Virtual Event
from Planning to Hosting
New to hosting a virtual event aligning to your business goals? Read further to get some ideas before you and your team begin your long and potentially perilous virtual event planning journey.
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What is a Virtual Event?
Virtual Event Platform in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic
A virtual event, or more commonly known as the online event, is an organised gathering that takes place on the internet. Without requiring people to come together and meet up at a physical location, virtual events allow individuals from all over the world to experience the event and its content online by staying at where they are.
Living in the current COVID-impacted world, we are no stranger to virtual events. Since the government has enforced the stay-at-home and work-from-home order, people ain’t going anywhere but online.
With virtual events being a niche aspect of the event industry, many individuals and corporate bodies have slowly transformed their businesses to the online platform for wider outreach. To make the most out of the online or virtual events for your business, check out this collection of resources to outstand them.
8 Most Common Types of Virtual Events
Odds are you’ve participated in a virtual conference, watched a live stream, or maybe attended a webinar. You might even have joined an online baking class from the comfort of your kitchen at home. New to hosting a virtual event aligning to your business goals? Read further to get some ideas before you and your team begin your long and potentially perilous virtual event planning journey.
With so many types of virtual events to choose from, your first task is to identify who is your target audience and which type of virtual events can bring the best out of your business.
To make it easier for you, here we’ve compiled a quick guide on the defining features of each virtual event type listed above.
Frequently Asked Questions
Similar to other regular events, a virtual event can take the form of global conferences, product launches, trade shows, concerts, classes and more. The only difference is that a virtual event can be hosted from anywhere, with an internet connection, without requiring your audience to present physically. By just tuning in via their smart gadgets, they can virtually participate, discuss, learn, play, etc.
Here we break down the pros of running virtual events:
Do not require a physical space to house participants
Enable you to reach a wider and diverse audience
Help build brand awareness & build connections with new customers
Cost-effective
Offer a safe & healthy environment (no physical contact)
Allow you to record & repurpose the content for marketing
No, the future is now. It has never been this clear that the current trend is all about remote participants. Due to the 2020 pandemic, physical distancing is the primary strategy to prevent the spread of contagious disease. Virtual events have made their way to the event industry and physical experience will soon be optional.
A right virtual event platform for your event will help you recreate the vibe of physical events through digital experiences. Unlike the virtual meeting software engineered for small groups to gather, a virtual event platform features more interactive tools and event room to house presenters and users separately.
Here are 5 must-have key features of a virtual event platform:
Customisation features (for event website, event app, email templates etc.)
Communication & engagement features (for integrated email / SMS blast)
Monetisation features (such as integrated online payment)
Live troubleshooting (such as onsite support)
Analytics and reporting features (such as database management, event analytics, etc.)
Here’s a simple checklist for hosting a virtual event:
Know who your target audience is
Set your event goals
Research on which virtual event platform works best for you
Decide the type of virtual event
Layout your content
Choose the time, date & venue
Advertise your event
Accept online registration
Inform participants with login details
Conduct rehearsal
Get feedback from the attendees
Yes, anyone with laptop, tablet or smartphone and a strong internet connection can join a virtual event. Once participants’ details are gathered and ticket payment is made, participants will be granted access and given login details ahead of the virtual event via either email or SMS, depending on the selection of participants during registration.
Evenesis offers 2 packages for you to choose from.
Standard Package can accommodate for 50 pax and above;
Premium Package can accommodate for 1000 pax and above.
Here are highlights of the curated solutions:
Online Registration System
Onsite Support
Virtual Event Platform
Videography, Sound, Lighting, LED, Drapes & Rehearsal included
Integrated Online Payment
Both works as there are merits to both options. Live virtual sessions allow instant interaction between speakers and attendees while pre-recorded virtual entertainment is effective when synchronisation is crucial, for instance, musical performance. In addition, the incorporation of logo or animation can be done on pre-recorded content. In short, you may select either one or both at your convenience.
