impactful experience with virtual?
engagement; for virtual events they are the only Of course, event planners should first consider
way to create engagement at all. their virtual event objectives, and then proceed
to design the event and decide on the tools
Our secure platform allows attendees to access and technologies to use. When it comes to the
the event program, personalise it, and engage technology, by far the most important thing is
with speakers, sponsors, and other attendees. user experience. Technology should never be a
It’s a customizable platform for any device. For a hurdle or frustrating to use. Instead, it should be
virtual event, attendees can access sessions from intuitive and responsive, enabling a seamless
their browser to benefit from a larger desktop or event experience. Optimizing your event impact
laptop screen, or on-the-go on their phones or entails letting attendees truly focus on the
tablets using the native app downloaded from content and on human interactions. Especially
the app stores. Speakers can live stream their when going virtual, these two are the easiest to
presentations, including slides, integrated polling, get wrong, but the most important to get right.
and Q&A straight from our platform. It also offers

What are the top 3 things planners should do to keep virtual audiences engaged? AD
With a virtual event, you are going to miss out on the engagement that emerges
naturally when like-minded people mingle and match in a beautiful venue. You’re going
to have to put in extra effort, and I would advise focusing on the following three things:
1. Great content. At events, the one thing that should connect everyone
is great content. It’s what will capture and engage your audience. Invest
in working with your speakers to deliver the content in an interactive way.
2. Great moderation. No matter how engaging your speakers are,

without great moderation, you will not be able to engage your audience
all the way through. A great moderator will make each attendee feel like
they are being cared for personally despite not being able to see them.
3. Great user journey. Like a great moderator that holds a session

together, a great user journey will tie all the sessions together into an
engaging event. Consider how you can design this journey to include
not just your sessions, but also your sponsors, poster presentations,
keynotes, and network meetings.
How can virtual events create better connectivity in the long term?
When like-minded people get together, great content is what sparks the most
interesting connections. Virtual events provide opportunities for people to
connect when they otherwise would have never met. When we will be allowed
to have in-person events again, they will be hybrid: including speakers and
audiences joining remotely. I’m convinced that this will make events more
inclusive than ever before. Whether people decide not to travel out of a
concern for health and safety, budget, or carbon footprint awareness, they will
all be part of the event experience as one community.

FULL-SERVICE TOOLS
MEAN RICH, FRICTIONLESS
EXPERIENCES
How does your company help planners manage t Live organizer dashboard to monitor event
BAPTISTE BOULARD
virtual events? statistics
CEO, Swapcard
We provide both technology and dedicated
Finally, we provide a team of event managers
support to help any organizer to adapt their
that will train you on how to run a successful and
event to a virtual or hybrid model. Our event
stress-free event and teach you how to monetize
engagement platform helps organizers deliver
it. We also onboard your attendees and sponsors
knowledge in an interactive way and unlock
and provide technical support for events in all time
networking at scale. It can be used 365 days a
zones (US, EU, Asia).
year to build your community for multiple events
or for a one-shot event. You’ll find all must-have
What is the most important thing planners can do
virtual features, including:
to deliver an impactful experience with virtual?
t Event schedule with multiple sessions
Running a virtual event requires new skills and
and nine integrated streaming providers
different technology than a face-to-face event. Your
t Pre-recorded videos with autoplay and
language detection event’s success relies on the online interactions you
t Personalized attendee agenda and can create. Here are our three top things to bear in
audience response features during live mind when looking for the right technology:
sessions to engage your audience online
t Meeting scheduling, virtual booths for
1. The onboarding process should
sponsors, and video calling features be smooth. Emails that automatically log
to help increase attendee and sponsor attendees onto the platform once your event
interactions

is live are one way of ensuring that. Once onboarded, your platform
should be adapted to the content of your sessions, meetings, and
messages based on your attendees’ time-zone. This is important for an
international audience.
2. Your platform must be web-based, intuitive, easy to

use, and interactive. You never get to make a first
impression twice!
3. To keep your attendees engaged throughout the event,
your platform must capture their attention by pushing
them to live sessions where they can interact with
speakers.
engaged?
To keep audiences engaged, allow attendees to interact with speakers
through audience response tools such as live Q&A, polls, and surveys as well
as live discussions and group chats.
Another important tip for keeping audiences engaged is to send email

reminders and push notifications to ensure they aren’t late for sessions and
meetings. Use our autoplay features to push attendees to live sessions and
capture their attention from one session to another.
Finally, render the attendee list visible to everyone and allow them to schedule
meetings in advance or run video calls on the go so that attendees and
sponsors can unlock business opportunities.

What can planners do to facilitate lucrative connections at their virtual event?
Sometimes, finding that one perfect lead at a large event can be like looking for
a needle in a haystack. That’s where artificial intelligence comes in.
Swapcard is powered by AI. Attendee profiles are analyzed and the most
relevant people to meet and sessions to attend are based on shared interests.
AI-based networking increases interactions by 22%.
Attendees network in two ways. Firstly, people want to meet up with peers
to exchange ideas and stay on trend with the industry evolution. Secondly,
attendees want to network with qualified leads to increase revenue.
The only way to offer both experiences is to use a web-based matchmaking

platform, like Swapcard, where attendees will get a personalized
recommendation of people to meet based on their actions in the platform and
common interests, and schedule meetings in advance.

