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Virtual Event Top Challenges to Handle

“With the Covid-19 pandemic, threat still looming, number of virtual events more than doubled. With organisers giving participants access to live sessions as well as on-demand content”

The prime focus is on creating and maintaining a “connected digital experience”. For everyone in these troubled times to engage people.

The majority of event planners around the world haven’t tried hosting online virtual events. Even before the pandemic. Technical knowledge was only limited to widescreen content. Event planners focused on what they have learnt.

Before the pandemic event, planners used to do webcast conferences. The only need for such segments was good internet, hosting webpage and a cameraman. Webcasting was the boom. Event planners felt that webcasting cannot deliver human value. Availability of the right technological infrastructure is also a factor.

The main challenges that event organisers face while planning a virtual event:

1. Technical Expertise & Too Many Queries:

On average, 2 out of every 10 event planners avoid organising virtual events. Which do not have the infrastructure & technical know-how. An online virtual event or a hybrid event has several components to take care of. Right from creating the best content flow, coordination, cinematography and planning. An effective attendee engagement strategy, etc. is a key for virtual events. Event planners are still exploring the best event tech platform & streaming tools.

Organisers who plan virtual events, webinars, exhibitions and weddings. For the first time are likely to face problems. With the lack of experience, how to start and where to end. Technical requirements and the serious bottleneck to solve the issue. Selecting the right service provider is the need for virtual events. An event planner should collaborate with one of the virtual event service providers. And understand how the virtual events work and address the client requirements. An event planner must plan a few demos with the virtual event service provider. Which helps them understand how to show run and how to plan a virtual event.

2. Technological Support:

There is no scarcity of virtual event platforms or technological support. When the pandemic started, industry & tech companies had hundreds of options. Rather be how do we connect Zoom, Vmix, many screens & inputs, and so on. An Event planner who is working on the very first remote virtual event. Is not likely to find everything easy. Also, it is scarier that he might not be the best person to answer all technological queries. The problems escalate when we are not equipped with technology support.

In 2021, we have a lot of experience with virtual event service providers around the world who can run the show. With little or no support coming from the event tech service provider. It does not take long for the attendee experience which leads to bad publicity.

3. Engagement Opportunities:

Virtual events have a lack of artists engagement options. The fact remains that these virtual events do not deliver the sort of exposure. And networking value that an in-person physical event can give. Virtual event platforms provide features like a poll, survey. The virtual event doesn’t provide peer-to-peer networking.

The point of concern for half of all event planners is the absence of live engagement. To tackle challenges, organisers should go for hybrid virtual event platforms. Currently, all virtual platforms come up with built-in live chat. With a social community building feature. Besides the Hybrid platform works for engagement.

4. Strategy:

Replicating the content strategy and flow of a live event for a virtual edition never works. We need to create new content, designs, and experience to attract attendees. Even if an attendee logs on to a Livestream and wanders away the organiser has no way of tracking that.

Creating too many sessions or staggering the event over several days. Are among the things that are likely to cause breaks in the attention span of the participants. A virtual event is not a physical on-ground event. Many virtual events are single-day affairs, for this reason, duration should not exceed 2 to 3 hrs. The Event Planner must understand that participants will be “attending” from their homes. Keeping participants invested is a challenge. The focus should be on creating and maintaining a proper narrative show flow. Like television programs. The agenda should divide into the right number of tracks/sessions. Participants can ‘take in’ all the information.

Event planners promote virtual events as forced replacements of live events. The targeted audience can view these events which feel not worth attending. The creative highlighting of virtual event. How participants can leverage the most value out of the events. Social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Are best suited for this, while some clients want to keep it private on a separate web link. It is important to change the perception about virtual.

5. Two-way Communication:

Breakout sessions, coffee breaks, scheduled meetings, Q&A sessions. There are many ways in which the audience can take part in an in-person event. These opportunities are absent when the same event goes virtual. Many online event platforms host events that have one-way communication.

With the live/recorded videos playing, and the viewers having little to do. To avoid such boring scenarios, it is imperative to “make people talk”. Through live Q&A sessions, session feedback & opinion sections. Polls, virtual breakout rooms, QR code scanning, social community, and more. It is also a good idea to track and record user activity.

6. Audience Technology:

The audience is very selective about the technology they use during Virtual Events. Some are happy to use laptops and event apps to take part in a virtual conference. Others might want to join from their mobile, iPad or even TV or using a wide variety of streaming devices.

The onus is on the organisers to make sure that the event app or web portal should work on all devices and browsers. If there are any restrictions, mentioned beforehand. Not everyone is likely to be tech-savvy. So the entire on-boarding process should be as simple as possible. The point to remember here is that there are no physical check-ins and guidance available. Everything is in a DIY mode.

7. Consideration for Technological Limitations:

A virtual event platform might boast the most advanced features. But cannot replicate the live event experience. While the fact sometimes expectations of the participants are not set. The entire schedule, features and resources should be provided to the audience in advance. A clear explanation of the resources available. Event organisers also worry too much about technological limitations. Neglecting the bigger picture of content strategies and audience engagement in the process. The event planner should plan the event and then select a platform that would be the best fit.

8. Limitations on a Single end-to-end Solution:

There are event app builders for ticketing platforms and virtual event platforms. Each digital product claims to provide best-in-class accommodations. Yet, if an organiser uses many platforms for a virtual event. Things are bound to become discombobulating. While the total expenses for the virtual event will be more than a physical event. So, it makes enough of sense for event planners to go for a platform that distributes end-to-end solutions. And all the required functionalities under the hood.

9. Security & License:

In a virtual event, all content live sessions or recorded material is premium content. As such, organisers must be wary about unauthorised access. Take steps to rule out such possibilities. In a virtual event, artist performances need licenses. Do check with the virtual event service provider as they have been doing events on a regular basis. Companies do not want to share email id credentials for the login on the event. Event planners must provide solutions for the same. Tech vendor must ensure a full data security system. Seamless access to registered users. It is also a good idea to enquire about where the event data will be stored during and after the event.

In short, we need to learn and understand how virtual event works. Learning explores and provides visions for the future.

Further reads:

5 Best Tool for Event Planner

10 Event Tech & Planning Blogs You Should be Following

Technology Trends for 2021