No worries, Evenesis has got you covered! To keep your attendees involved and engaged at all time, use our interactive features. Our virtual event platform allows you to do live chat, live Q&A & live polls during your virtual event. Moreover, do enlist passionate speakers or talents to keep their interest high.
There is no exact answer as it depends on the types of your virtual events and the quality of experience you offer. However, many studies have suggested the 20-minute rule of audience attention span. In other words, we recommend event planners consider 4-to-6-hour events with 15 to 20 minutes per session, not to mention, the breaks for refreshment, to combat virtual event exhaustion.
Yes, there should be no compromises when finding your event venue. Be mindful of where your event is being broadcasted from as it can make or break an event and leave a lasting impression on your event guests. It doesn’t only serve as the backdrop, but also helps to ensure the smooth running of your event.
Here are 7 important things to consider when selecting a space to run your virtual event:
Capacity & Size (to house cameras & microphones)
Lighting
Background Noise
Internet Bandwidth (to ensure smooth video stream)
Location of presenters (whether all presenters are gathered or separated geographically)
Overall appearance (what kind of backdrop to use)
Length of event
It will be based on your goals but here are some KPIs that can be a good gauge.
Number of attendees to the number of registration
Audience retention (how long did your attendees stay online)
Live polls response rate
Event feedback & ratings
Number of sales lead generated (post event)
Since you are saving on travel, accommodation, food and beverage, a good virtual event platform is the only real cost worth thinking. Not to forget, the extra features or tools you would like to add on to enhance the event experience. The price can be anywhere between RMX,XXX to RMXX,XXX. Get in touch with our virtual event experts to learn more.
quick guide on
Virtual Conferences
Video conferencing tool is dedicated to connecting two or more points across the internet for two-way conferencing face-to-face, and in real-time, over distance. It usually caters for a relatively small group of people for private meetings. Thanks to virtual event software today, many come with the recording capabilities.
Anywhere & Anytime
Business partners and employees can now go completely online by just tuning in from anywhere in the world — saving time, saving energy.
Naturally more engaging than phone meetings, a virtual conference is now a standard practice among many modern companies. Adopt any virtual event software and you will most likely be able to share screen, document, whiteboard and videos.
Improved productivity
Not only does it offer you an efficient way of delivering presentations, but it also results in greater productivity and engagement than what you would typically achieve from phone meetings. This is so because everyone in the virtual conference is granted with the same permissions to speak up and participate other than just listening in.
Share ideas
Well, the dark side of this event type is that a virtual conference is not good for growing an audience. So, it is most suitable for business meetings whose goal is not to extend outreach but to discuss and share ideas within a private group, such as business partner meetings, internal work meetings and private meetings with clients.
Webinars
Specially curated for private training in a one-to-many delivery style, webinars are somewhat online seminar that attendees listen to and/or watch on the internet via computer or phone. It typically takes place for 1 to 2 hours to teach the attendees something.
Evenesis Webinar 3rd edition
Often used for marketing presentations and educational sessions, these events are perfect for larger groups. Though the attendees are not allowed to speak during the session, they are able to speak up or ask questions in the chat feature.
This controlled Q&A tool can help greatly in giving the host more control and assigning roles to event helpers in answering questions not addressed by the host. With that said, a teaching session can be conducted in a focused environment with no distractions.
The bright side for hosting webinars include how quickly you can grow your email list and how your event can offer focused value. It’s also user-friendly as anyone interested can join the webinar by clicking on the link shared. Not to mention, you can save up from paying the travel and accommodation allowance for your presenter.
However, body language and non-verbal cues may be missing as the presenter is using slides in most cases. If you have issues such as PowerPoint crashing, you may lose your audience.
quick guide on
Virtual Summits
Virtual summits are online multi-speakers event in which several experts in a certain field are brought together to address a specific topic. A host will interview them and this online event can be launched over the course of a series of days for a large audience.