VARY ENGAGEMENT AND
PERSONALIZE NETWORKING TO
MAXIMIZE VALUE
How does your company help planners manage What is the most important thing planners can do
JOE SCHWINGER
virtual events? to deliver an impactful experience with virtual?
Co-Founder and CEO, MeetingPlay
Many event organizers are new to virtual events. A common question that clients ask MeetingPlay is,
At MeetingPlay, we are a true partner to our “How do we preserve the spirit of our face-to-face
clients as they evolve their in-person events event even though we can’t be together in person?”
to virtual or hybrid. We advise them during the
process of pivoting their events to virtual, provide When building a virtual experience, we encourage
them with solutions to solve their challenges, planners to first focus on the reasons people
and help them create a customized experience attend live events. People come to events to
that will wow their attendees. We ensure they discover amazing content and presenters, get face
are comfortable with every aspect of our virtual time with like-minded individuals, network, and
engagement platform before their event starts. find valuable new products and services. A life-
From beginning to end, our dedicated account like virtual event needs to include these elements,
team is there to support planners, participants, along with robust engagement opportunities. It
and presenters through every step, ensuring it’s also needs to be seamless. This is the blueprint for
an incredible experience for everyone. A unique an impactful virtual experience.
service we offer with our platform is our event
concierge. This is a support team available to MeetingPlay’s Virtual Engagement Platform re-
quickly answer all attendee questions related to creates what makes face-to-face events so special,
our platform during an event. virtually. This includes customized content, brands,

and networking experiences, all from their computer or smart device.
engaged?
Attendee distraction is a challenge for any event. The secret to keeping a virtual
audience engaged is to make sure everything that’s happening within the
platform is more exciting than what is happening externally. People love to feel
part of the conversation so, with both live streams and pre-recorded content,
provide them with ways to chat with other participants and the presenters,
publicly and privately. Use gamification as a way to boost engagement and
encourage behaviors you want. Instead of just having a points leaderboard
with a prize for the winners, allow attendees to redeem points in a swag store
instead. Re-create small round-tables and breakouts in virtual collaboration
rooms where everyone can see each other and communicate face-to-face.
What can planners do to facilitate lucrative connections at their virtual event?

Virtual events offer unique opportunities to create meaningful connections for
attendees, sponsors, and exhibitors. One way to facilitate these connections
is with our platform’s AI networking algorithm. When attendees log-in to an
event, they answer a short series of questions. Then, we match attendees with
like-minded individuals and networking experiences that they will find valuable.
Offering birds of a feather happy hours or content networking rooms with
matched attendees are examples of this. Another way is if an attendee wants
to connect with someone face-to-face, they can use our platform’s instant
1-on-1 video conferencing to call them. Inside our virtual exhibit hall, attendees
can download content, schedule appointments to meet with exhibitors and
exhibitor representatives can even go live with office hours.

ACTIONABLE ADVICE

PRODUCTION
CONSIDERATIONS
- A BULLET POINT SESSION -
Managing the Virtual Experience marked the birth of the Bullet Point Session:
t 5 speakers
t 3 minutes
t 3 tips
t 1 slide per tip
t 1 minute per slide
This was one of the most popular sessions of the event, drawing the
expertise of five experienced planners giving fifteen effective tips in rapid-
fire succession, not to mention a new format for event professionals to try at
their virtual event.

ELENA CLOWES
Creative Events Producer, Unicorn Events Ltd
Email: elenaclowes@gmail.com
LinkedIn: Elena Clowes - Twitter: @ElenaClowes
CURATE THE COMPLETE EXPERIENCE FOCUS ON THE HUMAN ELEMENT GUEST COMMUNICATIONS ARE
AND NOT JUST THE CONTENT One reason we intrinsically love events is the PARAMOUNT
Ensure that you give the same amount of care for enjoyment we get from being in a comfortable Even for an in-person event, we send pre-event
your virtual event as you would apply to a physical environment with like-minded people. We have to emails but we have onsite reminders for guests to
event. When we secure a venue, we do multiple site make sure we create the space and time online to get the most out of their journey. As we don’t have
visits and go through the guest journey from end to allow the exchange of information and knowledge. that currently, we need guests to have everything
end: what will they see, hear, what will their set look they need to maximize their experience. Let’s tell
like, etc. Does our choice of platform allow for the creation them how best to consume our events.
of different communication channels that mimic
We need to put that same energy into the design those of face-to-face meetings? For example, at We can go one step further with guest communication
of our virtual spaces. Set and lighting design an event you have a help desk, a breakout host to kits that allow us to enhance the senses — something
becomes platform design. How can we modify or ensure you get to the right session, you can reach virtual events just can’t achieve alone. We can send
design these platforms and what will the guests out and speak to other guests, ask questions in event information and swag, but also items such as
see? We can bring in elements of our branding session, but you might also want to hang around aromatherapy roller balls to invoke certain feelings,
outside of slide design, adding colors and after to talk to the speaker and share your contact snacks, laptop headphones, or if you have the budget,
placing a logo to encourage immersion. It is also information. Is there a way we can replicate those equipment to deliver VR experiences. Delivering these
important to ensure there is continuity through pre opportunities during our virtual event? directly is key and elevates the overall experience,
recorded or live sessions, keeping the look and feel heightening engagement with your event and the
continuous throughout. alignment with the brand.

