Face-to-face interactions are always going to remain a part of event strategy. But virtual events have carefully replicated the same to a great extent by offering a greater set of advantages. A prompt spike in the ratio of virtual events and a growing increasing number of virtual events platforms says it all. There is no doubt about the reality that virtual hybrid events are simply here to stay for long and the future of the event sector.
So you may be thinking about what types of virtual events are there. Which ones are going to be right for you, and what could your goal or goals be? Well, this post is going to share with you different types of events that you can do virtually.
Virtual conferences or even summits
Virtual conferences or even summits are long-form content. These can span over manifold days and will encompass material such as keynotes, speaking sessions with thought leaders and even more. Interactivity is most of the time a large component of a successful virtual conference. Such a thing may include live Q&A, live audience polling, chat, breakout sessions, networking opportunities and more. The potential goals of such an event can be:
- Survey feedback
- Driving event registration
- Engagement or networking metrics
Remember that these virtual conferences or summits allow organisations to reach global delegates, event attendees, shareholders, business partners, and remote employees virtually in real time. The engaging, as well as interactive tools offered by the platform, aids in boosting engagements. Virtual conferences enable attendees to simply tune in from their remote locations from any sort of device or browser. Moreover, attendees can even connect and network with other attendees, hosts, speakers, etc. In real-time through live audio/video chat operation.
Virtual trade shows
You must be scratching your head and thinking what is the difference between a virtual conference and a virtual trade show? At times it is going to be all in the name, and often the two get used interchangeably. A good way to abstract it, though, is thinking of a virtual trade show simply taking the place of an in-person trade show. It simply means factoring in the booth experience, even exhibitors and other elements that may often be left out of a virtual conference. It can also include added activities such as virtual happy hours, providing a perfect time for sponsorship.
Web Courses/ Workshops
Web courses or workshops are one of the most well-known online events that are in prevalent for some time now. This is something that encompasses a series of sessions or even courses that permit participants to take a certification course on the web from their respective geographic locations. Courses or workshops that get hosted on any virtual event platform allow the attendees to have one-on-one kind of interactions with the trainer through live audio/video chats. It allows them to ask their queries, even share screens, and more. A virtual event platform even permits students to take online classes, take practice tests, and much more. Whether students in an institution or candidates in your organization; everybody can make the most of them. Potential aims can be:
- Tracking usage
- Donations
- Measuring engagement
Virtual corporate events
Teamwork is most of the time forged through colleagues getting to know one another. Corporate-led events may actually be a wonderful way to start fostering such comradery amongst peers at an organization. It can also be an opportune type of time to discuss the vision for the company, allowing the employees to embrace a stakeholder view of operations. Forward-thinking businesses can also place a level of charitable activities in the event, to pad PR (public relations). For most, though, employee engagement is going to be paramount. This can be trickier for virtual team building, but most of the time a necessity because of the proximity of employees and the costs associated with flying everybody to a single location. As an outcome, activities, breakout sessions, polling, and more can get used to foster more engagement from participants and even let them get to know each other better. Potential aims can be like:
- Employee engagement
- Charity milestones
Virtual job fairs
Businesses most of the times discover main employees by broadening their reach and even expanding hiring efforts. Joining or even hosting a virtual job fair is a way to achieve this, getting your company in front of applicants. This gets the organizations a chance to vend themselves, as well as be sold to by possible future staff. Job boards, even group assignments and even the ability for breakout one-to-one video chat can help facilitate such a job fair role for virtual events. The potential aims can be like:
- Raising awareness
- Attributable hires
Conclusion
So, these were only a few of the various types of virtual events that you should know about. You can make the most of the right event for your purpose.
