Switching to a Virtual Event? You’re almost there already

Like so many, you probably started planning (or thinking about) your event months ago. You had the venue, the dates, the international speakers and the audience. Now you have no choice but to go 'virtual'.

Being thrust into an environment you may have no experience of and little idea where to start can be daunting. Adding the fact, you're now at home, in a crisis, trying to work (which it should be emphasised, is very different to working from home) creates extra complexity.

What you need to know, is all is not lost. In fact, the only element that's now missing is the venue. You still have your speakers and you still have your audience; and shifting your offline event to a digital, virtual format is all about creating content and delivering this to your audience (in a different format)... you are ahead on both accounts.

Definitions

It was predicted that in 2020, streaming and video content would account for 82% of all internet traffic*. I think we can all agree that, owing to the current crisis, this will increase exponentially and with social isolation the order of the day, the hard work put into planning an offline event can pay off when going virtual.

But what does going virtual mean? Well, much like we've experienced with working from home, going virtual means delivering the content of your offline event across the internet. At the time of writing, this is typically as a webinar or webcast and it may be some time before hybrid events return as a realistic option.

Both formats are perfect for delivering the content that your speakers will have already prepared in the form of presentations or even panel discussions. The best delivery mechanism for this is up to you but we’re finding a typical solution uses Zoom, Teams or Skype to facilitate a ‘meeting’ between speaker(s) (who are now e-speakers) and the ‘host’ where we see the e-speaker (via webcam) deliver their presentation slides as a split screen (see image). The host can then jump in to ask questions or facilitate questions coming in from the audience.

This is either pushed out live or captured for on-demand. The live option provides the ability to create interactivity – via Q&A, polling or similar – but capturing for on-demand means you have the benefit of time and can implement some post-production and editing to create a better end product.

Deliver slides with presentation as split screen

The interactive virtual graduation was made possible by First Sight Media, a video production and live streaming specialist that donated its services for free to ensure students were able to celebrate their graduation and begin work early to support frontline NHS staff.

Following lockdown and social distancing advice, First Sight Media is removing the headache from event organisers by taking on the technical responsibility for creating secure virtual or hybrid events that will also increase engagement with attendees.

It’s the interactivity that is really the difference between a webcast (think broadcast… the majority of BBC content is pushing information to us without much two way communication) vs a webinar which is typically designed to be more like a seminar (with many people being able to engage with the session). There are some great third-party apps (for example sli.do or klaxoon.com) for creating simple interactivity with your audience but if you’re streaming through social channels (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube), they harvest their own interactivity by definition – it’s just about making sure that you engage with it by taking questions.

Making Decisions

This is where choosing the right platform is vital to the success of your event and there are several factors that play into this the most important ones being:

• Who is your audience and what platforms are they going to engage with most effectively?
• What are you trying to achieve by having the content online – how are you going to measure the success? Do you want mass usage (if so, social channels are probably the best option) or do you want to know who specifically who has viewed what and for how long (in which case a dedicated platform like a First Sight Media microsite is perfect).

Although monetising virtual events is something we are often asked about, we rarely recommend putting your content behind a paywall – if your offline event was free to attend, why would you make your virtual paid for? It is often unlikely that the cost of setting up the paywall will be covered by users as most will be put-off – even at low cost.