TREY SMITH
Vice President of Events, Simpler Media Group
Email: trey@simplermedia.com
SimplerMedia.com | CMSWire.com
I’ve seen some creative things from live performances still lots of ways to up the production value of your
from a DJ, musician, or comedian to instructor-led presentation with plug-and-play equipment.
workouts, yoga, mindful exercises, and scavenger
To do that, I suggest preparing kits that will offer a
hunts. The sky’s the limit, let’s be creative.
consistent and professional look and feel across
Also be mindful of your program length. From your lineup. These kits should include a green screen,
ADAPT TO YOUR MEDIA my experience, multi day virtual events are a tough a tabletop tripod that you can use to mount your
Copying and pasting your conference agenda proposition. Participation for day two is falling off the cliff. iPhone, LED lighting, and a wired shotgun or lapel
and trying to drop it online is not going to work. microphone. You can offer these to your speakers as
I think you’re better served if you focus on presenting
You need to adapt to your media. Try to limit that premium content on one day, and then roll out the a ‘thank you’ gift or you can include a return shipping
presentations to 15-20 minutes max. Push that rest in a drip campaign. This takes advantage of a two- label and reuse these items if budget is a concern.
live Q&A to a networking point session, and pronged effect of giving them additional content, but
invite the speaker to interact and engage with also letting them consume it on demand.
the audience in that space.
Use different presentation formats throughout

your event. If you like to learn differently and
USE PRE-RECORDED SESSIONS
consume information in different manners, I
As meeting and event professionals, one of our
found that quick moving, multi speaker sessions
RELY ON AV PARTNERS IF YOU CAN main objectives is to mitigate risk. Prerecording
or interviews are very effective at capturing and
We don’t ask our presenters to bring their own some sessions gives you the opportunity to capture
retaining your online audience.
technical set up. If you have the budget, I strongly that polished presentation and avoid leaving
You need to put just as much time in the important encourage you to partner with production anything to chance, like bandwidth on the platform
elements as you do in your content programming. companies. If that’s not in the cards, there are end or on your speakers’ end.

KENEISHA WILLIAMS
Event Planning Professional and Community Engagement Coordinator, Diabetes Canada
Email: ms.keneisha.williams@gmail.com
LinkedIn: keneishawilliams - Twitter: @KayWillLive
REHEARSE LIKE BEYONCÉ SPONSORSHIP IS VALUE CRAFT YOUR Q&A

When Beyoncé rehearses or does dry runs, it is You want to create value for your sponsor, the Here you have a few options. You can request
perfected as if it’s the real thing. I encourage you audience, and your business. You can find questions prior to the event through your
to do the same with your virtual events. Take the opportunities by walking through your virtual touch registration, and then spread your questions
time to review all your slides. Remember, what you points. See what is valuable to all parties. Don’t be out throughout the event or reserve them until
communicate to the audience is a reflection of you afraid to be creative. Always consider opportunities the end. You can also give the participants the
just as much as of the speaker. Rehearse a few from a ‘before, during, and after’ perspective. Before, control to send questions during your live event.
days prior to give yourself enough time to make you want to think about promotion, advertising, In this case, you should have a designated
changes and tie up those loose ends, and try to social media, and email marketing. During, you want moderator to moderate those questions
have everyone attend and use the time to go over to think about branding between your slides, maybe coming in. And lastly, follow-up on unanswered
the event timeline. Emphasize who’s in control of have your gold sponsor speak during the event questions. This is so important. Send those
your slides and, if there is a host, let them know how or have them lead a fun activity, or invite your VIP unanswered questions to your speakers and then
critical it is for them to keep up the energy. Also, audience to a special breakout session with them. send the answers to your participants via email.
designate a point of contact so that, if something After, you want to send sponsored virtual gifts or
goes wrong, there’s always someone for your perhaps schedule a special activity after the event.
speaker to get in contact with. Keep an updated run Don’t forget to ensure that there’s always a personal
of the show and repeatedly test your technology. touch on all your sponsorship initiatives.

