Planning and Producing an Exceptional Online Event
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With the future of in-person events uncertain in the near-term, associations and consortia are facing the challenging decision of whether to cancel or postpone conferences and meetings or to transition them into online events. While there are many commonalities between face-to-face events and online events, the differences are important to understand while considering the move, planning and executing the event. Our experts share insights and best practices for online events.
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Planning and Producing an Exceptional Online Event
- 1. Planning and Producing Exceptional Online Events The webinar will begin soon.
- 3. Before We Begin… • All attendees are in listen-only mode. • Webinar is being recorded. • Questions can be asked at any time using the GoToWebinar client and will be addressed at the end of the webinar. • This recording and slides will be posted to the Virtual Knowledge Hub and emailed to you. • Please stay on at the conclusion of the webinar to take the survey. • Virtual, Inc. is an approved CAE provider – this webinar is worth 1 CAE credit.
- 4. Agenda Making the Decision Gathering Requirements Creating the Experience Case Study
- 5. Today’s Speakers Stacey Comito Vice President Marketing and Communications Margot Rodger Vice President Events and Meetings Shannon Taylor Vice President Client Services
- 7. Do Your Homework • Evaluate all possible options for your face-to-face event • Consider the financial impact of each • Determine a date that the decision must be made by
- 8. Key Questions For Consideration • What value does your in-person event provide to attendees? • What are the goals of the event? • Can these transfer online?
- 9. Where are you in the decision- making process?
- 10. Agenda Making the Decision Gathering Requirements Creating the Experience Case Study
- 11. Let’s Talk Logistics Dates Calendars Time Zones Budgets
- 12. There’s Always More! Security • Registration • Event Access • Post-event Content Access Continuing Education Credits • Value for Attendees • Tracking Requirements • May Require 3rd-Party Accreditors Sponsors • Opportunities for online visibility • Creative sponsorship packages
- 13. Agenda Making the Decision Gathering Requirements Creating the Experience Case Study
- 14. Agenda and Sessions • Live or pre-recorded? • How many speakers? • Interactive? • Live video?
- 15. Plan with Attendees in Mind • Schedule • Timing • Shorter Attention Spans • Importance of Breaks • Limited Distractions • Connectivity and Bandwidth
- 16. “If you build it, they will come.” • Keep it Short • Relevant Content • Optimize Sessions • Embrace the Break Field of Dreams (1989)
- 17. Encouraging Engagement and Interaction • Video • Live Chat • Polling • Whiteboards • Be Creative
- 18. Show Your Speakers Some Love, Too! • Engaging Visuals • Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse • Bandwidth and Connectivity • Emotional and Technical Support • Plan and Prepare
- 19. Effective Communications • Develop Comms Plan • Targeted by Audience • Clear, Concise, and Actionable • Reinforce on Social and Blogs • Dedicated Microsite • Survey and Feedback
- 20. Extending the Event Life Cycle • Recruitment Tool • Membership Value • Lead Gen Campaigns • Sponsored Content • Additional Revenue • Snackable Marketing Content
- 21. Engagement is Key • Video • Live Chat • Polls • Whiteboards • Be Creative
- 22. Making the Decision Gathering Requirements Creating the Experience Case Study
- 23. The Challenge • Sponsors and Exhibitors • Career Placement Services • Poster Sessions • Speed Poster Sessions • Full/Half Day Workshops • Roundtable Luncheons • Networking Receptions • Committee Meetings 3.5 DAYS 1,000+ ATTENDEES 600 INDIVIDUAL PRESENTATIONS 625+SPEAKERS 125+TOTAL SESSIONS 12BREAKOUT SESSIONS
- 24. The Approach • Make decisions • Build a team • Get organized • Be creative, challenge the norm • Pay attention to the details • Have fun, this is an opportunity
- 25. The Result “When ENAR decided to take its 2020 Spring Meeting from a face to face event to a virtual one in less than 11 days, we certainly worked with the right partner…Virtual Inc. With 125+ sessions over 3.5 days and 625+ speakers, the Virtual Team delivered an extremely well organized, seamless event to our community.”
