In this evolving digital world, we are competing for our attendees’ attention more than ever. We are not only vying for them to attend our conference over another group’s, but also to keep them engaged, and not tempted to multi-task once they have logged into our event.
We are living in a world where the average person touches their smartphone 2,617 times a day and for the average millennial it is twice that, according to a study by research firm Dscout. The average person has a shorter attention span than people did even twenty years ago, dropping from twelve seconds to eight. To put this into perspective, a goldfish has an attention span of nine seconds. This becomes amplified when it is a virtual event. And when you pair our already divided attention with “Zoom fatigue”, it is all the more important to implement some best practices and add some innovative aspects to virtual events to keep people engaged.
Here are a few basics to keep in mind.
Put the purpose of your virtual event under a microscope. Knowing your audience is of utmost importance in a virtual event world. Who is attending your virtual event and why? What are their top priorities and are you meeting them? Once you segment your audience, prioritize their top three motivations and make sure you deliver. You may need to develop tracks or breakouts to meet expectations, depending on the make-up of your attendees.
Consider shortening your sessions, with no more than thirty minutes per session. Ask your speakers to balance information and storytelling to keep the audience engaged. If you can’t shorten session times, shorten the hours spent online each day and spread the event out over multiple days.
Review how your sessions are structured. Sessions that focus on discussion are strong in the virtual world. Utilize panels and interviews, while allowing live chat and polling during the session. Keep speaker intros short and have them use minimal PowerPoint slides with a variety of visual elements: pictures, charts, graphs.
After you have mastered the basics, it is time to let the fun, creative juices flow. Here are just a few ideas to get you started.
Be innovative with your virtual networking approach; go beyond breaking people into different virtual “rooms”. Platforms are offering more options for networking that give people choices of who they want to speak with and the ability to move around a virtual “room”. Explore your options. One of our clients had a virtual cocktail hour where the program committee members each offered a drink recipe with a fun, industry-related name that was sent to attendees ahead of time. They also had a theme for the evening and encouraged people to dress appropriate to that theme. People loved it!
If you have the budget or sponsorship, send a conference swag bag to people’s homes. If not, how about a virtual swag bag sent through email? This could include digital wallpaper, virtual gift cards, trials for apps, eBooks or podcasts by your speakers or related to the conference theme.
Create a multimedia program or schedule. Include links to presenter bios and videos to their past presentations to generate excitement. Links could also include articles related to the topic or written by the speaker, fun facts about the topic, or any other information that your audience would find relevant.
Generate excitement through social media in the lead-up to the conference. Have a social media takeover with your keynote speaker. You can also use social media to reveal a special guest or create a guessing game that announces topics, speakers or special networking times.
Some of the associations we work with have a lot of members with young families at home. Provide a virtual “daycare” for them by providing coloring pages or other activities for the kids while Mom or Dad attend the conference, allowing them to stay engaged. You could even have a parent/child mixer at the end of the day, so parents of young children can participate without feeling guilty having children at home (and on camera).
The possibilities for creating an engaging and fun virtual event are limitless. Use your creativity, or that of others, to tailor an event that is as unique as your audience.