TAHIRA ENDEAN, CMP, DES , CED
Head of Events, SITE global and author of Intentional Event Design, Our Professional Opportunity
Email: tendean@siteglobal.com
http://Intentionaleventdesign.ca
or a song and increase the overall memory and following it and engaging the audience, watching for
applicability of what they’ve heard. Finish on a high engagement, questions, agreement, disagreement,
note, make them happy they stayed until the end. etc. Incentivize engagement with prizes and make it
fun. Listen, respond, build a community.
CREATE YOUR STORY ARC

Script and time the event and build your event from
opening to ending. Use an attention-getting opening,
LISTEN AND SHOW YOU CARE
an identified emcee or leader, and have your speakers
The audience wants to be heard, especially when we HUMANIZE
build a story that will engage with an ebb and a flow.
spend hours online. Jazz hands or snaps are a visual Hygge is a Danish word with no exact translation. It
Remember, we learn from stories, not from acknowledgment that you’re seeing your audience. refers to a mood of comfort and conviviality.
bullet points. Clapping hands in the chat stream shows some

love. Provide direction on how the audience can How do we create that in a physically distanced world?
Use what we know from audience interaction interact with the speaker and the subject at hand.
Smile, use eye contact (which means your video’s
and a maximum capacity of 11 minutes for being
Think about the audience that you can now on), use a tone of voice you would use in a happy
talked at, and plan to change and reengage, even
reach that may have had a challenge getting conversation with someone you really like. Wrapped
if it’s the same speaker. Close on a strong note
to your event. Time, socioeconomic concerns, in a blanket, in front of a fire, warm and open. And
to leave with impact.
and physical challenges might limit their live use people’s names when you can in transitions,
What did they learn or experience? What are they participation, but they can excel and contribute when they ask questions in a chat. More than ever,
taking back? Check understanding using a poll; in a virtual environment. Use those virtual tools we need to feel recognized. Show up as yourself and
create a workload of takeaways, graphic storyboards, and social feeds. Have a hashtag with a team keep it real. Ultimately, we have to build a connection.

JILL ANONSON
Strategy Advisor, ITA Group
Email: janonson@itagroup.com
LinkedIn: jill-anonson
messaging without having to look at a screen. audience participate in the Q&A or the polling,
what they interact with, etc. By giving them all
that important data, your sponsors really feel
they’re getting a value for their investments.
FIGHT WEBINAR FATIGUE

THINK ABOUT YOUR SPONSORSHIP
I think we’re all feeling that fatigue right now. How do EXPERIENCE
you make sure that people still want to participate and You want to make sure those sponsorships are
really engage? Think about different ways of making happening. They might represent your only source
USE THE DATA YOU COLLECTED
it happen, and not just with talking heads. Maybe it’s of revenue depending on whether you are able to
Look at all this data with a critical eye and segment
some 3-D environment or broadcast technology. If your charge registration fees.
accordingly. First, look at your target audience: what’s
budget allows, maybe hire a professional newscaster really important to them, how do they engage, what
who will connect the dots for your audience. Really understand what’s important to these do they engage with, who did they engage with, and
sponsors. Look at the branding and awareness: how then see how that was tied to your objectives.
What you want is people or technology that do you place advertisements or logos? Consider
can really guide and change the way that your allowing them to do their own virtual placement. You have a new audience to engage that weren’t
audience interacts with your content throughout Look at the messaging and the content, and allow able to participate physically before, but now can
the whole day. Think about how you can engage them to do their own breakout sessions. access your content virtually. You’re now able to
your content away from a screen. Consider understand what all those different attendees
sending in a podcast link that your audience can Find a substitute for the personal interaction care about, so personalize your marketing based
listen to on their daily walk. Or send them a box they’ve been able to have in a live setting before. on what they want to hear, and always make sure
with some branded swag, food items, etc. so Provide them with a lot of data, give them leads, that data is driving your event decisions going
that they’re able to continually engage in your show them how their participants and the forward. Change, adapt, and get better every day.

42
CASE STUDIES

THE SALESFORCE PIVOT
STUART FRANK What’s the biggest challenge you Technology

Director of Strategic Events Asia Pacific, Salesforce faced translating your live event The next big challenge was a digital platform — or
experience to a completely virtual
Email: sfrank@salesforce.com rather, a lack of one.
format? Is there anything you would
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/stuartfrank
do differently in retrospect?
www.salesforce.com We always stream our keynote room, which means
Time the keynote session and the following sessions
The biggest challenge was time. We made the taking place in that room. That’s five sessions
decision to reimagine Sydney as a virtual experience across the day. We’ve been doing that for years —
on the 16th of February, and the event was a high-quality stream on a trusted platform — but
scheduled for the 4th of March. We were left with we took it to the next level.
just 10 business days to pivot from an in-person
conference, exhibition, and experience for 10 We wanted to deliver virtually all the content we
thousand-plus people onsite to completely online. had planned for the physical event, which meant
We had never done anything like that before, but we over 100 sessions. We also wanted to provide
really made a priority of honoring the commitment the opportunity to engage, which is what would
MODERATOR
that our customers and employees made to us for normally happen in the expo, in the breakouts, and
DYLAN MONORCHIO the 4th of March. We wanted to deliver on that day, the associated events.
Deputy Editor, EventMB so we set ourselves that challenge.

