Planning an event remotely can be challenging, but not impossible. With the right tools, strategies, and communication, you can create a successful and memorable experience for your attendees, speakers, and sponsors. Here are some tips to help you manage your remote event planning process.
Before you start planning the details of your event, you need to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve, who you want to reach, and how you want to measure your success. This will help you set realistic expectations, budget, and timeline for your event. Write down your goals and scope in a document that you can share with your team and stakeholders, and use it as a guide throughout your planning process.
Once you receive a request for an event you have to be aware about the following: 1-Concept and purpose of the event. 2-Who is the client and if there is a third party. 3-Requirements requested in order to plan your event accordingly in terms of setup, food style, AV equipment or any other requests. 4-Agenda of the event to plan your operation team accordingly. 5-Be ready for any last minute requests or any changes will be established during the event. 6-Focus with your team to be always on time for any request during the event ( time management) 7-Food presentation to be always creative and eye catching.
Depending on the type and size of your event, you may need to use different platforms and formats to deliver your content and engage your audience. For example, you may use a webinar platform for a one-hour presentation, a virtual conference platform for a multi-day event, or a hybrid platform for a mix of online and offline activities. Research the features, costs, and limitations of each platform, and choose the one that best suits your goals and scope. Also, decide on the format of your event, such as live, pre-recorded, or on-demand, and plan accordingly.
One of the most important aspects of remote event planning is to have a detailed schedule and checklist that covers every aspect of your event, from registration to follow-up. This will help you keep track of your tasks, deadlines, and responsibilities, and avoid missing any important steps. Use a project management tool or a spreadsheet to create your schedule and checklist, and update it regularly. Also, assign roles and responsibilities to your team members, and communicate clearly with them.
Nothing ruins a remote event more than technical glitches, poor audio quality, or broken links. To prevent these issues, you need to test and troubleshoot everything before your event goes live. This includes testing your platform, equipment, internet connection, backup plans, and contingency scenarios. Also, test your content, such as slides, videos, polls, and surveys, and make sure they work well on different devices and browsers. Finally, test your speakers, moderators, and hosts, and make sure they are comfortable and confident with the platform and format.
?? In my experience, Testing and troubleshooting are crucial in managing a remote event for several reasons: (1) Technical Readiness: helps ensure that all technical aspects, such as video conferencing tools, streaming platforms are functioning correctly. (2) Testing: to help identify and address potential issues before the event, ensuring a seamless experience. (3) Connectivity with external / guest speakers: testing helps seamlessly connectivity with all stakeholders. (4) Pre recorded Video and audio recording: Testing these in advance allows to address any issues with sound, video resolution, or delays, ensuring that communication during the event is clear and effective.
One of the biggest challenges of remote event planning is to keep your audience interested and involved throughout your event. To overcome this challenge, you need to engage your audience before, during, and after your event. Before your event, you can build anticipation and excitement by sending teasers, reminders, and incentives to your registrants. During your event, you can encourage interaction and feedback by using live chat, Q&A, polls, quizzes, and gamification. After your event, you can follow up with your attendees by sending thank-you notes, surveys, certificates, and resources.
Tener un espacio para preguntas en vivo es esencial. Con ello, el asistente puede escribir en el chat la pregunta, y el moderador, debe leer la pregunta y decir de quién es. De esta manera, mantendrás a los asistentes esperando a que se resuelvan sus dudas. ?No da tiempo a responder todas las preguntas después de la charla? Puedes crear una sala de conversatorio con el ponente, donde haya que tener una pre-inscripción y asistencia a la charla principal.
The last tip for remote event planning is to evaluate and improve your performance based on the data and feedback you collect from your event. You can use analytics tools, surveys, and testimonials to measure your key performance indicators, such as attendance, engagement, satisfaction, and conversion. You can also use these tools to identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and use them to improve your future events. By evaluating and improving your performance, you can learn from your experience and grow as a remote event planner.
Evaluating your event after it happened is as important as preparing for your event before it starts. Create a post-event survey ahead of time and ensure that it's accessible to all attendees. You can include a QR code or Bitly link at the end of your presentation. It's helpful to send the link out via email immediately. The sooner the survey is sent, the more responses you'll get. Evaluate all parts of the event, not only the sessions, but also things like registration logistics, break time, what their expectations were, were their expectations met, and anything that may help you prepare for the next one. If you worked with a team, have a retrospective with them so that everyone is aligned on what went well and what could be improved.
In the post-pandemic world, engagement is everything. Utilize advanced analytics tools to track participant engagement in real-time, allowing for on-the-fly adjustments to improve experience. Prioritize accessibility, offering features like captioning and translation services. Conduct pre-event surveys to tailor content to attendee interests. Post-event, gather detailed feedback to refine and improve future remote events. Most importantly, make sure to secure the right vendor partner to help you track engagement and ensure that the event runs smoothly - rely on your partners!