Virtual Event Vendor Checklist Part 3: Engagement and Experience

So you’ve decided to move forward with a virtual event. You have your team in place and have established a structure for planning the event. Now you have to design and build it. Since “virtual” event experiences are so new, many event and meeting planners are turning to vendors and suppliers to counsel them through this process.

The challenge is how to avoid “cookie-cutter” virtual event experiences that may not be appropriate for your audience and objectives. Consider these questions under the specific topic areas (* are questions contributed by Donna Sanford of Sanford Project Partners, your outsourcing partner for events, print and digital media). What additional questions do you have?

Presentations

1. What works best – audio, video or video-only presentations?

2. Presenting virtually is quite different than in-person. What recommendations do you have for designing the presentation? This includes length of preso, use of slides, inclusion of polling questions, etc.

3. What training can you provide my speakers to address a virtual audience?

4. What type of social media integration do you have within the presentation console for virtual audiences?

Audience Ease-of-Use

1. What tools are available to familiarize my audience before they enter the virtual event?

– can these be branded with my logo?

– what if I want something customized for my event? What is the cost and time constraint?

– do you have an attendee guide that people can download? For those who prefer a manual, this document would provide screenshots of the key elements of the event and what each function is.

2. I have to drive audiences to a specific presentation, booth, etc. for my sponsor/exhibitor. What is the best way to do this?

3. How can we create an experience that easily guides my audience through the virtual event?  

– How do we map this out before we begin building the event? The purpose of mapping is to ensure that your key objectives are forefront during the planning stages.

– What are the average number of clicks it will take for someone to do activity X? This can include: getting to a presentation, attending a group chat, sending a vcard, engaging in a one-on-one chat, visiting a booth in the exhibit hall, etc.

Engagement

1. What chat functionalities do you have? These usually include text-based one-on-one, many-to-many, and group chat. Video chat is just emerging and worth asking about.

2. What social media integration do you provide?

– Where/how does one access the social media capabilities?

– Are these consistently available in every area of the virtual event? For example, is twitter available in the group chat area but not in the exhibit hall. Why or why not?

3. Do you have match making capabilities? How does it work? And do they bring in my existing social graph from other social networks?

4. How do you connect speakers with the virtual audience?

5. How do you help exhibitors/sponsors engage with attendees?*

6. What kinds of tools or programs do you have for attendees to engage with one another?*

Hybrid Events

1. What tools do you have for the in-person and virtual attendees engage with one another?*

2. With regard to the physical event, would you program the virtual event exactly with, separately from or a combo of the two? Based on my event, what would you recommend?

3. Should my virtual event be visually similar to my physical event?

Additional Resources

1. Virtual Event Vendor Checklist Part 1: Event Support & Experience

2. Virtual Event Vendor Checklist Part 2: Planning Tools

3. Pulse Staging: Tips for Presenting to a Virtual Audience

4. A Wider Net: Why Engagement Matters More for Virtual Events