To do that and really deliver, we started with the technologies we already Replicating all that online is not possible, but our aim was to build an online
had in place (i.e. Salesforce). We knew we had only 10 days to do this, so it expo that preserved that two-way interaction through a browser, through the
meant a huge sprint from the team here in Australia, but also in HQ in San screen. We built that on Salesforce so we used our own products.
Francisco.
“We had social engineers, managers ready to
The results were amazing. Roughly 10,000 people usually attend the event demonstrate solutions, answer questions, etc.
year over year. This year, we had a total of 1.5 million viewers on social That worked really well.”
media looking at the videos. 80,000 people actively engaged watching those
Attendees could watch streams, jump on to the next expo and then they
streams, so eight times what we had expected on the day. I mentioned we
could jump into webinar rooms. There were 17 of those rooms dedicated
had run streams in the past. Last year, 4,000 people viewed the stream live
to either a role, like sales and marketing, or an industry, like government.
compared to the 80,000 this year — 20 times the volume.
In those rooms, we had social engineers, managers ready to demonstrate
solutions, answer questions, etc. That worked really well. We had
So lots of challenges and a very short sprint, but we faced the key challenges
3,500 individual check-ins in those rooms. We had that strong, two-way
and overcame them.
engagement, which is probably one of the hardest parts.
What were some of the most effective strategies you

Obviously, engagement is a concern for virtual events as
found for creating these much-craved networking
most people will be attending rom their homes and
opportunities and connections that people normally look
may be more easily distracted. What did the World Tour
to live events to provide?
Sydney do to keep people tuned in?
World Tour is an annual family reunion for our customers, partners, and
Engagement is always a personal thing, whether it’s live or online. We’ve
employees. What we try and do is bring a little Dreamforce down under and
always had a really strong focus on engagement whenever we designed
really create something special, and we have a long history of delivering quite
experiences, so we had a good base to start from.
an engaging and exciting experience for an extremely passionate audience.
Here are some of the key things we did around engagement:

Networking is a big part of that, so that’s important for us. We bring our
1. We invested in speaker training. We have great speakers
personality and values to the event and across the entire experience. Over
at Salesforce, but they’re trained for the stage. They are engaging on
the years we’ve had swing sets, swimming pools, etc.
stage, they’re animated, they move around a lot. Not all that works

on video. We worked with them on how best to deliver to the camera event so that people were engaging in more than just one way.
rather than an in-person audience. We ran some training sessions with
6. We had incentives throughout the day. We promoted that
them when we could still work onsite. We got them on camera to give
in our pre events and online site. Each session, people had the chance
them hands-on experience.
to win a Dreamforce ticket. They only had to complete a short survey,
2. We invested in production quality. We made that decision and we got valuable data out of that.
before restrictions were in place within Australia, so we were still able
to build physical studios at the original event venue and work with our What are some unique features of pacing for virtual
trusted suppliers. We had 11 different video studios onsite in Sydney.
events that people should keep in mind given the format?
The content and the broad experience strategy need to be adjusted from
They were all quite different, which meant varying levels of production.
what we’ve all known up until now. I’ve been running conferences of varying
3. We used variety to our advantage. These environments styles and scales for 20+ years, but that model gets a little broken now.
were dynamic, they could change and capture the interest and give
variety on screen for people who were sitting an entire day in front of
Format
their laptops. We had multiple cameras on dollies, providing moving
The first difference is in the format. For example, 40-60 minute sessions
shots. We had LED backdrops in our main rooms and a variety of
work in a traditional conference format, but they are a really big ask of
environments for those sessions. We had people seated, people
someone sitting in front of their computer. We have always planned our
standing up, panel discussions, etc. to make that variety come through
sessions with the customers in mind.
on screen so people were not watching the same old presentation with
a talking head and slides. Ask yourself what they care about, how we
4. We allowed people to pivot as needed. The online expo can help them, what they will get out of it, and
was highlighted throughout the day. At any time, someone watching a then we build from there. If you have a 40-minute session
video or video stream could jump into the online expo. in a regular live event, does that become two 20-minute sessions between
which they can have a mental break?
5. We engaged people on social media. Social was a big part
of the day. We streamed across multiple platforms: Twitter, Facebook,
For World Tour Sydney, we didn’t have the time. We had a whole stack of
YouTube, and LinkedIn. Our social channels were really buzzing
speakers from customers and Salesforce who had prepared for the 30- to
through the day to make sure that we were creating that noise from the

40-minute format. We couldn’t make a huge amount of adjustments in that
You want that live engagement but design
instance, but moving forward, we will. We will be planning for virtual from
content to be accessible when and where
day one. Ten days to try and adjust all the content was a big ask.
people want to find it.
Talent
The other difference is about presenters. They need to plan for virtual and It’s not always an experience. We think about how our customers and
prepare for camera, prepare for audio. They have to be authentic on camera, partners need to consume content. If it doesn’t live on, they can’t go back to
especially if people present from home as they are now. it. So make it live, make it convenient to them.
Complexity We had 45 live sessions on the day, but we had 55 sessions go live on
Another component is keep things simple. The content, the interface,
demand, on the same day. It’s not possible to consume all of that in one
the interactions, everything has to be really simple for the user. If it’s
day. Now it’s all online, it’s all easy to consume, and we’ve even organized it
complicated, it can be a disengaging piece.
into playlists so people can choose their role and the selection of videos out
Engagement of that 100 that best suit their needs. We’re using that in e-mail and social
Be interactive, whether that’s the expo, Q&A sessions, asking the experts, media moving forward. Over the past 30 days, we had another 15,000 active
etc. Build these moments into the plan. views or individual sessions. It’s working, but you have to keep it always on.
Internal engagement is critical, too. If you’re driving attendance to an online

experience, you need your internal team aligned and on board with you to
ensure success. They need to be seen as playing from the same handbook
as you are, so get them onboard, get them excited and the event will be
successful.
Can you share a few tips for managing the ongoing

engagement with the event and really carrying that
momentum forward, perhaps into the next event?
What has changed now is the event itself. The event day is now simply a
moment in time, albeit an important one.

