Food and drink delivered to you before a virtual event: The new hybrid

Have you ever considered how you might give food and drink to event visitors before your virtual events, allowing them to construct a one-of-a-kind "hybrid event" that mixes the social aspect of dining with the convenient digital format?

It may seem like a logistical nightmare, but earlier this year, my team cracked the code. Let's walk through the steps to bring some IRL elements into your virtual gatherings. Please don't just throw another ill-planned virtual event. The world has way too many of them, and everyone is burnt out from the "zoomies". Not putting enough budget, thought, or effort into your event is the fastest way to lose the respect of your audience and supporters.

Determine how many mouths are you going to need to feed?

The first thing you'll want to consider is how many virtual attendees you'll be catering to.

Smaller meetings or virtual events

For smaller events, say 25-100 virtual attendees, you may think giving a gift card is an easy option to hook up the guests before your event. However, think of how this can be a hassle for the guests - they'd have to find a restaurant, drive there or go through their online ordering system, and get back in time for your event or schedule their own delivery. We've planned many events where attendees appreciated the gift card but still didn't show up. Lives are busy, interests compete for attention, and people simply forget sometimes.

If you want to really drive attendance and make your events fed and happy, we recommend sending them lunch, snacks, coffee, or even alcohol right before the event starts. We've seen attendance rates as high as 95% when using this method of adding a "hybrid" dining element to events.

Feeding guests at Large-scale events

If you're hosting a virtual event on a large scale, such as an online trade show or virtual conference with thousands of virtual attendees, you might think that the operational considerations of delivering food to each guest individually would be impossible.

It actually can be done, but it's important to choose the right partner and planner to handle this for you. Depending on the event you're hosting, virtual meals for each attendee can be provided by your caterer to fit any budget. Virtual services such as these are also completely customizable - if there's a food that isn't on the menu that you'd really like to see included, just let them know! Hit me up if you want some recommendations for food delivery vendors. We have some favorites.

How do you choose the menu?

Necessary items first - virtual events that target business professionals or virtual networking groups these days should be held during work hours, so we recommend catering appropriate to the time of day the event is taking place as well as its virtual nature. Lunch deliveries are a great way to include options such as salads, sandwiches, wraps, burgers, sushi plates and other lunch-friendly foods. It's also helpful if you offer water, coffee or tea for those who might need it during the virtual event marathon session!

For team meetings, virtual staff meetings, virtual networking events and virtual trade shows - delivering something simple like coffee and a pastry or a personal pizza can work very well.

Consider the cost. It doesn't have to be expensive.

I've had the best luck with clients who provide these items as part of the cost of tickets or even get a sponsor that wants some visibility during the virtual event to cover the cost. Compared to catering costs traditionally associated with venues, delivery fees, tips, and the staffing on your side to cover the logistical considerations, there are some extremely affordable options to make food happen at your virtual event.

The key is to consider hybrid real-life food and beverage options as a marketing expense. It can make virtual event participation more attractive and affordable for attendees.

Want it done for you? Hire the experts.

At Lunchpool, we've worked with thousands of virtual attendees - all coming together from around the world, yet without sharing a physical space. Our fully produced virtual events offer food delivery at just enough time before the virtual kickoff that every virtual attendee will have their needs met precisely as they arrive to enjoy their virtual experience. We've helped clients organize over 500 events in the past year alone. Events like:

• Networking mixers
• Nonprofit fundraisers
• Award ceremonies
• Virtual conferences
• Team retreats

If you'd like to know more about producing virtual events with full catering services for individuals tuning in across the world, feel free to reach out to us at letslunchpool.com or shoot me a message. I'll get my team to advise you on how to do it even if you don't need our full-service staffing and support. I just want to end the harsh reality of people starving through zoom meetings with panged stomachs ?? .