- 26. Key Takeaways Make the Decision • Deliver on the brand promise Prioritize Requirements • Be bold Create an Exceptional Experience • Embrace the Opportunity
- 27. Questions?
- 28. The Seven Things Standards Bodies Should Be Thinking About WEBINAR Thursday, April 23
- 29. Knowledge Hub Articles Insights & Best Practices Videos Podcasts
- 30. Thank You Stay on to take a brief survey You’ll receive an email with the slides and video recording Connect with us at virtualinc.com Email us any questions at virtualize@virtualinc.com
Hinweis der Redaktion
- BROOKE/MODERATOR Welcome and thank you for attending today’s webinar “Planning and Producing Exceptional Online Events.” With the future of in-person events uncertain in the near-term, associations and consortia are facing the challenging decision of whether to cancel or postpone conferences and meetings or to transition them into online events. When we named the company Virtual - it was for a reason. For over two decades, we’ve been guiding clients through the difficult process of producing engaging face-to-face and virtual events that deliver membership value to your community, positive business outcomes, and fully integrated attendee experiences – all leading to the long-term success of your organization. Today, you will hear from our team of experts as they share insights and best practices for online events.
- BROOKE/MODERATOR Welcome and thank you for attending today’s webinar “Planning and Producing Exceptional Online Events.” With the future of in-person events uncertain in the near-term, associations and consortia are facing the challenging decision of whether to cancel or postpone conferences and meetings or to transition them into online events. When we named the company Virtual - it was for a reason. For over two decades, we’ve been guiding clients through the difficult process of producing engaging face-to-face and virtual events that deliver membership value to your community, positive business outcomes, and fully integrated attendee experiences – all leading to the long-term success of your organization. Today, you will hear from our team of experts as they share insights and best practices for online events.
- BROOKE Before we begin, I wanted to go over a few housekeeping items with you. This webinar is being recorded. The recording and slides will be posted to the Virtual Knowledge Hub and emailed to you. All attendees are in listen-only mode throughout the webinar. Questions can be asked at any time using the GoToWebinar client and will be addressed at the end of the webinar. At the conclusion of the webinar please to take the survey to let us know how we did. Virtual, Inc. is an approved CAE provider – this webinar is worth 1 CAE credit. Now, let’s get begin today’s webinar.
- BROOKE While there are many commonalities between face-to-face events and online events, the differences are important to understand while considering the move, planning and executing the event. During the next 45 minutes, we will be discussing the key considerations for transitioning from an in-person to an online event including: How and when to make the decision The importance of gathering requirements Creating an engaging experiences Insights from a recent case study So, first things first…Let’s meet today’s speakers…
- STACEY, SHANNON, AND MARGOT INTRODUCE THEMSELVES STACEY: Hi there! I’m Stacey Comito Vice President of Marketing and Communications Been here for a little over 4 years Lead the strategic planning and execution of marketing and communications initiatives for our clients and Virtual, Inc. SHANNON: hey, I’m Shannon Taylor, VP of Client Services focusing on our 30+ professional societies. I’ve been on this adventure with Virtual for over 16 years. MARGOT: - Margot Rodger, Vice President of Events and Meetings here at Virtual - With Virtual for 20 years - Manage our team of event planners who work on more than 125 events each year ….And this year, those events are looking a lot different than before.
