The Whys and Hows of an Online Conference – Part 3

In parts one and two of this three part series, we talked about the pros and cons of an online conference, why it’s a powerful option even after the pandemic ends, and the different options you have when it comes to choosing a platform for your meeting.

In the final section of “The Whys and Hows of an Online Conference,” we’ll be talking about how you can go about planning and producing your own conference from scratch and have it be a success.

Now that you know the benefits of an online conference and the different platforms available to you, it’s time to dive into actually creating your virtual event. Where do you start? How do you get the word out? This article will cover those questions and more in eight steps

Step 1: Define Your Subject, Purpose, Goals, and Target Audience

It may seem like a no-brainer, but as with any type of content, you absolutely do not want to skip this step when it comes to your online conference.

First up is defining the subject. What exactly is your conference going to talk about? Is it going to be about an entire industry or more niche?

Second, you’ll want to decide on the purpose and goals of the online event. What are you hoping to achieve when it comes to the conference? Do you want to promote your own brand or raise awareness for an issue? Do you want to present a networking opportunity for your industry?

No matter your purpose, you do want to make sure your goals are measurable and realistic. For example, if you’re trying to promote your brand, you obviously don’t want to aim for a 100% conversion rate. That’s unrealistic. But before you can move on from this step, you do need to completely understand the purpose and reasoning behind creating the event or you could miss the mark.

Next up, you have to define your target audience. You have your subject, purpose, and goals – who would most be interested in the subject and would help you achieve your goals? Failing to identify your audience will result in a lackluster and unattended conference.

Step 2: Decide on Tools, Support, and Platform

In part two of this series, we covered the different options you have for a virtual conference based on your conference’s needs. They included video conferencing, online conference platforms, and virtual reality. Each choice had its pros and cons, and your decision here will depend on your goals, expected turnout, and subject matter.

If you haven’t yet, now is the time to decide which one is best for your virtual conference. You’ll also want to give thoughts to the tools and support you’ll need to make the event a success. An IT team is a good idea in case problems arise, but what support will you be giving your attendees who may not be tech-savvy?

Step 3: Plan for Engagement

Next up, you want to think about the content matter of your conference and, of course, avoid “boring and unoriginal.” You want your event to stand out among the competition and also create unique opportunities for your attendees. You’ll need strong, engaging, informative, and exciting speakers, moderators, events, partners, exhibitors, and organization teams to achieve this.

Who fits the bill here? Reach out to them and invite them to work or speak at your event. Think about how your events, presenters, and exhibitors will keep your attendees interested and involved in the conference.

Step 4: Involve the Team

If you haven’t already, now is the perfect time to involve your team. This includes anyone from IT support to speakers to moderators to partners and exhibitors. You’ll want to brief them on the subject matter, the goals of the event, and what you’re expecting from them. This will help ensure everyone is on the same page going forward and events during the conference work to promote that purpose and goal you decided on prior.

Step 5: Lay out the Event

You have your speakers, moderators, exhibitors, and team all set up. Now is the time to organize the event. You’ll want to think about the optimal speaking schedule, for example, as well as how exhibitors will promote their offerings. If it’s a multi-day event, are you giving your attendees enough time between events to be able to attend the ones they’re interested in? You don’t want to schedule a lot at once or spread it out too much that your attendees don’t even bother attending the most important events.

Step 6: Market

As you start to lay out the event and schedule, you’ll also want to give thought to the marketing strategy and awareness for your virtual conference. Knowing your target audience is a must here as it will dictate your social media, content, video, and email marketing strategies. You need to decide on ticket prices and what events, exhibitors, and speakers you’ll want to highlight and to whom.

If you’re not quite sure how to get the word out, you may want to work with professionals to help ensure you have a viable marketing strategy for your virtual event.

Step 7: Test

Prior to your event going live, don’t forget to test! This will help ensure that your event layout and schedule actually works, isn’t too crammed, and gives your audience enough time for breaks. It will also help you work out any technological bugs ahead of time. Run through your entire event to catch issues and then once you’ve corrected them, test again!

Step 8: Produce your Event!

It’s the date of your event – congratulations! You’ll need your team, speakers, tech booth, program booth, back-ups, and screens all in place when you’re ready to go live. Your testing and prior planning should have worked out any kinks here, but having your teams ready can help ensure any hiccups are quickly solved.

Running an online conference can be daunting and quite difficult if you’re new to the setting. Having the right team by your side can make all the difference. At Alf Global Services, we understand what your virtual event needs to be successful. Find out how we can assist you with your upcoming conference and ensure it has the support it requires to be everything you wanted.