Virtual summits are the next step up from webinars. Aside from the event duration, they differ in the tool used. Virtual summits require registration tool. They are private events attendees sign up for, whereby attendees’ profile data, and sometimes, payment, is collected.
Secure Event Payment
To put confidence in your attendees for this process, the data and payment collection method pops up to be a good question. It is necessary for you to ensure that sensitive data like email addresses and credit card information is protected. You ought to research and make an educated decision on which virtual event software and platform that is the most ideal to host your summit.
Dedicated access for participants
Pro tip! You can go for a virtual event software to capture email addresses and payment and then run your summit session, be it live or recorded, in a closed virtual event platform. With that, every participant who signed up for the event will receive a unique password via email or message to join and view the summit content. This unique password cannot be shared with anyone and can only be logged in with one account.
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Let’s take Shopee Seller Summit 2020 as reference. It is Shopee’s first-ever attempt to gather their current and potential merchants on an online event platform for 8 continuous hours with ticket priced at RM25. Themed Emerging Stronger: Challenges & Opportunities Amid Covid-19, this virtual summit successfully invited several industry leaders alongside Shopee’s senior management personnel to discuss on the future possibility of e-commerce.
With this type of virtual event, you will be able to grow your audience with like-minded people and have the potential to generate revenue. However, a virtual summit can be time-consuming to set up and hence, you need help in getting the moving pieces in place.
Live Streaming
Widely used to reach people en masse, live streaming is one-way delivery, but a two-way conversation. Known as the must-have strategy for marketing in 2021, live streaming can be done to conduct online workshops, online concerts, online talk shows, virtual keynotes and live consultations, either publicly or privately.
Video from our first Virtual/ Hybrid Event – July 2020
Ranging from easy to hold (lower quality) to hard to hold (TV broadcast quality), it depends on how professional and formal you would wish to present yourself. It has a flexible nature for you to do however you want. Through live events on social media channels, the public can connect with brands in a more authentic, instant, and spontaneous manner.
Many brands and businesses have invested in live streaming, showing the public what’s behind-the-scenes or making special product announcements or launches. This type of virtual event has the power to expand the viewership of an event, which consequently reaches audiences of unprecedented scale.
On top of that, you may record the live streaming and repurpose. Some live streaming platform allows replays to be available immediately on social platforms. This feature is extremely great for connecting with customers, growing a new audience or even conducting interviews.
Virtual Events Vs In-Person Events
Virtual Events
Event Format
In-Person Events
Mass Data
Usually handwritten sign-in cheat, which takes time to conduct analysis and later identify target prospects.
Wider outreach to showcase your brand and boost traffic to your business.
Networking
Conducive for social networking as people perform handshakes, exchange eye contact and enjoy happy hours together.
Cost-effective as traditional expenses are eliminated.
Cost
More expensive as operating cost is incurred.
Virtual events remain on your website or social platforms all year round.
Flexibility
A finite shelf life of 2 to 3 days.
Organiser/Sponsor may post merchandise to attendees but the postal address is required.
Customised Merchandise
Attendees may collect merchandise as a door gift.
While some see virtual events as the replica of physical location-based event, we couldn’t highlight more about the additional skills necessary in creating an impactful event that extends well beyond a computer/phone screen. They still require as much planning and methods of interaction as in-person meetings. Regretfully, it comes as no surprise that 65% of planners have never taken part in the virtual event planning process.
Solutions for your Virtual Event
Through a virtual environment, event organisers, speakers, attendees and sponsors interact, share ideas and enjoy a shared experience remotely. For a seamless experience and building communities online, many have turned to virtual event platforms like Evenesis. Wondering what virtual event solutions Evenesis can offer for your event? Let’s take a look at the following highlights:
Why is Hosting a Virtual Event a Better Option Now?
Virtual events are nothing new as they’ve been happening since nearly 30 years ago. Thanks to affordable technologies and virtual event software, literally anyone can hold an online gathering, regardless of budget or expertise.
