How to host a virtual event (the right way)
Because being virtual doesn’t mean it has to be boring and taken less seriously. 💁♀️
Four months ago, I set up, hosted and survived a 5 hour event, the very first virtual Ambassador Summit at Freeletics. Once the exhaustion passed, I took the time to reflect and now feel ready to share this experience with my lessons learned.
But before we begin, let’s accept the following statement: Believing that a virtual event requires less effort than an in-person event is wrong. 🙅♀️
By accepting this up front, you save yourself a lot of time as it will drastically change your mindset on how to approach this project. Don’t count it as just another video call on your calendar. Treat it for what it is: an event with its own significance requiring multiple tools, expertise, people, and good management to achieve its goal.
This post is made to give advice based on my own experience in order to enable you to approach your next virtual event with more confidence.
Put yourself in the shoes of your participants.
As this virtual event was a first attempt, I had no manual handbook or checklist from past experience. It quickly became a great opportunity to create something new and innovate. What topics are our participants really interested in? Which stakeholders could speak up to share their expertise? To make the event more relevant, you can co-create an agenda with your future participants.
My agenda was 5 hours long because we wanted to build momentum with this summit, as an annual event, but yours doesn’t have to be that long.
After a few weeks of iteration, I was able to define 7 sessions with amazing speakers starting with formal presentations from the CEO and the Head of the brand department. Next up were hands-on presentations regarding personal branding, social media and authenticity. Not to mention a Q&A session with the Coach Team and workshops with two different crews of the product department. And to finish: a workout session and an Ambassador quiz.
As for the breaks between these numerous sessions, a special thanks to my former colleagues Magda and Marion, Agile Coaches, who shared great insights with me, and underlined how important it was to leave enough time for breaks to encourage participants to disconnect to avoid screen fatigue.
Last but not least in this busy agenda, I made sure to set as many interactive moments as possible, but on that note, a common piece of feedback I received from participants was that they wanted to have even more time to interact. So never hesitate to add more!
Parallel to setting up your agenda, you can prepare an event package to send to participants. Mine was including a welcome letter to the event, sweet and savory snacks, exclusive shirt, new stickers and a Freeletics flag. Your imagination (and your budget) is the limit if you want to add a physical touch to your virtual event.
Over-plan and be flexible.
An oxymoron but nonetheless relevant because once your event has been defined, you have to know the agenda precisely, but be prepared for any last minute changes.
Here is a concrete example: weeks before my virtual event, I set up a blocker in each speaker’s calendar with clear indications on how and when to join the event. However a few speakers asked 5 minutes after the event already started how to join their own session. You must therefore be available and reachable at all times, even if the event has already started.
As a tip, if your participants or speakers are not familiar with the software you’ve chosen to host the virtual event, be sure to schedule optional testing sessions a few days in advance. This will give them the opportunity to test out features like sharing their own screen, writing in the chat, turning on/off their camera and microphone, etc.
In parallel of scheduling these testing sessions, I scheduled a teasing phase for the event. This can be a very powerful way of communication to set up expectations and to attract as many participants as possible. Here were my 6 main steps to advertise the event but feel free to adapt it:
- 2 months to go: reveal the day of the event and set up blockers in the calendars.
- 1 month to go: share the full agenda and start a 4 week weekly teasing phase such as “4 reasons to join the virtual event”.
- 1 day to go: share an essential checklist to attend the event (laptop, charger, headphones, phone, pens, notebook, sport clothes, mat, water, slippers, snacks…)
- D-day: invite them to open their package and “see you in a few hours!”
On D-day, everything relies on your internet connection. If you have any doubts about its quality, you can check your Internet speed with online tools like speedtest.net. Also, check with your IT department if you can borrow a few equipment like a second monitor, microphone or camera.
Breathe and let it go.
During the event, I faced unexpected moments and use my voice 🗣 a lot. A few days before hosting it, I tried out different breathing techniques. Lots of short exercises exist like square breathing, 4–7–8 breathing and coherent breathing. Feel free to pick your favorite to practice a few minutes before the event. Changing the length of your breaths will have a direct effect on your heart rate and your overall feeling of being calm.
Also, to avoid external nuisance, I stuck a piece of paper on the front door of the meeting room I booked with something like “Virtual Ambassador Summit, please do not enter from 3pm to 9pm”. By doing something similar, you reduce the chances of someone randomly walking into the room and interrupting you, because from the outside you will look like any other person working in front of a laptop.
After the event was over, it was almost 11pm when I shared the link to a satisfaction questionnaire, this is key to ensure that participants will take the time to answer this Google Form while their memory is still fresh.
Regarding the satisfaction rate, 57 out of 65 ambassadors took part in this virtual event, and 94% were satisfied by this event with almost half of them rating it as an excellent event. This is the proof that if well managed, virtual events can be as valuable, engaging and rewarding than in-person events.
Finally, many marketers are currently predicting that virtual events will go away as soon as the pandemic and social distancing are over. I understand their point of view but the proven results of a virtual event should not be forgotten. It is a legitimate alternative because it offers:
👥 the possibility of attending for people who would not have been able to attend an in-person event for various reasons (economic, geographic, accessibility, etc.) thus ensuring greater inclusion and the ability to connect people who would never have met in real life.
⏱ considerable time savings for participants and speakers. No need to worry about participants being unable to find a parking spot or the projector light hitting the eyes of all the speakers. From the comfort of their own space, everyone can take part in an event with the same quality of content.
🙌 more room for engagement. Without devoting resources to logistics like catering, furniture and venue, you can focus on the content to get a natural rhythm between the different sessions. Say goodbye to slow and long in-person events where everyone yawns at least once and say hi to smooth and efficient virtual events, or as one participant of the Ambassador Summit wrote:
“Even though it was for 5 hours, it felt like it was 5 minutes.”
ℹ This event took place alongside other projects I was managing for a super user program in 2020, feel free to check out this post if you want to read more.
