Have you attended a virtual event lately that didn’t have a welcome video? Think about it. I’ll give you a minute. It’s likely that you haven’t.
Now, think about whether or not you remember the video. Or did you simply stop it and go about your business.
And this is why I believe that the welcome video is the virtual event industry’s version of an unwanted commercial. They rarely provide any additive value; serving to delay participants’ activity within the event itself.
The leaves are about to turn. The air is getting cooler as winter is fast approaching, which means… it’s time for end of the year predictions! Before I share my predictions in a future post, I want to first review my
virtual event predictions from last year. (Note: I had to recover the post after some weird code did something to it. Thanks to Emma King for giving me a heads up).
A press conference is a great way for organizations to communicate important news to the media, and one would argue to customers and partners as well, at a specific time and place; and in a controlled environment. For example, the Obama administration has used press conferences to introduce new legislation or policy updates.
As technology has improved, I am seeing more organizations moving their press conferences online. This frees corporate communications departments to easily and effectively reach more press members and bloggers, no matter where they are located worldwide. Yet, producing a virtual press conference is slightly different than any other virtual events. Here are my 10 tips for success.
When Apple launched iTunes, the service revolutionized how individuals consumed, discovered and purchased music. Since then, the company has expanded to other areas of digital content – TV shows, movies and books, with individual broadcasters even setting up channels on iTunes. I wondered, “What is the potential to leverage iTunes to distribute, and eventually monetize, conference content?”
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Last week, I attended the
Event Camp Twin Cities conference in Minneapolis, MN. I was honored to be invited to speak at the conference by Samuel J. Smith, one of the co-founders of the conference. What excited me about this conference is its overall mission to push the limits of what we can do with event technology. And I took this to heart, using this as an opportunity to debut a “new presentation.”
While there has been quite a bit written regarding the pros and cons of this model and how to truly merge two audiences – physical and virtual - for a hybrid experience (see summary below), my intent is to share my personal lessons from ECTC 2011 (in no particular order).
In late June, Google unveiled Google+, which seeks to “bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software.” Beyond the direct comparisons to Facebook, Google’s foray into the social network space further reinforces my believe that your
next virtual meeting or event will take place on a social platform. While Google+ is currently in beta, the service holds promise for virtual meetings and events.
From August 25-26, 2011, I will be in Minneapolis attending
Event Camp Twin Cities. I was unable to attend last year and am excited not only to participate in the sessions but also to present during the Virtual/Hybrid Learning Block on August 25 at 1:00 pm CT.
I used Storify to help me curate articles and reports on virtual events. If you have any articles or reports to include, please leave a comment below.
2011 is the year of the blockbuster comic book action hero. No matter where you go, you see some promotion, tie-in or article about X-Men, Green Lantern or Captain America. While your virtual event marketing budget cannot rival the movie studios’, it doesn’t mean you can’t market your virtual event like they do.
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In Donna’s previous post, “Virtual Events Made Easy,” she provided insight on how organizations can produce a virtual event without implementing a “full” platform. Add to this the recent announcements about social media networks adding streaming services, I wanted to get more insight about the ins and outs of live streaming for meeting and events professionals. I reached out to Mike McAllen of Grass Shack Events & Media.
Briefly, Mike is the host of the Meetings Podcast and one of the co-founders of EventCamp, a leading organization for exploring innovation in the events industry. Mike has staffed, managed, and produced conferences, videos and media projects for Fortune 500.
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