Due to the pandemic, the world is pivoting to virtual more and more. Seeing the number of Covid cases rising day by day, we know that it’s a rough time to be planning and holding a large-scale physical event.
Many pre-planned physical conferences or campaigns are either postponed or forced to call a halt in order to help combat the novel coronavirus. Hence, virtual events are a great alternative to physical events.
As human movement is being restricted to flatten the curve, making people travel to a physical event venue is difficult, considering the trouble and quarantine fees that may incur. It is also near to impossible for people to come out from the red zones to attend your event in person according to the community isolation measures.
Consequently, in-person events are now temporarily sidelined. The good news is, people of the pandemic times feel more of a drive than ever to meet, be social, learn, and connect with one another. That’s where virtual events step in with a virtual platform for them to socialise virtually.
In addition to that, virtual conferences can help significantly in building brand awareness, extending networking opportunities, increasing lead generation, and more.
When everything goes digital, promoting your event or partners’ brands prior to the actual day becomes so much easier and more cost-effective. You no longer have to spend on the printing costs for flyers, buntings, banners and booklets. You will be able to leverage Google tools in learning about the ROI of ads, and hence, deciding how to spend on SEO, SEM and SMM.
Besides, travel costs that could have prevented key speakers, talents and VIPs from being able to attend a live event are no longer an issue. Not to mention the expenses on venue, accommodation, transport, logistics, F&B and so on, which in return allows you to invest more on a superb virtual event software in curating the best virtual event possible.
Best of all, you get to learn about your event as well as the attendees’ behaviour with a comprehensive virtual event software. The secured and encrypted database management gives you valuable data from the stage of planning to hosting a virtual event.
You may also keep track who is tuning in online, which session has the most questions, who is the most engaged and who is not during the session. This set of data, when used in good hands, can give you the means to make your next event better. It can also be music to sponsors’ ears, helping you to secure the best ones for the upcoming online event.
All in all, it sums up to the three main types of data that would be beneficial to how you grow your business next.
- Event data (Date, time, cost, etc. )
- Profile data (Attendees’ demography, contact, email, etc.)
- Engagement data (Session attendance, sponsor, feedback, etc.)
Why Choose Us
Founded in
Feb 2010
Attendees served
~ 20k/month
Software Ranking
World’s Top 20
Complete Event Cycle
Localised payment gateways
Customisable
Enhancing Event Experience
Personalised customer service
Latest Technology
Customer Stories
“Evenesis helps to make all my works to be fully automated. It helps participants to register online and I’m as trainer can simply view the list of registered participants easily.
Email and SMS reminder so easy to be used as they can be scheduled ahead of time. With integrated online payment gateway, every payment received is consolidated into one account.”
– JOHAN IRWAN, Founder/Coach Leap Leadership Academy
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Full suite Hybrid events and Virtual event solutions available from Evenesis. Get your Free Demo now!
Absolute security
Fast response time
Testimonials
A great tool to minimize the event registration & e-ticket production work, at the same time to speed up the check-in process without queues.
The system provides a friendly interface & has a wide range of functions to deliver an enhanced event experience to both organizer & participants.
We have made positive progress by adopting automation through Evenesis. Life’s much easier after that.
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Shake a leg! Our team is experienced in handling virtual events from idea generation to event execution. Interested in our virtual event solutions?
Feel free to contact us today via the website or call us at +603 8408 2112.
Differentiate Your Event And Stand Out With Evenesis, Get started Now!
Go Virtual, Stay Safe!
10 Steps to Successful Virtual Event Planning
Events have gone through a complete overhauling and who could have imagined such a change? COVID-19 is here to stay, and virtual event planning is the most resilient option in the given times. Keeping your event success in mind, we have listed 10 steps to successful virtual event planning.
