Jan 20, 2023
Cece Salomon-Lee

Are You Experienced? Three Samples of Virtual Event Experiences

While attending the Virtual Edge Summit 2011 last week, one question asked by attendees is “how do I create an engaging experience.” I would argue that the experience relies not on the platform you select but rather how involved you are in planning, designing, building and implementing the environment. However, many are new to going virtual and are unsure of how to proceed.

As such, I plan to write a series of posts to help meeting/event planners and marketers understand the process for going virtual.  Please feel free to forward me your questions.

First, there are many types of “virtual events.” Let me highlight three flavors of virtual events that include multiple locations, such as an exhibit hall and auditorium, chat functionality and presentations.

Virtual Event “Out-of-the-Box”

A couple of the vendors are touting that they can build an event in one day. This is possible as certain features have already been pre-selected for you, such as presentation window and chat. While you can add a logo and some other basic branding, there is not much more to this. What you see is what you get with this virtual event.

Pro: Quick and easy set up with minimal monetary outlay (estimate of $5,000-10,000). Once created, you can reuse over and over again as a central library for your archived content and future events.
Con: You get a standard “virtual” event as defined by the vendor with minimal customization. This may or may not work for your particular audience with regard to providing an “engaging” experience. If you plan to use more than once, there may be additional charges for each new “event/presentation” with in the environment.

“Template-Based” Virtual Events

The next level is adding some customization options in terms of the location look-and-feel (usually selecting from a vendor’s library of themes) and adding/taking away certain features such as group chat, locations (i.e. an exhibitor space) and social media with a click of the mouse.

Pro: You have more control over the look-and-feel and how attendees interact with the environment. Like the “virtual event out-of-the box,” once you’ve created it, you can reuse the set-up for future virtual events you hold.
Con: Increased price tag to about $30-60K depending on the features, limited to stock library of images or providing images that fit a specific criteria, and requires more time and effort to design and implement. Furthermore, if using the same format repeatedly, you have to consider additional charges to light-up the environment, as well as if the look-and-feel will become dated.

Fully Customized Virtual Event

The high-end is working with the vendor to develop a fully customized environment from a branded look-and-feel to adding features beyond chat and social media, such as games and quizzes.

Pro: You are intimately involved in the building of the virtual environment that is customized to your event, brand and audience. This provides you with the best option for engaging your audience. Once built, you can add new features to further customize the experience.
Con: This takes a lot of time (recommend at least 6 months to plan, design, build and implement) and can be six figures or more. If you decide to add onto the environment, the challenge is how to integrate any new functionality seamlessly into the overall experience.

Conclusion

In the end, you need to find the right partner based on your budget, expectations and overall experience requirements. In my next post, I’ll highlight the types of questions you should ask when evaluating a virtual events platform provider.

What other pros and cons are there with the above three virtual event scenarios?

12 Comments

  • Are You Experienced? Three Samples of Virtual Event Experiences http://j.mp/gGUNcM via @AddToAny

    This comment was originally posted onTwitter

  • 3 types of #virtual event experiences: http://cot.ag/hN7POe. Which are you? #hybridevent #eventtech #eventprofs #mpi #asae

    This comment was originally posted onTwitter

  • ‘Are You Experienced? Three Samples of Virtual Event Experiences’ on http://goo.gl/biLee #virtual RT @bgexpopark

    This comment was originally posted onTwitter

  • Nice and Simple Post!! ….’Are You Experienced? Three Samples of Virtual Event Experiences’ on http://goo.gl/biLee #virtualevents

    This comment was originally posted onTwitter

  • Three Flavors Of Virtual Event Experiences by @csalomonlee #eventprofs #assocforum http://ow.ly/3HuS7

    This comment was originally posted onTwitter

  • Are You Experienced? Three Samples of Virtual Event Experiences http://bit.ly/e6fhVU RT @b2bmarketingz:

    This comment was originally posted onTwitter

  • Are You Experienced? Three Samples of Virtual Event Experiences http://bit.ly/e6fhVU

    This comment was originally posted onTwitter

  • #Publicity #PR hounds take note: Are You Experienced? Three Samples of Virtual Event Experiences http://bit.ly/eree9e

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  • Pros and cons of 3 popular types of #virtual events: http://t.co/MgK8Ohg via @csalomonlee #VES11 #pcma11 #eventprofs #eventtech

    This comment was originally posted onTwitter

  • New Blog Post: Are You Experienced? Three Samples of Virtual Event Experiences http://goo.gl/fb/u0wm4

    This comment was originally posted onTwitter

  • Interesting analysis and great picture ! Another event “type” might be duration … some of our events open for pre-event networking; others stay open for 30 days or more to let people continue the discuss and access downloads etc. We have one that runs all the time !

  • […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Cece Salomon-Lee, Cece Salomon-Lee, KM Events, Tivpine Anande, Focus and others. Focus said: RT @csalomonlee: New Blog Post: Are You Experienced? Three Samples of Virtual Event Experiences http://goo.gl/fb/u0wm4 […]

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About

Cece Salomon-LeeCece Salomon-Lee is director of product marketing for Lanyon Solutions, Inc. and author of PR Meets Marketing, which explores the intersection of public relations, marketing, and social media.

This blog contains Cece's personal opinions and are not representative of her company's.

Learn more about Cece.

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