The sudden occurrence of the coronavirus pandemic forced organizations to operate remotely. Many businesses had to shift from physical setup to online setup within a few days, and it was anything but smooth. The first thing people needed to learn was that hosting online meetings and events online comes with many benefits. It required everyone to shift their perspective, look on the bright side and start with the planning of the events and meetings.
Hosting meetings and conferences on event-hosting platforms has always been more beneficial and advantageous than their physical counterparts. However, the organizers need to know that hosting a conference requires more than just knowing about the event hosting platform. The planned and strategic use of an event hosting platform can help you expand and boost the growth of your brand, helping you reach thousands of people at once, and that too, without the limitations of geographical factors.
Not only this, but if you also think that conferences hosted even on the top virtual conference platforms aren’t as efficient as their physical counterparts, you couldn’t be more wrong. A well-planned online conference will help you host a conference that will be remembered by people. And, if you are thinking about what you can actually do to host such kinds of meetings and conferences, worry no more.
Tips to Host Successful Online Conferences
Here is a complete list of the tips suggested by the experts that will help you host successful and impactful conferences. So, without any ado, let us jump into the blog and see what tips it talks about.
1. Estimate a Higher Number of People
The first thing you should keep in mind is estimating a decent number of people at the event. While it gets easier for the organizers to estimate the number of people who will show up at a physical event, the same might get a bit challenging in the case of the virtual event. However, since you are hosting the event on the event hosting platform, you can expect a decent amount of people to show up. It is because, unlike physical meetings and events, the attendees will get to attend the event from the comfort of their own homes. Hence, there are always chances of more people showing up for the event than you expect. Keep this in mind while planning your next virtual conference, and choose the platform accordingly.
2. Plan a Seamless Virtual Experience
Planning is not the only key that will help you decide the success of your virtual conference; planning effectively will. There is a misconception that since virtual conferences and meetings aren’t physical, they aren’t real. As an organizer, you should know the most basic and important thing about both formats. The only difference between both of them is the format. Other than that, both kinds are similar and they require the same kind of strategies and planning. However, it goes without saying that virtual conferences fall more on the easier side as they are flexible. But, it doesn’t mean you end up paying zero or no effort in their planning.
Therefore, while you are planning your virtual conference, make sure that you create a proper agenda, schedule it properly, and lay down proper strategy for its execution.
3.Talk About Your Online Conference on Social Media
Talking about the next tip that experts advise the organizers to follow is to take their upcoming online conference to social media. The impact and presence of social media are impeccable. We all know what kind of wonders it can do when it comes to expanding the reach and promoting one’s business. Therefore, you should also talk about your online conference on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can create a dedicated page for your conference or post updates on your company’s page also. Leveraging social media platforms to talk about your upcoming conference will help you expand the reach of your conference. Also, it will help you get more people associated with your brand.
4.Host a Dry Run, Always.
It has always been advised to host a few practice sessions before appearing for the final test. In fact, back in school time, we used to practice a number of times before appearing for our final exams. Here, your conference is your final exam; the practice sessions will be the dry runs you would host before the d-day. And we are sure you wouldn’t want to fail this exam. Therefore, always host a few dry runs before hosting the final conference.
The practice sessions will help you understand the loopholes that your event and event platform has. Not only this, you will be able to sort anything that is wrong before the conference only. One thing you should keep in mind while hosting a conference is inviting the speakers as well as exhibitors and sponsors to the dry run. It will help them know the platform. Also, they won’t face any problems logging in and out on the day of the conference.
5.Leverage the Right Event Hosting Platform
The next and probably one of the most significant tips you should always keep in mind while planning your next conference is choosing a suitable and well-designed online conference platform. Owing to the popularity of online conferences, there are several event-hosting platforms available in the market. It is due to the prominence that picking up a suitable platform gets confusing at times. To avoid situations like this, you need to have a proper knowledge of the functionality and tools you want to have in your platform. Apart from it, you should also check the audience reviews; they will tell you the real picture. Conduct proper research and choose the top virtual conference platform available.
Hosting conferences using online conference platforms is not a tough job; however, it isn’t an easy task either. You need to have clarity of what you want to deliver to the audience. Also, be clear with objectives you wish to achieve. Talking of the platforms available in the market, clearly, there is a lot to choose from. However, it is advisable to look for the functionalities you wish to have in the tool and then make the right choice wisely.
