Take Your Conference Virtual With These Best Practices

The pandemic may have forced you to take your conference virtual. If you are an individual or business that’s needed to pivot from a physical event to some kind of online digital form, these best practices can help:

Choose a Good Time

Picking the right time and date is a critical aspect. Before you start inviting the people in your network and business circle, you should do some research. Make sure that you are not competing against any event or holiday that will hinder attendance.

Considering time zones is important. If the event is global, try to pick a time that will work for as many of your clients as possible.

Ensure that all of your content is accessible after the conference for people who can’t make it to the live event. Consider several different networking sessions or virtual events straddling different time zones.

Consult analytics to see when your attendees spend the most time online. Send out a survey or post asking your target market for preferred dates and times.

Don’t Forget To Be Inclusive

When you’ve decided to take your conference virtual, you need to look after being accessible and inclusive.  Presentations need to have high color contrasts and large fonts for content complete with captions when necessary.

Starting every event with the human touch is important especially when your meetings are online. Remember to show genuine warmth at the beginning so everyone feels like they can contribute.

Practice Before

Rehearsing with your presenters before a live conference helps to work out any glitches beforehand. Make sure each presenter knows how the technology works. That includes sharing slides and troubleshooting any difficulties that can crop up.

Concentrate On Content

Even if your conference is virtual, content is still king. You can captivate participants with written text and bore them with technology that’s tedious and cumbersome. 

Any inspiring content can actually encourage breakout groups that splinter off and keep things fresh and exciting.

Promote Your Event

Decide on the noteworthy aspects of your webinar and promote them beforehand. The key selling points could be a big opportunity to network or a noteworthy speaker. Whatever angle you choose, make sure that it’s clear in your marketing efforts.

Promote your plans to take your conference virtual on social media and by email. If you want to run ads, look for the platforms that will allow you to extend personal invitations.