Transitioning to Virtual and Hybrid Events. Ben Chodor

you have multiple sessions at the same time?How many sessions will you want to be running at the same time?One of the benefits of a virtual event or hybrid event is that the audience member can watch one session live and then go back and watch the other sessions at their leisure on‐demand after the program is over. Remember you need to spend a lot of time planning and scheduling sessions, so make sure you don't take on too much for your first virtual event.If you have multiple sessions, make sure you make the agenda available before the virtual event begins and make sure you use a platform that allows the attendees to create their agenda in advance and save the session dates and times.

       Where do you want your program to live after it is over?Will you keep the virtual event open? (Most platforms give you one year of access.)Will you download your sessions and put them in your own content management system (CMS) or learning management system (LMS)?Will you continue to add live and on‐demand content to your virtual event platform after the program is over?

       How important is the on‐demand program?If you create good content, in my opinion you should repurpose it as much as you can. Your audience is not going to be able to watch and interact with everything during your virtual event.On‐demand is a great way to keep your virtual event populated after the live period is over.You can also share some of the content after the program is over to your social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter, LinkedIn, or on your website.

       How many days will your program last?A lot of organizations try to mirror what they have done in the past at physical conferences. In my opinion you're better off starting with a more manageable agenda until you master virtual event content creation. You have to have enough to fill the length of the program you decide on.Also don't forget about time zones. If it's a physical‐only event, everyone is in the same time zone. But if it's virtual, you can have attendees from all over the world joining in many time zones, so you need to be clear so they can calculate when your event will start in their time zone.

       Will you have a registration?Think about what information you want to gather and if you need to use some of that information to limit access to areas within the event based on what they paid or their job title (e.g. engineers will only have access to product development sections). Keep in mind the more registration fields that you add, the more people may be inclined to abandon before finishing their registration.

       Will you be charging for your event?If you charge for the physical event, you should think about charging for access to your virtual event.Many organizers offer tiered pricing and even offer a free version, which limits what the free attendee can see and have access to. If you're having a hybrid event, it is even more important to find that balance between what you should charge for your virtual event compared to what you are charging for your physical event.

       Will you be syndicating you content?Will you be delivering your content to your social media locations, your website, or partner and sponsor sites? If yes, how much of the content will you syndicate?Will you be creating an OTT channel (think Roku, Apple TV, and any Smart TV channel)? Many organizations social stream their general sessions to build excitement for the event and reach the media.

       Will you have a moderator?A moderator is a host to lead your audience through the virtual event and agenda and keep you audience informed.I believe a good professional moderator is a key component to any hybrid event and is the perfect addition to a virtual‐only event as well. If you decide to have a moderator, I suggest you look for someone who has television news experience.

       Do you want to have a news desk?A news desk can be set up at your physical event and your programming can be streamed to the virtual audience who can hear the news from the conference, and see interviews with attendees, sponsors, executives, and speakers.

       How do you want your event to look?Customizable Templates – A virtual event allows you to add your event colors, logos, sponsor images, and some design elements, but for the most part you have a couple of standard templates to work with. Standard templates offer you the following advantages:You're rushing to move your event to virtual because your event was canceled last minute. Standard event templates take less time to set up and can be launched in a shorter amount of time.You have a very small team to help you with the design element and management of your program.There is a cost savings and time savings. Since the virtual event provider does not have to build, design, or create anything from scratch, this will lower the professional service, project management, and design costs.Custom Template Design – If you have the time and want to make your event have the look and feel of your physical event or corporate campus, or you don't want it to look like other virtual events, you can have a designer create a custom template. If you take this route, be sure to follow these suggestions:If your event is 8 to 12 weeks away, then you'll have time for custom creative.You have a really good design team that you work with inside your organization or outside.You have hired an experiential marketing firm and they have a design element they want to use.

      Once you come up with the answers to the above questions, then you're ready to take the first step into the world of virtual events. The following chapter shows you how to make the move to virtual and hybrid events.