- MARGOT: - Most of our clients are in decision making mode – they are making difficult decisions about what to do for formerly in-person events - Spring and Summer events – Almost all canceled, postponed or moved on online - Fall events – in light of uncertainty, we are working with clients on multiple scenarios – considering in-person events, hybrid events– meaning a potentially smaller in-person event, with some virtual components - or an entirely online event as we watch the trajectory of COVID-19 - Each of those scenarios create an abundance of details to consider, but at the early stages of discussion, really important to consider the big picture - FIRST - what is WHY. WHY are you transitioning your event online – Often events serve multiple purposes for members, attendees and industry at large: - It's Education - It's Networking - It's Connection Once you've identified the WHY of your event, then you can get into the HOW – what's the date, the timing, the budget, the tools. We'll talk a little bit more about those in a few minutes. The decision to move online is really a strategic one for organizations – By cancelling the quarterly member meeting or annual conference, what gap could that create for members, attendees and your industry? What would that do to your overall member value proposition? Online events become an excellent opportunity to fill that gap. When bringing your event online - you're not simply replacing the event in digital form – you're recreating the member experience and value. NEXT SLIDE – DO YOUR HOMEWORK
- MARGOT So, to start creating that value, first step is to do your homework. - Event planners – detail oriented, - love a project plan, love an Excel file; - Uncertainty of upcoming event landscape can be a challenge for the way we typically work - So we cling to our comfort zone and dive into scenarios – and more Excel planning with budgets and timelines. FIRST - Evaluate all options for F2F - (options mentioned before) - cancel - postpone - anticipate small event with online component - go all online - Each option could have a very different bottom line for your organization. 2. Consider financial impact of each - this can change by month or even day - for example, Force Majeure not in effect one day, triggered the next with an extension of a shelter-in-place order - recommend stay in close contact with your venue and keeping an eye on regional news for your event's location to help assess financial impact of any decisions of cancellation or postponement - AND start building those financial scenarios for a hybrid event or online event as you assess your online event requirements FINALLY, . Map out a timeline of decision dates, driven by key milestones - dates can be driven by - when cancellation penalties go up, how much time you need to plan your online event, or even CDC or World Health Organization recommendations - identify go/no-go date for F2F based on ability to pivot to an online event, leaving time to plan and execute In many of these discussions – the question comes up: Can a successful event be held without being physically together? Can value still be delivered virtually? - Of course we think the answer is a resounding YES, but it may not look exactly the same as your in-person event does. Once decision is made to transition online and financial and timeline scenario homework is complete - There are a few key questions to consider as you design that event. NEXT SLIDE: Key Questions For Consideration.
- MARGOT The vision of your online event is a strategic decision that impacts organization brand and attendee value. - This isn't just a larger Zoom meeting with the same agenda as your 2-day conference Several questions have become cornerstones of our conversations with clients going through this process right now, assessing the event and technology required. FIRST - What value does your in-person event provide to attendees and other key stakeholders in the event? - Is it Education? Networking? Brand Awareness for Org? - By identifying the value of the event, you can start to sketch out what a sample agenda may look like. - Sometimes value can be achieved through 1 one event. OR, you may need to break it up into multiple online events, each with a different area of focus, and possibly delivery method or technology. SECOND - What are the goals of the event for your organization? - Maybe it's org's primary revenue generator for the year (registration and/or sponsorship) -If so, the user experience and sponsorship visibility options become important part of value when designing that event and choosing the technology - Your goal is Continuing Education for members - Content and credit tracking requirements could then take center stage in technology, tools and reporting funcitinoality needed - OR, Your goal is move work or projects forward through workshops or interactive breakouts conversations. If so, the technology platform needs to lend itself to solid interactivity, brainstorm and discussion. I mentioned earlier some groups question if their event can even transition online successfully. Can these goals transfer online? - Yes, but could look very different. BUT, it can also present new opportunities. You can: - Take a FORMERLY local event to a national level – or even global - Get that speaker from Australia when travel fees weren't in budget for live event - Increase your attendance to 1000 when you are not bound to a 500 person ballroom anymore Removing some of the boundaries of an in-person meeting can lead to more attendance and a new, different experience for attendees – and that's valuable for your members, and your organization.
