73 Media’s managing director Ed Tranter offers six things he’s learned since becoming a virtual event convert
On 18 March 2020, I was in South Beach, Miami, on a site visit for an event I was running in September that year. The sun was shining, obviously Covid was on the news, but that wasn’t going to affect something so far in the future, and the show must go on.
Two days later, I was in the airport trying to get on a flight home and by 23March, 2020, the world stopped.
Like most of the organiser community, my jaw dropped, and we had to come up with a plan. The reality for me at the time was that virtual/digital events were not only not on my radar, but I also didn’t want them to be.
As necessity is the mother of invention, we all became “virtual event experts” overnight.
So, now a genuine convert, and with a wide range of events behind us, what have we learned?
- Don’t try and recreate your physical event online – it’s a totally different medium, treat it as such.
- Make you event KPI list and stick to it – Why are you doing the event, why does the audience want/need it, and what are the commercial requirements of your sponsors/partners. It sounds obvious, but with the nature of virtual, there are so many things you can buy into that will take you off track.
- Remember to connect both audiences – what I mean by this, is that, as ever, you will normally have to serve two masters. Your attendees, who for the most part is there for the content, and your sponsors, who want to access the attendees. In a physical event, we all make sure that the route for attendees is through the exhibitor/sponsor, that isn’t easy to do in virtual. You must look at different and more creative ways to deliver for the sponsors. Virtual stands don’t work for me. I am happy to be corrected on that, so get in touch if you have a solution, but my experience of them has been poor. It’s about engaging the sponsor in the event content and dialogue, providing TV style advertising, and as I mention below, the longer life-cycle of the sponsorship.
- Don’t rush your tech choice – there are now 813 platforms out there, each slightly different. My advice would be, always go back to your list of what good looks like. Think of it like a venue, choose the one that absolutely ticks the boxes in terms of your planned delivery. Not on a shiny additional tool that you end up paying for and not using.
- Make your user experience simple – For those who remember the horrors when PowerPoint first came out, just because you can do a transition, doesn’t mean that you should. You want a simple, clear briefing for attendees, speakers, and sponsors. Lots of form filling or software downloads will turn off an audience. Simple “How to” videos are great, but if you need too many of them, then you may be over complicating it.
- A digital event is not just for the show days – The opportunity is around our content that we create so plan what you want to use it for before the event. Everything is HD, beautifully mixed with your lower-third sparkling. When pre-recording sessions, you can add in additional questions that are separate videos to be used post event. You can segment the sessions and then put them behind a paywall for attendees to access, turn them into content for sponsors to send to their customer base. This is basically broadcast TV, you get so much content, make the most of it.
The opportunity that digital creates is significant, I am not suggesting that it replaces physical, but this isn’t the free online banner that print publishers used to use as a value add. It has enormous potential, it’s growing, and I am excited to see where it leads.
