Efforts to contain the Coronavirus has reached into many industries and caused large scale disruption which will have ramifications for months to come.As the event industry grapples with this new reality, many organizations are finding ways to connect with their stakeholders while still maintaining social distancing and avoiding large-scale meeting.
Normally, conferences and trade shows have a captive audience. The clients and prospects are outside of their work environment and away from any potential distractions as they are immersed in the trade show events, speakers, and company gatherings. Now, many attendees are not only working from home, but are working unusual hours as they balance caring for their family while keeping up with the demands of their job. Kristen Greer, Events Manager at ImagineSoftware, states “The difficulty right now is most events have transitioned onto a virtual platform and it’s trying to come up with agendas and topics that stand out among the sea of other events.” With the overwhelming uptick in virtual events it’s important to find ways to make your event unique and attention grabbing. Here are some helpful ideas
Have a Top-Notch Speaker Line Up
Having a well-known expert or exciting speaker on your agenda will help increase your registrations. Many speakers are reducing their fees as they cannot travel and are willing to convey their talk over virtual event platforms. The key is to ensure your speaker is online, ready and has reliable internet access for their talk as well as the time leading up to their slot on the agenda.
“The difficulty right now is most events have transitioned onto a virtual platform and it’s trying to come up with agendas and topics that stand out among the sea of other events.”
Content is More Important Than Ever
With many organizations coping with the effects of COVID-19 having solution-based content is key to drawing in additional registrations. Over the last few weeks many of us have been inundated with news, facts and figures; having a solution based event that gives the attendees actions steps and ideas they can implement is important in building a two-way communication stream that will help the attendees feel supported and valued.