- MARGOT Now, before we move on, love to hear where in the decision-making process your organization is for upcoming events? POLL: HAVE YOU RECENTLY CANCELED AN IN-PERSON EVENT? While waiting for poll results: After identifying value and goals, it's worth pausing to ensure alignment amongst multiple stakeholders on those value and goals. Like new in-person events, key stakeholders - such as board or planning committee – need to agree on the goals of event, core requirements and what is considered success. This takes lots of communication, meetings, check-ins and updates with key stakeholders throughout the process, but goes a long way to ensure a successful outcome. Let's take a moment to check on the poll results. It looks like we have a number of attendees currently working their way through cancelling an in-person event, and moving online. That's great. Feel free to contribute questions via the question chat throughout the webinar and we'll make sure to leave time for those at the end as well.
- MARGOT Moving on, in addition to the big picture WHY, from a practical standpoint, there's also the HOW. Deadlines and money to consider. How do you move your event online? What is your timeframe? What is your budget? Are events dates and times flexible? Let's dive into some of those logistics. NEXT SLIDE: LOGISTICS - TIME, BUDGET, DATES, TIME ZONES
- MARGOT 1. Identifying Event Dates - Merit to staying the same dates - everyone already available. Formerly travel days can become extra meeting days to shorten hours each day One thing to keep an eye out for is original event dates that fall over weekends. That may be less appealing with everyone WFH, so dates may need to shift slightly OR Along those lines, you can change the dates, giving you more time to plan and increase attendance. We tend to go with the option that will lead to the most attendance for an event, but really depends on organizational priorities. 2. Check Calendars Calendars are getting pretty intense with online events Check industry calendars or competing events to ensure no direct conflicts, especially for any live portions of your event. Global and local holidays, depending on where audience coming from Many people sign up for events and get the recordings later, so unless your event is entirely live, this may not be an issue 3. Time zones - If your event is live, where are attendees joining from, and time the start and end accordingly For a very diverse audience in many time zones, maybe consider mostly pre-recorded sessions OR, you can run live sessions at two different times, or do a combo of both live and pre-rec Just keep in mind that unlike your event at the Nashville Marriott, not everyone is joining from the same time or even day. 4. Budgets - Online events are no different than face to face events, in that there is a wide range of options for budget and the attendee experience. MANY considerations for online events from a budgetary standpoint, primarily from the technology and user experience perspective: Live presentations vs. Recorded amount of attendee interaction need for breakouts and multiple tracks, presentation elements such as virtual staging The sponsorship exposure and functionality needed Based on these requirements, costs can range from a few thousand dollars to much more. To offset those fees, there's the revenue side of the equation – the registration and sponsorship fees will likely need to be restructured, but if you are providing value to your attendees, there is definitely the opportunity to offset some of those costs. And there's always more. NEXT SLIDE: THERE'S ALWAYS MORE
- MARGOT While crunching budget numbers, other factors to consider: Security - What is the registration pathway and how do attendees access your event? Is there an API connection to your AMS? How long will you provide on-demand access? Continuing Education Credits: Continuing education credits are a major component of attendee value for many events. Industry requirements vary, so consider what your industry requires for tracking and reporting, so that can be a priority when looking at technology providers Sponsors: Can be big part of revenue equation, and if so, your event needs to provide value Visibility options range for different platforms and you can also get creative with sponsorship packages. Have track emcees, sponsored videos or content, daily email sponsor There are many pieces of the puzzle to transition event online and consider which technologies to use. It's a constant conversation to refine the goals, requirements, budget, and priorities, as you create your online event. BUT - One of the biggest drivers is the agenda – OVER TO STACEY with more on CREATING THE EVENT EXPERIENCE
- STACEY
- STACEY Thanks Margot. Making the move from a F2F to an online event Doesn’t just mean just taking your existing agenda and turning it online. Need to consider what elements to incorporate: Will your sessions be live/pre-recorded? How many speakers - solo presenters or panel discussions? What’s desired level of interaction? Is there a live video or demo? Answers to these questions: Help determine scope, budget, and planning factors Recommend event organizers: Fresh Look at Agendas and Virtualize It!