48
LEARNINGS FROM THE WORLD’S
LARGEST ONE-DAY LEADERSHIP
CONFERENCE
Tell us about Leadercast and give us speakers who would then give 20-25 minute
ANGIE AHRENS, CMP
Vice President, Operations at Leadercast an idea of the attendee experience speeches in those three different segments.
pre-Covid-19. It was a one-day event where you would break
Email: angie.ahrens@leadercast.com
Leadercast is a leadership content platform, and up, network a little bit between the content, and
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/
we have two events that are hybrid, one in May and then come back in to see more content.
angieahrens/
one in October.
www.leadercast.com
We had three different levels of tickets: a
Pre-Covid, it looked like a large arena with student ticket, a general admission ticket, and
thousands of people where you could walk in and an executive experience ticket. The executive
be part of the action. You would be greeted by a experience ticket was your VIP pass to meet the
band, the Atlanta Braves, as you picked up waffles speakers one on one and participate in a Q&A
from Waffle Houses’s food truck. You would be in during lunch.
this area before you walked into the lobby, where
you would meet speakers. You would engage with It was definitely your in-person event, but we
all the other attendees. were also hybrid. We were broadcasting this
MODERATOR event to over 50,000 people across the globe

There was a lot of activation with our sponsors. in 14 different countries. They would get the
RONNIE HIGGINS Inside the arena, you had three different content broadcasted from us and create their
Former Sr. Content Strategist, Eventbrite educational segments. We had nine keynote own experiences.

We have our flagship event here in Atlanta, Georgia, but we also have all It all streamlined really well, and we didn’t really have to get rid of too much.
these host sites across the world doing their own thing and supplementing
it with their own educators during their breaks. The exception, obviously, would be the food and beverage part.
You were planning all those great interactions in real life, With the on-demand experience, we’re actually providing two different ways
so is the virtual event just a shell of the live version? that people can digest our content. They can join us on May 7th and follow
Not exactly. To be honest, our reimagining of this event was easier, in a way, along with our live format, which is one session, a break, a session, a break
because we already had one foot in and one foot out of the pool. and then the last session. Then we’re pushing them over to social media
platforms where speakers will join them on Facebook live or Instagram live,
We got creative. We literally sent camera equipment to Magic Johnson’s allowing them to follow up and get that live engagement.
house and had him set up the camera and film the content. St. John, the
But we’re also being super conscious of Covid-19. We know life happens
marketer for Endeavor, did the same thing. We filmed people in Atlanta. One
and we know children might be at home running around, so they have the
person filmed their piece in France. All of our speakers just engaged with
opportunity to pause in a 48-hour window to digest the content on their
that content in a new way.
own time.
We had to look at the event’s objective to see

We really looked at the attendee’s purpose. They come to our event to be a
if we could make it completely virtual. Our
better leader, and we’re giving them more content.
whole purpose is to bring leadership content
to the attendee, so we focused on that and
Were there any hesitations, anything that you were
then we expanded it. really worried about? Or did everyone put their heads
together and say “let’s just do this”?
For example, we decided to convert the book signing opportunities where Our first concern was our host sites. Those are the small events across the
you would meet a speaker into a Q&A Zoom format. country and over the globe. They plan their own events, and we wanted to
make sure that they knew how to pivot as well. Not only are we doing our
Our sponsors were activating in a different way as well. Many of them have event, but we’re reimagining 250 other events on a smaller scale. We walked
digital content libraries or are educators themselves, so we were able to try them through that a little bit and really nurtured them.
out new programs for them.

The second concern was sending camera equipment to speakers’ homes. the content for those attendees so they can bring it home to their
We don’t expect speakers to know how to set up camera equipment, as team and facilitate it within their own companies and make it a 360
they usually walk up, get a mic, and walk onstage. We actually recorded a experience. We just thought about the bigger picture.
complete walkthrough video about how to set up the equipment, and we
were on call for 24 hours making sure they knew what to do.
Those were our two biggest concerns. We obviously had a couple hiccups
along the way, but we’re handling them like we need to.
For those who haven’t had experience with a virtual

event, what have you learned that they should keep
in mind?
1. Stay true to your meeting objective. For us, content is why

people come to the event. They might come to meet other people and
networking is actually something that we’ve been trying to improve,
but we wanted to make sure that we stayed true to our content, and
those who need it have thanked us.
2. Listen to your audience and know their “why.” So many are

registering because of our theme, positive disruption.
3. Reimagine and adapt your objective. I like to say “reimagine”

because that’s just what we’re doing with our content. Rather than
creating a one-day experience, we knew we had to make it possible for
the attendees to see it on many levels. For a week after the last event,
we had more Q&As with our keynotes. We had five VIP experiences
for that executive experience. We’re actually going to break down

