Forty marketing professionals from a variety of locations and industries spent an hour sharing expertise and insight about hosting virtual conferences. Everything we learned is here. If you're a marketing or growth professional and you'd like to be included in upcoming Marketing Leaders Roundtables, email Jessa Lux at jlux@cliquestudios.com.
2. View the recording*
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ICYMI
*There were simultaneous roundtables. We only video-recorded one (#technicaldifficulties), but
we have all the audio. The following notes include ideas from each group.
3. Hot topics
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1. Choosing between platforms
a. Other tools to consider
2. Preparing speakers to ensure alignment and
avoid mishaps
3. It’s noisy out there: event promotions that work
4. Achieving high attendee engagement
5. Moderating the chaos comments
6. Above average added elements
4. 1. Platforms: Some Considerations
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- Is the chat feature separate from Q&A? This is
a helpful feature for both attendees and
organizers.
- Are breakout rooms supported? Breakout
rooms improve connection and engagement.
- Is your audience tech-savvy? If not, stick to
the basics and most intuitive.
5. 1. Platforms: Some Options
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- BigMarker: Easy to use for attendees and
presenters; chat and Q&A are separate
- Remo: Attendees can move around a virtual
space, great for networking
- GoToWebinar: In addition to chat, you can
“raise your hand” to verbally comment
- 6Connex: Virtual environment, unique features
6. 1a. Tools to help
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- Formstack: Event management and analytics
- AttendEase: Event management
- Typeform: Registration and surveys
- Snack Magic: Attendees can customize a snack
box to have delivered ahead of the event
- Slido: tools for audience interaction: polls,
quizzes, Q&A, and analytics.
7. 2. Speaker Prep
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- Set expectations. Share the desired outcome
of each session with the speaker(s).
- Share guidelines + things you’d like to avoid.
- For panels, prep moderators and ask them
to relay to their group.
- Moderators should lead a meeting with
their group before the event.
8. 2. Speaker Prep
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- Provide platform training.
- Schedule 30-60 minute trainings in the
week before the event. Several speakers
can be in one training.
- Have a backup training option 20 minutes
before the session.
- Also send instructions via email (written or
as a video tutorial).
9. 2. Speaker Prep
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Consider…
- Doing a run through with speakers beforehand
- Pre-recorded sessions. The speaker should still
be in the session ‘live’ so they can engage with
attendees via the chat.
- Note: This may be more time consuming for
speakers (re-shooting parts versus live).
10. 3. Promotions That Work
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- Most important is where you’re promoting
- Find spaces where your audience has
already opted-in and indicated a desire for
the type of content you’ll be sharing
- E.g. this could be a Facebook group that is meant for
educating around the topic your event will educate
around.
11. Important announcement
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Speaking of FB groups...
Dawn Conroy (roundtable mastermind) has an awesome new FB group for association marketers and
others who do marketing for associations. If that’s you, request to join!
12. 3. Promotions That Work
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- For events that are less formal, humanize the
speakers and introduce fun through
promotions
- One way: ask speakers to take a picture
with their pet, child, houseplant, etc. and
create a promotional video with those
photos.
13. 3. Promotions That Work
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- Appeal to other interests
- E.g. Partner with a winery, and offer
everyone who registers a discount code for
a bottle of wine.
- This can also be a great ice breaker: “What wine did
you order?”
- It works best for an event that’s later in the day, but
we won’t judge ;)
14. 3. Promotions That Work
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- Present a challenge.
- E.g. “If you tag us in a social media post
before the event, you’ll be entered to win a
spot at an intimate zoom conversation with
our keynote speaker!”
15. 3. Promotions That Work
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- For multi-day events, provide an incentive for
repeat attendance
- “If you attend day 1 and come back for day
2, we’ll buy you lunch.”
- Grubhub and others have corporate accounts for
sending gift cards with spending limits and easy
invoicing.
16. 4. Attendee Engagement: IDEAS!
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- Ask people to do introductions in the chat,
including their linkedin and what they’re
working on right now.
- An active chat is important. If attendees aren’t
getting involved, have a member of your team
initiate conversations there.
17. 4. Attendee Engagement: IDEAS!
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- Build in time for breakout rooms with 6-9
people; give those groups 20-30 minutes to
have a conversation.
- If the platform allows, it’s great to have
breakout rooms open at all times. You can
see who is in each breakout room before
entering, and you can come and go as you
please.
18. 4. Attendee Engagement: IDEAS!
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- Do a giveaway for people who are participating
- E.g. If you participate in all 3 polls, you’ll be
entered to win a prize. The first poll
question is “What is your favorite
restaurant?” and at the end of the session
the announcement is, “Jason, you just won
$200 to use at [insert restaurant name]!”
19. 4. Attendee Engagement: IDEAS!
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- Do polls
- Or better yet, use the annotate feature in
Zoom.
- This works like a whiteboard; attendees can
type responses onto the board
anonymously.
20. 5. Moderating comments
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- Have a 1:50 moderator to attendee ratio
- Moderators are people on your team
responding to comments in the background
- Provide moderators with an FAQ doc ahead of
time. They can copy/paste from this to answer
questions.
21. 6. Above Average Added Elements
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- A word of caution
- Attendees of virtual events are often more
interested in getting to the point / efficientt
delivery of info (stories and tangents that go
over well IRL may not be as well received
virtually).
- Blame this on zoom fatigue.
22. 6. Above Average Added Elements
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- That said, zoom fatigue can be treated by
‘mixing it up’! Here are some ideas…
- Dance breaks. This is a borrowed idea, and
they had an ASL interpreter join and
interpret a song (while dancing) on speaker
view so attendees could take a light
hearted brain-break.
23. 6. Above Average Added Elements
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- Sticking to the music theme:
- As people are joining, instead of 3 minutes
of silence, play a fun song to start the event
with good energy!
- Does someone on your team play an
instrument? They could play for a song
break.
- Put breaks like this on the agenda.
24. 6. Above Average Added Elements
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- Remember the Grubhub gift cards mentioned
earlier? Send one to all attendees at the
beginning of the event and set aside 5-10
minutes for ordering something for a virtual
happy hour after the event.
- The happy hour could be in breakout rooms
so group size works well for conversation.
25. 6. Above Average Added Elements
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- Take a ~20 minute break for a motivational
speaker.
- Some suggestions were Alex Sheen and
Sunjay Nath
26. Stay tuned!
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If you’re a marketing professional and you’d like to be invited to upcoming
roundtables, please email Jessa Lux at jlux@cliquestudios.com.