- STACEY What does Virtualize your Agenda mean? Means Plan with your attendees in mind! Especially with current situations Imagine yourself as your attendee. Think what’s meaningful to you. Schedule – Is there time to pause content so you can feed your kids or watch a session in its entirety? Timing - Are there multiple tracks? What time zone is the event taking place? Can sessions be watched on demand? Distractions are just a living room, rather than a flight away. And, attention spans are shorter Breaks are important With increased demand on Connectivity and Bandwidth, video streaming may be difficult with everyone at home Considering all this:. Organizer should plan accordingly and prepare. Putting yourself in the shoes (or in some cases – the slippers) of your attendees, will make your event more personal and relevant. Now let’s talk about building agendas that keep attendees in mind.
- STACEY Think of this as “If you build it, they will come.” Just as a baseball diamond has 4 bases, here’s 4 things to keep in mind as you build that dream agenda: First, Keep in Short – Mindful of attention spans, design shorter sessions over a shorter time period. Second, Produce Relevant Content - Keep visuals interesting and easy-to-read. Limit text on slides. Third, Optimize – People will be viewing on various devices and on-demand. Not all your attendees will be participating at the same time – they may be getting popcorn at the concession stand so have missed a session. Accessing recorded content will prove extremely valuable to your attendees. Fourth, Embrace the Break – Host a virtual coffee break displaying a delicious cappuccino recipe. Integrate a sponsored yoga or mediation break. Unwind after a busy day of presentations with a networking “Video Happy Hour” or conduct a “Birds of a Feather Breakout Cocktail Reception” for larger gatherings where folks can opt-in based on specific topics. These are also great opportunities to increase sponsorship revenue. And, don’t forget “Housekeeping Reminders” establish and share ground rules. Remind attendees to stay focused, Log off email and IM, Silence their devices, Give the meeting their full attention On the next few slides, we’ll talk about additional ways to compliment your dream agenda by providing opportunities to engage and interact virtually.
- STACEY Encouraging attendees to become part of the conversation is another way to maximize the event experience. In some cases, online events can prove even more engaging than traditional F2F events. Think about different ways in which you can engage in an online meeting or event: Video: Use your web cams. Helps you connect with attendees. Live Chat: Well facilitated “on air” discussions provide valuable interaction Polls: Great way to understand who your audience and keep them focused and in the moment. Whiteboards: Fun way to collaborate and brainstorm. Encourage attendees to share something about themselves as a type of icebreaker at the start of an interactive session. Be Creative: Think outside the box. Arrange for a sponsored “Happy Hour” by sending a branded wine glass and bottle of wine to each attendee. Create ice-breaker activities to encourage interaction. Instead of ribbons, spend money on t-shirts with speaker, attendee, staff to encourage interaction just like a ribbon would do. These are just a few ways to keep attendees active and engaged. But attendees are only one side of the equation, we certainly couldn’t build a dream agenda without speakers, so let’s talk about showing your speakers some love too!
- STACEY Just as you encourage attendees to interact, your speakers need encouragement too. Presenting from the stage in the GS room is much different than staring at one’s laptop from a home office. We have identified some tips to help show your speakers some love. Slide Content and Visuals: Advise speakers to limit the amount of content on their slides. Design presentations to be engaging and easy-to-read. Practice Makes Perfect: Encourage your speakers to rehearse. Conduct dry runs on the platform before presenting. Bandwidth/Connectivity: Ensure that their internet connections are strong. If a speaker’s presentation is breaking up because their kids are streaming digital classrooms, it doesn’t make for a positive attendee experience. Provide Emotional and Technical Support: May be the first time they are doing an online presentation – be patient. Give them guidance on camera angle set up, lighting, audio quality, and appropriate backgrounds. Production quality matters. Additionally, have a staff person on each session to provide technical support and oversee logistics. This person should have the slides ready and be following along just in case something happens to the speakers’ screen share, another version can be brought up quickly. And lastly, help them Plan and Prepare: Speakers should join 15 minutes prior to their start time. This allows time to get comfortable and work out any last-minute issues. Effective communication to both speakers and attendees is critical throughout your event.
