Virtual Event Ideas And Tips For 2023

Organizing virtual events is as difficult as organizing a regular event, if not more. As, in both situations, you’re going to draft a plan, sufficiently promote it, and have an engaging schedule while creating memorable moments for the participants, thus proving the success of the event.

The only thing that a virtual events misses is the venue and the participants on-site. Drafting a virtual event that is as engaging and impactful as a regular one takes much more expertise and patience.

What Are Virtual Events?

Virtual events include a webinar, an on-demand workout class, and any meeting that has been organized using a video conferencing tool. There are creative virtual assistants who work on planning for virtual events. Odds are, you might have even attended an online meeting from the comfort of your home or desk. A virtual event can be defined as one where the participants can attend the event online, from the comfort of their own space. Virtual events don’t usually need an in-person gathering. Google Trends claims that the world is pivoting towards virtual events more by the day.

Types Of Virtual Events

Programs and events today, are now being held in mixed modes. Virtual events are not here to replace any other types of events. They are separately added to the list to enhance engagement of program.

You can hire virtual marketing assistants for organizing virtual events successfully. Given below is a list of the primary types of virtual events:

#1. Webinars:

What is a webinar, you asked? Webinars can easily stretch from 30 minutes up to 80 minutes. The best part of webinars is that it allows participants from all across the global map, to attend the event. Organizers can also charge fees from the participants, to allow them to join or send out invites for free.

Webinars usually employ video conferencing tools that allow the participants to share their screens, hold Q&A, or even run prerecorded videos. The use of this is to conduct internal or external training programs. Webinars, being slightly academic in nature, have witnessed at least a 100% rise in attendance, as compared to offline seminars.

#2. Virtual Conferences:

Virtual conferences, like in-person conferences, are conducted to discuss a complicated agenda, including keynote addresses, a number of sessions, recesses, and much more. They also comprise multiple sessions and have the ability to incorporate community engagement tools. The only drawbacks of virtual conferences are that they can’t generate as many numbers of leads as a regular conference, and also provides much lesser scope to accomplish personal networks. Virtual conferences enable keynote addresses to be witnessed in real-time, and frame their own agenda around it, and interact with other participants through chat boxes.

#3. Internal Hybrid Events:

Internal Hybrid events can be company-wide events, training, department meetings, sale kick-offs, and much more. It is convenient for multinational companies that have branches all over the globe, and all the employees cannot be necessarily gathered around in one place. Flying everybody to the company’s headquarters might sound like a lovely idea, but it is costly, time- consuming and highly inconvenient in many other ways. The next best choice is to organize internal hybrid events that are part virtual and part in-person. Exercises or activities that promote virtual team building can work well in these situations.

#4. External Hybrid Events:

Some events also take place outside the organization. These can also include industry or user conferences. Events such as these, require higher levels of video and production for the virtual participants who need to see the same content as the offline participants. These events enable the participants who could not be physically present, to attend the event and add to the success. It can be slightly difficult to cater to the higher resolution of video content to the virtual participants, but not impossible.

#5. Virtual Exhibitions:

These emerging trends and technological advances might be slightly difficult to get used to. But these trends bring in a lot of benefits for the organizer and marketers. They are sufficiently capable of providing a lifelike experience to the audience as well as the event organizers. Virtual exhibitions can attract a lot more audience for the event than an offline exhibition would have, with proper marketing campaigns. People can experience the exhibition from their own comfort zones, and still, be able to participate.

#6. Virtual Seminars:

Virtual seminars mostly find their utility in events where intimate settings or places like houses or restaurants. It was previously done in person. With the dawn of the age of virtual events and situations that have restricted the free movement of people, these sales and events are also being organized online making it easier for both the concerned parties.

#7. Virtual Trade Shows:

Trade shows take place virtually when needs come up. Having said that, the in-person format works best for events like this sometimes, depending on the products. Forbes has claimed that the trade shows will resurrect in the market, and will thrive virtually with the appropriate strategies.

Why Host Virtual Events?

Any organized event, virtual or otherwise, has similar purposes to serve. They are meant to deliver company’s message, generate revenue or leads, and create networks. Virtual events, offline events, or hybrid events have their own sets of pros and cons. It is on the event planners and the organizers to choose what suits them best.

The success of the event also depends on its correlation with the medium of conveyance. Virtual events are flexible, save time and cost, and can address a larger audience with the bare minimum infrastructure. Events meant to create a network might not be able to reach the zenith of its success when conducted virtually. Whereas the ones that are mainly organized to deliver a particular message suit virtual modes best.