52
HOW VIRTUAL EXPERIENCES
DELIVER MORE REVENUE
Christopher Gerhart recently had to rapidly pivot

CHRISTOPHER GERHART We approached it as we’ve
a client event to virtual. The live event usually
President, Crescent Event Productions been doing for a number of
attracts about 300 attendees, but the virtual
Email: chris.gerhart@crescentevents.com customers: How do we take
version had 1,100 registrants and 800 stayed
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ every element from a live
consistently throughout the program online.
CrescentEventProductions/ event and translate it to an
www.crescentevents.com online element.
Sponsors walked away with about 400 to 500
trackable leads, so they were thrilled. The revenue Customers expect us to support both their content
generated by the live event normally reaches and community needs. We made sure we reached
$600,000, with a profit of about $400,000. The those two touchpoints in as many different ways as
online version saw a substantial revenue increase we could throughout the online event experience.
to $760,000, with $640,000 in profit.
The shift started with registration. Rather than
Can you tell us a little bit more about having people go to a desk to pick up a badge,
this event? we went through a digital process that ended
MODERATOR The 300-person live event intended for with a live chat with a team member welcoming
Indianapolis was banned by governor’s orders in the attendees, asking where they were calling
LARA MCCULLOCH response to the crisis. In a two-week span, we in from. That way, we provided that high-level
Brand Positioning Strategist pivoted to an online virtual event. touchpoint right there.

We a custom-built an attendee dashboard that was their home portal for
They were willing to offer the same guarantee
engaging with the event throughout the three-day program. From that
to get people to come to the virtual meeting.
dashboard, they could navigate to the main stage room, then to breakout
That helped mitigate risk for those attending.
sessions or to a virtual DJ booth (which was actually a DJ sitting in Myrtle
beach, South Carolina). They could navigate into virtual coffee lounges,
From the moment people engaged with the registration process all the way
which were open meeting rooms for people to connect and build that
through the portal, their experience was topnotch. It was ten times above
community.
what they would have expected.
Then we focused on content. We built a platform that allowed us to link

When you’re looking at a pivot to virtual and at people’s expectations for
together several video conference platforms. We used Zoom as the heart,
how it’s going to be, one thing you have to keep in mind is that people are
linking together up to 18 different Zoom meetings so we could have
approaching it from a standpoint of webinars or Zoom meetings. But you
interaction between all of the various attendees across all the meetings.
can create touchpoints to deliver that sense of community.
That said, we were still able to bring them down into small breakout rooms
using Zoom’s breakout feature to give intimate networking opportunities
We have great platforms for delivering content
throughout the event.
in a virtual online environment but keeping
that community was key to the engagement
How do you deal with the perception that online events
we got out of the event.
offer less value and tickets should be proportionately
discounted? How did you create an experience that
You’ve mentioned some really interesting experiential
people were happy to pay for?
elements. In a previous interview we did, you also talked
about a package that was sent to attendees. Can you
Initially, we were able to get our customer on board by taking a little bit of
expand on that?
risk. At their live event, they had a policy that if someone travelled to the
event and wasn’t happy by the end of the day, they could go to the help desk
In advance of the event, about 1,100 boxes were FedExed all over the world.
and ask for a refund, no questions asked.
The package included workbook materials, props for the event (some
sponsored), and participation prompts to be used at key points in the event
(i.e. a sealed envelope that says “don’t open until instructed”). We had a

door placard to hang on the door, like the one outside of a hotel room that From your perspective, what’s the greatest key to really
says do not disturb. Ours said something like “shush, I’m learning.” We got creating a revenue- and profit-generating online event?
a lot of great pictures from attendees who were sitting there with the big
cardboard cut out. I think it’s knowing the value of what you’re presenting. Keep in mind that,
when somebody buys a live ticket to your event, that ticket is not to support
You also opted to ask all attendees to be on camera, is the carpet pattern of the floor in the ballroom or the Starbucks in the lobby.
that correct? It’s for the content you’re delivering.
We did. I think that’s pivotal to that community as well. Depending on the