- STACEY We recommend developing a comprehensive communications plan targeted at your various audiences (attendees, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, etc.). Communications should be clear, concise, and actionable Send personalized emails, calendar invites, reminders, and thank yous Reinforce your message on social media with highlighted sessions on your Blog Create a dedicated event microsite to host all your event information and recordings “one stop shop” for your attendees And, lastly, evaluate how you did with surveys and request for feedback. And, let’s not forget… Just as you would have an onsite event team producing your F2F event, your internal communications are just as important. Whether it’s a WhatsApp group, Skype, or Text - you need to create an internal back channel to communicate throughout your online event to ensure everything runs smooth. So, to quickly recap, by taking your event online, you gained access to a wider audience, expanded your content reach – even reduced your carbon footprint - but what happens post-event?
- STACEY By creating on-demand recordings and repurposing session content – you can successfully extend your event’s lifecycle. Session content can be: Leveraged as a recruitment tool for new members Delivered as added membership value Used in lead generation campaigns Distributed as sponsored content yielding additional revenue And, created into snackable content and marketing assets Organizations can certainly harness and curate online session content as the basis for creating ongoing communications with its stakeholders.
- STACEY Engagement is also Key” to an exceptional online event. Online attendees will find it easier to be distracted and less focused than if they were in person. Think about different ways in which you can engage in an online meeting or event: Video: Encourage the use of web cams – it helps to connect speakers to attendees and attendees to one another. Live Chat: Well facilitated “on air” discussions provide valuable interaction Polls: Great way to understand who your audience is when starting a session and keeping them in focused and in the moment Whiteboards: are also a fun way to collaborate and brainstorm. Encourage attendees to share something about themselves as a type of icebreaker at the start of an interactive session. Be Creative: Prior to the start of an online event find a sponsor to host an online networking reception. Mail a branded wine glass and mini-bar bottle of wine to each attendee, allow the sponsor five-minute sponsor remarks and create ice-breaker activities to encourage interaction, chatting and video, it sets the stage for the days ahead! Be Creative: Instead of ribbons, spend money on t-shirts with speaker, attendee, staff to encourage interaction just like a ribbon would do.
- SHANNON Thanks Margot and Stacey for sharing your expertise. Now let’s spend some time reviewing a real-world scenario that took place a month ago.
- SHANNON One of our long-standing clients, the Eastern North American Region of the International Biometric Society, ENAR for short, made the decision on March 6 to transform their face-to-face meeting to an online event that was scheduled to start on March 22. This is an annual scientific meeting that draws over 1,000 attendees, spread across three and a half days. And features: 600 individual presentations Over 625 speakers Across twelve concurrent breakout sessions Mixed in with the scientific session are your typical poster sessions, workshops, committee meetings, roundtables, and a career placement service. Needless to say, a complex event that takes a year to plan. As soon as the decision was made to transform this meeting to an online event it was all hands-on deck.