Reasons In Support Of Virtual Events:

Accessibility: the most important argument for virtual events is their accessibility. Events when conducted virtually, allows you to accommodate a larger number of participants, who couldn’t have been present otherwise.
Budget: Organizations always try to cut down on the budget in every possible aspect. When you organize an event virtually, it helps you save tones of money on accommodation and the other costs that come with organizing an in-person event, along with the travel costs. If you cannot organize the complete event virtually, at least opting for the hybrid method can also significantly cut down the budget.
Lack of other options: sometimes there are no other options left but to organize an event online, owing to foreseen or unforeseen reasons. It is obviously better than having to cancel the event altogether.

In-person Or Virtual – Discussing The Fundamentals

It is always important for you to understand the fundamentals, before planning an event, virtual or offline. Your approach towards organizing an event will either make or mar the event. Future or prospective clients will also attend the events that you organize. The failure or success of the event adds significantly to your reputation. The virtual programs should be strategically integrated into the whole program. It should be done in a way that doesn’t bore the participants to death. Strategic planning is the only key to engaging the participants throughout the program. To be able to do so, you’re going to have to visualize the whole event from a holistic point of view.

Fundamentals Of Event Planning A Virtual Events

Virtual or otherwise, all kinds of events need sufficient promotion and strategic marketing campaigns. If they do not know about it, how are they going to attend?

Powerful and engaging content is the only thing that can hold your audience for the whole duration. It can single-handedly control the failure or success of the event.

Have a plethora of events that will enable the participants to communicate among themselves. This will also keep them engaged and add to the networking procedures. Exercises and activities like this help the participants to come together, even when they are physically not together.

The data acquired during the event represents the success or failure of the event. The data of the participants and if they’ve been online through the whole process speaks a lot about the quality of the event. It is also one of the important elements of the Virtual Event Elements.

Some of the important pillars of a successful virtual event are its content, attendance, participant engagement, and the acquired corresponding data. Virtual events save significantly on the F&B costs, but nearly require as many resources as any other event.

Virtual events require a good and stable quality of video production and connectivity. Forbes recommends the usage of a compilation of both live and prerecorded data, to reach a smooth conclusion to a virtually organized event.
Given below is a list of elements that comprise a virtual event, mostly in this order:

• Event website
• Event Registration
• Live presentation
• Live, one-way audio/video
• Question & answer, FAQs 
• Live polling
• Recorded content
• Interactive video conferencing
• Feedback surveys

Virtual Events Platforms To Host A Virtual Event

It goes without saying that virtual events are completely dependent on technology and infrastructure. It wouldn’t have been possible for anybody to attend a virtual event by using their laptops, mobile phones, or tabs. Video conferencing tools don’t have a monopoly in this field. There many other elements that could be used to organize a virtual event. There are specific platforms that help you plan, market, mane, and execute your event. Given below is a list of platforms that can be used to organize your virtual event:

#1. Event Website:

Your website becomes the key face of your event, virtual or otherwise. It markets the event and entices the participants to attend the event.

#2. Registration:

Registration processes bring in the basic data and test the waters before the actual execution of the event. It also helps the participants to register their information in advance, for their benefit.

#3. Email:

E-mail marketing keeps the registered participants updated with the processes that lead up to the actual event. It also engages them before the program and makes them feel involved and important. E-Marketing also serves the purpose of collecting feedback after the event, which can use primarily used to judge the overall success of the event.

#4. Mobile Event App:

Besides e-mail marketing, a specifically designed mobile app can also keep the participants engaged and track the process that leads up to the main event. Adding little games and activities also engages the participants with one another, serving multiple purposes all at once.

#5. Event Feedback:

As mentioned earlier, event feedback goes a long way in judging the overall success of the event, virtual or otherwise. They also collect information for future sales and marketing purposes.

Organizing a virtual meeting can be comparatively hassle-free when done strategically. Before organizing a virtual event it is important to keep two very important questions in mind.

Can you translate the agenda from in-person to online?

Do you have the necessary infrastructure?

These questions will only smoothen the overall process in the future.

Why Use TaskVirtual for Arranging Virtual Events?

#1. Professional VAs would schedule meeting for virtual meeting

#2. Effective calendar management

#3. Management of tools such as Calendly, Google Calendar, Microsoft Calendar, etc

#4. Affordable packages – start from $6.24 per hour.

#5. 112+ virtual assistants to work with