Know that the value that you’re delivering with
platform you’re on and the engagement level and how you’re delivering
the live event is the content and the community
content, there’s value to all those different mediums.
engagement. If you are still delivering on those
two items, I see no reason why you wouldn’t
We were trying to recreate what happens in charge the same ticket price.
the live event, where presenters can see the
energy, receive that energy back from their Going back to that case study earlier, the sponsors we had were the same
audience, and pivot their talk as needed based as for the live events of the previous years. The year before the pivot to
on the feedback and queues they get just virtual, they got maybe 50 valuable leads from the 300-person event. They
through body language from their attendees. had a fish bowl on their table, hoping to pick up business cards. At the
virtual event, the lowest level of engagement we saw with a sponsor was
It created a tremendously immersive experience for the presenter, and we
450 viable leads and the highest level was almost 600 viable leads.
expanded that capability now with remote presenters who can’t be in our
studio space in Charlotte. They’re able to actually see those attendees while
So again, it goes back to what you’re charging your ticket price or your
they’re presenting. We built virtual slide advancers so people can control
sponsor fee for. If you’re still delivering (or overdelivering) that on a virtual
their slides from their own home through computers running in our studios.
platform, then there’s no reason to reduce your fees.
Once they get there and experience it, they’re going to be pleased. That’s
where taking the risk and offering guarantees where virtual is the only

option is going to pay off. People are going to be so pleased with the delivery
if it’s done properly. You will still deliver content and create a community, and
you have the opportunity for that content community to be shared among
sponsors, among attendees, and among presenters.
What do you think is the mistake that most people make

when trying to generate revenue from an online event?
I think it comes back to the mindset they have when they’re approaching the
event. If they’re approaching it from the standpoint of trying to pivot a live
event to virtual and create all those same engaging touchpoints throughout,
then they need to be confident in what they’re delivering and charge
accordingly.
If you think “we’re just going to do a webinar,”

then you’re going to deliver the value your
audience is used to receiving from one, and
therefore you probably need to consider a
reduced ticket price.
But if you can create content and community in a frictionless way for the
attendees, that generates greater ROI for your sponsors, then there’s no
reason to devalue your offering.

57
EXPERIENCE SPOTLIGHT

LIVE ILLUSTRATION SPOTLIGHT SONGDIVISION SPOTLIGHT CAPTIONSTAR SPOTLIGHT
CHRIS SHIPTON BENJI HARRIS SOMA NATHAN

Scribe and Art Director at Live Illustration Ltd. Performer, SongDivision Vice President at CaptioningStar &
Email: chris@liveillustration.co.uk TranscriptionStar
Twitter: @livepens Email: somu@transcriptionstar.com

60
CMP CREDITS DISCLAIMER
EventMB is a CMP Preferred Provider accredited This report is based on research carried out on
by the Events Industry Council and provides April 2020.
Continuing Education credits for learning activities.
While this report has been sponsored, the analysis
This report is worth 2 CE Credits. is completely unbiased.
To acquire CE credits through this or other reports, If you wish to sponsor our future publications or
webinars and reading material from EventMB, please receive sponsorship opportunity notifications, get
refer to https://www.eventmanagerblog.com/cmp. in touch with Carmen at cb@skift.com.
For more information about the CMP credential or

Preferred Provider Program, please visit https://
www.eventscouncil.org/. Icon credits: FlatIcon.com

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M A N A G I N G

Please refer all pertinent questions to the publisher.

2 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

Industry Snapshot 6 EventMB Studio is a boutique content marketing service

Keep the Focus on Attendees for Simple, Memorable Virtual Events 25

3 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

4 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

5 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

INDUSTRY COMEBACK PRE-RECORDED SESSIONS

WHEN ARE YOU WHAT’S YOUR OPINION

47.7% - Oct-Dec 48.5% - I like them

Total Sample: 1,286 Total Sample: 1,286

6 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

Live graphic recording by Chris Shipton - liveillustration.co.uk - chris@liveillustration.co.uk - Twitter: @livepens

8 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

9 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

10 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

So the basic way to think about transformations relies on three phases.

11 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

Live graphic recording by Chris Shipton - liveillustration.co.uk - chris@liveillustration.co.uk - Twitter: @livepens

13 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

The moral of the story is never design alone.

14 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

15 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

Live graphic recording by Chris Shipton - liveillustration.co.uk - chris@liveillustration.co.uk - Twitter: @livepens

A range of sciences such as common psychology, 3 Fundamental Concepts for Delivering

17 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

When we provide attendees with experiences, we need to make it as simple

1. Choose a platform with an intuitive interface — very user friendly,

3. Remove friction, anything that hinders the journey, and any

18 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

19 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

do that. with these three concepts in mind.

t First, humans are cognitive compromisers, so make it

2. Use breaks. Breaks are a powerful way to keep people focused.

3. Talk through every relevant step. When we’re at a live event,

4. Avoid content fatigue. Don’t overwhelm attendees with

20 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

Live graphic recording by Chris Shipton - liveillustration.co.uk - chris@liveillustration.co.uk - Twitter: @livepens

virtual events. (stretch and listen), bringing in a cheesy cover-band

23 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

24 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

working properly. events once they spring back into action.

compliments platform updates specifically to deliver an impactful experience with virtual?

events come together — and we didn’t stop there.

25 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

1. Make it memorable. Zoom fatigue is a real thing. Inject your

2. Get people connecting. Open the lines of communication at

26 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

3. Keep in touch. Be mindful of the differences in attention span

What can planners do to facilitate lucrative connections at their virtual

Allow attendees to build profiles and connect with other attendees in

27 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

28 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

2. Great moderation. No matter how engaging your speakers are,

3. Great user journey. Like a great moderator that holds a session

keynotes, and network meetings.

29 MANAGING THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE