Choosing a Virtual Platform For Your Next Event
Prior to Covid-19, events were largely in person opportunities to meet new people, host important conversations, network, and have an experience that would leave participants feeling invigorated and inspired. It’s important to us that potential clients recognize that all those opportunities still do exist in the virtual realm! The experience is absolutely different, but there is still an exciting opportunity to engage participants in different ways.
At ELE, we know how daunting it can be to take the first steps in planning a virtual event. There are so many factors to consider from overall purpose, guest list, content, financial considerations, to how the heck do we pull this off? With video-conference platforms updating and self-promoting on such a heightened scale due to the pandemic, we recognize that all the options can be overwhelming. But never fear, the ELE Production Team is here to help! Here’s a breakdown from our team’s experts about the top things to consider when embarking on Platform Selection for a virtual event.
What are your goals?
We always start at the beginning with what are the goals for the event? Is this a conference with multiple sessions and great knowledge sharing? Do you want participants to have space for affinity groups, meaningful group conversation, and networking? Do you want to host a celebration with music and conversation? Maybe some of all of this? Once the connection touchpoints are established, our Event Designers and Project Manager go back to their vast knowledge of various platforms and make a recommendation for which platform to utilize.
Since everyone is remote, the focus is primarily on participant experience and user friendliness.
Different Types of Platforms
Once we’ve identified the goals, then we consider the type of event we’re hosting. Virtually, we typically see Conferences, Webinars, Small Meetings, and Parties/Social Gatherings. These types range from small to large and certain platforms work better for certain types of events. There are a myriad of options for each type and while we won’t get into the nitty gritty of our specific recommendations for each type (at least in this blog), we do want to discuss how critical the choice of platform is to the success of an event.
Logistics
That choice can reflect the platform having the ideal features like gamification opportunities, breakout rooms, participant autonomy, and even just the fact that the platform is communicative and accessible for support needs. ELE is a team that recognizes communication as of the utmost importance in these projects and our team understands that selecting a platform with excellent customer service and support can potentially make or break an event. That’s why we focus some of our research attention on forming a relationship with the platform and building those bridges so that despite the feeling of isolation at a virtual event, we can ensure that all bases have been covered. With that being said, like live events there are logistics to figure out prior to the event as well as coordination and direction that happens during the event. ELE is a company that is prepared to help in all of those aspects and while this blog is focused on the selection and all that goes into that decision, we also want to point out that the platforms require different levels of support for during the event as well.
ELE as the Executors!
Our Production and Project Managers have found a great deal of success with participant and client ease when the client utilizes their skills to execute the planned meeting. The platforms can require a great deal of day-of support, quick and creative problem solving, as well as a nuanced execution of the plan. Consequently, this only adds to the “how are we going to pull this off?” feeling we mentioned earlier, but do not worry - we have the pros that can take these concerns and turn them into a fierce and smooth production.
Next Steps
Our Production Designers have done extensive research and participated in multiple demos in order to provide potential clients with options and educated recommendations for which platforms they think would best serve the event’s goals. If you’re new to the video-conferencing industry, you may not necessarily know that there’s more than Zoom or Google Hangouts available. We are happy to tell you that you are not confined to those platforms and that our Production team has already done the heavy lifting in figuring out the ins and outs of a plethora of other platforms. They’ve seen and experienced successful events on a wide variety of platforms and are able to continue the conversation with you about your event!
Reserve time with our team here, we look forward to connecting soon!
Written by: Andie Burns and Katherine Thesing