Using a single platform to channel events in totality will be the impetus behind success in events. Virtual event planning will depend on a platform that manages cost, event data, spend data, attendee behaviour analysis from one place and at the same time offers simplified and user-friendly execution. One point platform that will integrate sales and marketing, create a profile, help in faster follow up and open scope for revenue accumulation.
that will foster and capture collective engagement through immersive livestream and pre-recorded virtual sessions of attendee-to attendee and attendee-to-speaker interactions. The availability of on-demand session to enable catching up of missed sessions.
Virtual event planning will rely on video, live Q&A, embedded presentations, polling, and mobile event apps.
An integral part of virtual event planning. Evenesis enables sponsors to directly manage profiles and scale their ROI. Virtual booth, welcome area greeting space, ‘contact us’ options for sponsors. Seamless video conferencing facilities, exhibitor to sponsor sessions will garner success and leads.
to virtual event planning. Capturing data that analyses performance and assigning scores to each attendee based on their level of participation. The marketing automation system will help plan effective sales and conversion and streamline post-event marketing strategies.
Performing actions and answering questions. Virtual event planning must use a chatbot or voice assistant from event registration to answer questions. The availability of various language voice assistance will help capitalize a wider audience. Translation facilities will bridge communication gaps.
Remains the biggest challenge in virtual event planning. Engagement through gamification, short time challenge and reward will attract the audience. Create areas for rewarding achievements like connecting to sponsor booths, winning a quiz etc.
In technology to create better experiences and increase reach and ROI with a view on the Pandemic.
With the highest technology for both virtual and hybrid events.
Innovation is the key; your event has a budget and revenue objective. Be creative in content make connecting seamless and open and add value at every step that attracts sponsors and attendees to your event over others.
Virtual event planning checklist
Pre- Event
- Understand your event purpose.
- Objectify a goal.
- Plan before building content.
- Prioritize your virtual technology needs.
During the event
- Understand your event purpose.
- Objectify a goal.
- Plan before building content.
- Prioritize your virtual technology needs.
Post-event
- Send feedback survey forms.
- Analyse all the procured data.
- Discuss the results with key stakeholders.
- Plan for the next virtual event.
A virtual event platform is a gateway to seamlessly organise events virtually. It transports a live event in the virtual space or hosts a live event digitally with help from supportive technology that ensures that the event experience is nothing less than a live event. Software applications are engineered to extend the interactive online experience and both live and recorded sessions create immersive in-person and remote get-togethers possible.
A virtual events platform has proven to be a boon in pandemic times as not only has it saved businesses by supporting thousands of virtual events but also come out as a very feasible alternative in many ways.
- While in-person events are expensive, virtual events are cost-effective. They save on the traveling cost, there is no reason to rent an event space, the cost for hiring staff and catering services is also saved.
- Virtual venues that cost next to nothing are providing alternative experiences.
- The facility for remote connections has made the world come closer. Virtual solutions have also solved the time differences with recorded version of the event.
- One-point virtual platforms allow every activity to be channelled from one source making analyses more inclusive with a wider opportunity for measuring success.
- It also offers hot leads on what the buyers and attendees are viewing, who are they connecting with, and what resources are they downloading, and this data is available to all exhibitors.
- Engaging in-person is undoubtedly a close experience but virtual connections are not a bad substitute, they are certainly safer given the time and the social distancing protocols.
Events are integral to marketing strategy for every industry and with the pandemic, corporate bodies have transferred their marketing goals to virtual event platforms. This has undoubtedly resulted in a wider outreach especially when they have taken the help of Evenesis, that virtual event platform that has responded with refreshing results despite impediments from the pandemic.
Evenesis broadly classifies all events under eight common types:
- Virtual Conferences
- Webinars
- Virtual Summits
- Online Training/ Courses/ Workshops
- Virtual Reality (VR)
- Online Talk Shows/ Podcasts/ Stand Up Comedy
- Hybrid Event
- Live Consultations/ Giveaways
Evenesis advocate that it is important to identify the type of your event, your target audience and which type of virtual event can benefit your business. The features of the Evenesis virtual event platform largely construer
- Online Registration System
- Onsite Support
- Virtual Event Platform
- Videography, Sound, Lighting, LED, Drapes & Rehearsal
- Integrated Online Payment
The goal of any conference is spreading and sharing knowledge and whether that is done in-person or virtually is immaterial. The most significant reason for hosting a virtual conference is to meet like-minded people and industry peers. A virtual conference has a wider coverage where people from all over the globe congregate to share common disciplines in the same field.
A virtual conference is the best way in which they find the opportunity to exchange their knowledge. These could be techniques on the new type of equipment, some unpublished data that uses the conference platform to reveal its research and finding, an introduction with leaders who share their vast experience with the audience. A virtual conference offers ready feedbacks on your paper and presentation. You may get some insights that will help you find a different perspective on your research.
In-person conferences allow more approachability but the same can be achieved to a large extent in virtual conferences too.
This is a great platform that allows you to learn beyond your periphery of knowledge. Helping you to professionally develop it aids in advancement in your career. Enhancing both professional and personal development, virtual conferences can be recorded and watched later to gain tangible expertise on a topic.
The pandemic has unleashed the power of a virtual event and shown to the world that even if the world shuts down the virtual world is there to take the business forward. Expanding borders and creating flexibility, virtual event platforms can do so much more. Let us understand the most essential contributions.
- Tailor events to your audience demand in websites, event app, emails templates etc with branding opportunities.
- Integrates communication channels and engagement mediums like automatic social media updates, email and SMS blasts.
- Integrates online payment with safe payment gateways.
- Offers online support for troubleshooting.
- Most importantly supports analytics and reporting through database management and posts event analysis.
Selecting software for your virtual event is the most important step you take towards a successful event. The quality of your software and its ability to support a seamless event from registration to post-event analysis makes your software instrumental in scaling the event to new heights. Therefore, selecting the right virtual event platform is mandatory. Choosing the right platform demands some amount of thinking.
- Your event platform should be able to register for the event as a whole and in sessions and send virtual tickets.
- It should fulfil your goals of either forging new connections or generating leads from your event.
- If the event is about building brand awareness then the virtual event platform should share information and educate participants on the brand quality through videos, blogs and other communication omnichannel strategy to widen registration.
- The virtual event platform should be able to support multiple sessions
- The software should be able to record live stream sessions and impart the opportunity for watching later.
- It should embrace sponsorship opportunities and connect sponsors with partners and also enable proper management between them.
- It should allow engagement and networking at every level.
- It should be able to create a truly integrated virtual event experience that engages all in a single advanced one-point virtual event platform.
- It should be able to enhance and grow with the requirement of the virtual event.
A virtual conference, like a live conference, is an interactive knowledge-sharing event. Bringing people to a single platform from an industry with common goals, interests and expertise. It is a way of making people connect through networking, learning and planning for the future.
Similar to in-person conferences, the virtual conference has keynote sessions, breakout sessions, panel discussions, presentations that engage with the online audience just like in-person conferences.
Virtual conferences now achieve the same goals for any industry and are quite indispensable to the function they perform.
Networking
Virtual conferences are a great way to bring together key individuals from the same field of specialization. The virtual conference platform is the perfect space to form partnerships and network.
Helps improve skillset and knowledge.
Influential keynote speakers add diverse workshops with smart presentations. They help scale the learning graph by improving performance and knowledge.
Career and research development
If you host a virtual conference it raises your profile and brings your research in front of a new audience who are related to your sector. It also allows conference hosts to shape their research at its nascent stage for they get to witness the papers first. Participating in or hosting a virtual conference enlightens you with discussions and learnings for the future projects that you hope to undertake.
Financial benefits
When you host a virtual conference, it helps to boost your organisation’s profile, adds credibility for receiving research grants and other benefits. It opens the scope for future research opportunities.