- SHANNON Before digging in to deep, there were several key decisions that needed to be made quickly with stakeholders: As discussed previously, ENAR needed to determine the agenda pieces that could be transformed to an online event. Decisions were made in solidarity regarding sessions that simply couldn’t be kept because of the tight timeline or lack of value in an online format. Because attendees, speakers, and instructors all had the dates reserved we kept the original dates and all timing of sessions to coincide with the current published agenda. No timing was altered. Our number one goal was to ensure that each live session had a dedicated room operator. With the 600+ sessions and speakers this was paramount, and we knew would contribute to the overall attendee experience. After evaluating options Zoom webinar rooms met our requirements for the live and pre-recorded sessions. Then, a team of experts from marketing, events, client services, and our production crew got to work: Communicating amongst each other to identify roles and responsibilities. We met often, we challenged one another to think through all the details and ask each other what if questions, to be creative We built an infrastructure through a variety of technologies (Zoom webinar rooms, microsite, back channel comms etc.) We communicated with speakers, instructors, attendees, and sponsors each day through several different channels We tracked all the nitty gritty details related to speakers, timing, session nuiances. No stone was left unturned We planned for worst case scenarios (what if a speaker lost their connection or didn’t show, what if the internet went down worldwide) We pre-recording sessions We hosted two full days of practice sessions for speakers We tested and quality checked everything that was being put into place Finally, on March 22 we were ready to put all our planning, building and testing to life. Day one was a workshop, so a smaller number of people which allowed us to work through some kinks. Nothing unexpected, for instance we knew there would a person with audio issues, or someone who was late – the key is we were ready. We had mobile phone numbers; we had a back channel for all 25+ team members to communicate with one another real time to solve problems as they arose. Just like a face-to-face event, an online event is not going to be perfect, we were prepared for that. Our online event came to an end on the afternoon of March 25.
- SHANNON The online event was highly successful, the client was happy, attendees were happy, and we were able to offer opportunities not provided during the typical face-to-face meeting. The work isn’t over, we are evaluating the oodles of data collected on attendees such as how many unique viewers did, we have, how many sessions did they attend, how long did they attend etc. A sneak peek of our attendee and survey data tells us that most, not all, attendees still prefer to meet in person, they tend to bounce in and out of sessions and they want the ability to have the sessions available on demand. We learned a lot of lessons and grew stronger as an association and a community and will be ready the next time this opportunity presents itself. The ENAR online event is a good example of the steps we shared with you all coming together successfully.
- SHANNON As we wrap up our session, let’s review the key takeaways. Make an informed and insightful decision to take your meeting online delivering on your organizations brand promise and event goals. Prioritize your requirements. Depending on your timeframe, budget and content decisions need to be made, be bold in those decisions. Don’t do something because you’ve done it for 20 years. Remember your goals, your brand promise and accept that there simply are pieces of your meeting or event that will not translate well online. Create an Exceptional Experience Tom Peters says it well, excellence is the next five minutes. Use this as an opportunity to be excellent and creative with your technology, communications, engagement and interactions of every kind. Thanks for joining us today, I’m going to turn the control back to Brooke for questions and additional resources. [BROOKE – TURN OFF PRESENTATION MODE SO IT’S VIDEO FEED ONLY- BROOKE GOES ON WEB CAM]
- BROOKE Thanks to our presenters for sharing their insights, best practices, and a recent success stories. I would now like to open it up for questions. A few that have come in already are: What platforms do we see used most often for online events and meetings? SHANNON It depends on your priorities, the experience, and choosing the right platform that fits. Zoom isn’t the end all be all for an online meeting experience. Margot, Stacey, Shannon – do you want to answer that question. [GO TO LIVE IMAGE VIEW OF US}
- [TURN PRESENTATION BACK ON FOR THE CLOSING] BROOKE We hope that you have gained new insights for planning and producing online events today. We invite you to join us here again next week for our next webinar on The Seven things Standards Bodies Should be Thinking About. The webinar will feature insights from our CEO, Andy Freed; Chief Growth Office – Greg Kohn and Alysia Johnson, SVP of Client Services on practical strategies that standards group and technical consortia can use to adapt, not just for today’s crisis, but for tomorrow’s realities. Register by visiting the Virtual Knowledge Hub at virtualinc.com. https://virtualinc.com/webinar/seven-things-standards-bodies-should-be-thinking-about-right-now/
- BROOKE You will also find many more resources on association management best practices in the Knowledge Hub, including articles, insights, videos and even a podcast – 5 minutes with Andy.
- BROOKE On behalf of Virtual and our speakers, thank you for joining us. Please remember to: Take A BRIEF Survey to let us know what you thought about today’s webinar You also be receiving an email from us as soon as the slides and video recording are available in the Virtual Knowledge Hub, where you will also find more resources about planning online events