Event Planning For Online Meetings

The Coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) has radically changed the way we do things almost overnight. The business of event planning seems to have ground to halt, as persons are now social distancing, and conducting business from home. 

This radical shift has changed the way we do business, as we see more companies and individuals transitioning to online engagement. The need to employ event management principles, however, will not change. In fact, they are just as important and in need as any other time.

When I taught Event Management, I introduced students to the 7-step principle of successful event planning. These steps were the key activities that go into the execution of all events, large or small, and the size and complexity of the event would determine how involved all the steps are.

As we adapt to doing online events, these 7 steps can be adapted to guide the management and proper execution of online meetings.

Planning your next meeting online.

Meetings are events in their own right, and they require planning to ensure successful execution. As we transition our meetings from in person in a physical space to online spaces, the principles are basically the same.

THE 7-STEPS

1.      OBJECTIVES

It is important that you know what outcomes you wish to have at the end of the meeting. Ensure that your objectives are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely) and for the activity that you’ve planned.

These objectives are to be communicated to all concerned, and it is critical to avoid “pie in the sky” objectives that you know the meeting cannot achieve.

2.      CREATE A PLAN

You should create a plan describing how you intend to execute the event. This is your road map, the complexity of which will depend on your meeting. Your effectiveness of your plan depends on which elements you will include.

Ideas would be best developed in a brainstorming session to ensure that all needed elements are included in this comprehensive plan. Note, a brainstorming session doesn’t have to be the entire department, it can be 2 or 3 persons. Take your time to ensure you cover all bases.

Your plan should include:

• What activities need to be completed and what skill sets are required to execute these tasks. (Avoid identifying people first and trying to match them with roles).
• Portal to be used (your online venue).
• All other pertinent information relating to time/date and potential risks.

3.      SCHEDULING

It is important that you create a schedule that will cover the execution of the meeting. Online meetings present the added complexity at this time of not having persons together in the same location, you therefore cannot grab persons as and when you may need them.

For an online meeting your schedule may have the following elements:

• Date and time of the event
• Agenda with timing – how long each segment/presenter/break should be
• Call times – When should participants be online.
• Practice session
• Platform license purchase.
• Platform testing

4.      FINANCING

For most events there may be significant costs involved based on the plan you outlined. For many event planners the main decision at this stage is determining whether the event will be self-financed from internal resources or external funding through sponsorship or ticket sales. You will build your budget based on your plan and how you aim to finance your event.

If your meeting will be behind a paywall you should ensure that you choose the platform and payment integration system that best suits your audience.

How to set up an online-only event in Eventbrite

5.      PUBLICITY

Your audience will need to be informed of the meeting, and in a timely manner. This step may also contribute to your budget depending on your audience and how you decide to get the word out.

For internal company meetings you are most likely to use your email and intranet assuming that most persons are using these channels though they may be working from home.

For external meetings you will use various channels including various online advertising and/or the media.

6.      IMPLEMENTATION

The best laid plans will be for naught if we do not implement them. You took the time to make the plans, so now put them into action.

Test the platform

If you are new to online meetings, do not let the actual meeting be the first time you are using the platform. You would not turn up at a physical venue for a meeting without doing an evaluation of the location and assessing it’s ability to host an event.

Do the same for your online meeting and test the platform so you know which is best for you.

Read this PC Magazine article on the best Video Conferencing solutions.

Staffing

For your physical meeting you would have had an army of staff covering various areas of the event. Do the same for your online meeting.

Host – Most meetings require a host who is not necessarily the voice, but rather the persons who is responsible for controlling the flow of the meeting, and ensuring presenters are online and that all the backend functions are covered.

The host typically controls such functionality such as muting and turning off video for participants.

Registration – You may need someone dedicated to this aspect to ensure the correct persons have access to the meeting. If your schedule calls for registrants to be inside the online event at a particular time before the room is closed, this could be covered here.

Some platforms allow meetings to keep participants in a waiting room prior to letting them in. This could be considered as part of your registration function.

Technical support – Ensure that you have someone who is an expert in the use of the platform and the various technology being employed for the meeting. Technical challenges may appear on the attendees end which this person may need to assist in troubleshooting.

General support – Monitoring of chat rooms and questions.

Dry Run/Rehearsal

Do not go into the meeting blindly!

Ensure that you have done a full run through of the meeting with your participants and support team. Your attendees will often be unforgiving of a sloppily delivered meeting. Participants may be at various levels of competence in the use of the platform and as organizer you will want to know what deficiencies exist and any support that you will need to provide.

Risk management

Plan for potential risks to the meeting. You are online, and that has inherent risks. The following are just a few items you may include in your risk management list.

Internet connection – It is key to have a stable internet connection. A wired connection is usually best but if this is not possible, reduce the number of users on the Wi-Fi connection being used. To reduce risk of major disruption, have the host and panelists on wired or stable connections.

Employ security measures to keep unwanted individuals from accessing the meeting. You may wish to require passwords and not publicly share meeting IDs.

Restrict screen-sharing, mute microphones, and restrict use of cameras. Most platforms allow host to determine who can access any of these functions.

Zoombombing: What it is and how you can prevent it in Zoom video chat

Computer failure – ensure the platform you choose allows alternative hosts, so that if the host’s computer fails, the meeting does not end. There may be slight disruption, but the attendees will still be there and participants/presenters can continue.

Meeting Agenda

Your agenda would have been developed as part of your overall scheduling. Your agenda should be concise and to the point, designed to keep the attention of the participants. This should be shared with participants prior to the start of the meeting.

Regular meetings and webinars are typically 60 to 90 minutes in length. You want to ensure that you do not bulk the meeting with too many presentations, causing the presenters to rush. This is important if you have included a Q&A segment.

For longer meetings you may want to restrict to between 4 and 6 hours including breaks. You should include breaks for lunch, stretching and miscellaneous activities. Because meetings of this nature often cause participants to lose focus, you should include engagement activities such as trivia and talk back. Webinars particularly should not be used for long meetings because of the impersonal nature of the set up.

Meeting management

It is key that as the meeting progresses, the agenda is monitored, and adjustments made to ensure that you are kept on time. If a presenter doesn’t show up or is having technical difficulties, you should be able to adjust.

7.      EVALUATION

It is key that you do not skip this step. It is here that you determine whether the objectives were met, and you identify the challenges faced. This gives you insight into what measures you should implement to counter said challenges for future events.

Develop an evaluation tool such as a survey to collect feedback from attendees on the quality of the online meeting, including content and overall structure. This will greatly assist with the planning for future online events.

 11 Free Online Survey Tools Compared

How you employs these 7 steps will be determined by your event and is intended to be a guide. You will need to adapt based on your particular situation.

Chris Benjamin

Twitter @chrissbenjam Instagram @chris.s.benjamin