2020 was the year that virtual conferences became a must. Simply because in South Africa we couldn’t leave the house for 5 weeks straight. And even after the 5 weeks passed, we couldn’t go to work unless we were classified as essential workers and had a permit. Suddenly online meetings were the only way of interacting. For a work meeting with 5 to 10 people, Zoom or Google meet or even Skype are relatively easy to use. But then the lockdown just carried on and on and events like yearly conventions and conferences were moved again and again until it was considered to move these to an online platform. But how does one manage an online conference with 300 guests? That takes event planning to a new level.
The short version of a virtual conference checklist:
- Establish the approximate amount of guests and choose the virtual platform. Zoom has great packages that can be bought for a month at a time for 100, 500 and 1000 attendees at a meeting. For more attendees then that a Webinar License is recommended.
- Establish a registration link so that your guests can sign up and you have all the information available.
- Marketing: the easiest way to manage a virtual event is through a website. On the website registrations can be done, Invitations can be emailed out, Information and Schedules can be published and even instant login links to the event can be published.
- Have a person collect all the information to be shared and establish the meeting host to share the information. This way every presenter doesn’t have to figure out how to screen share.
- The hosting of the event itself can be difficult if you are not an expert in the functionalities of your virtual platform. From unwanted guests that might appear and might be removed, to admitting your guests through a waiting room and managing the chat, it is a full time job. For even more than one person if you have 1000 guests in your meeting.
- Lastly you would like to get some feedback on the meeting and email out a questionnaire. Or you have attendance certificates that need to be distributed. Individual ones that can’t be send via “send to all” functions.
Especially if you are hosting events like this once a year, it makes sense to hire someone to do the work for you. Because during your presentation the last thing you want to deal with is having to mute people that accidentally open their microphone.
Why don’t you give us a call and see what we can do for you?
Ultreia et Suseia from AHEAD AND BEYOND
Eva