Don’t get caught up in bells and whistles, focus on the why.Key takeaways from the conversation with Ashly Priest and Beth Hernandez-Casey
In this episode of ConferenceCast’s Survival Tales we spoke with Ashly Priest, Creative Director of Events & Experiences, and Beth Hernandez - Casey, Event Executive, the dream team behind organizing “Women in Analytics'' 2020 conference among other projects. In March 2020 Ashly and Beth transformed “Women in Analytics'' conference from a 2000+ in-person event to a number of intimate virtual events - in a matter of weeks. They talked about this experience, reservations their executive clients had about taking events online, the power of visual design for virtual events and much more. Read on for key takeaways from our conversation and hands-on advice on how to make a virtual event a success.
You can access the replay and the full transcript here:
https://www.conferencecast.tv/talk-34056-event-industry-survival-tales-with-ashly-priest-beth-hernandez-s2e1#.talkPage-headerThe importance of Why
Ashly warned against the danger of having an event for event’s sake:“Don’t get so caught up in bells and whistles that you forget why you’re having the event in the first place”.
She talked about the importance of focusing on the why. Why are you having the event in the first place? Why is the audience coming? Does their goal of attending align with your goal for having an event? Based on this “why”, you are able to choose the right platform, create the right type of experience etc.Have fun, lean on your peers and “don’t lose sleep over it”
Both Ashly and Beth look back at the beginning of the pandemic with a certain degree of nostalgia. The uncertainty of those early days pushed them to be creative while not giving them enough time to get too bogged down in the details. Beth also mentioned that the events of the pandemic created a sense of camaraderie among the community of event organizers and led to open exchange of ideas and solutions among competitors. With the right attitude and community of peers to workshop ideas with “everything is figureoutable''.Key factors in choosing a tech solution for your event
- Production quality
- Ease of use - for the audience, not the organizer
- Audience engagement features
- How self-service it is, i.e. does the solution allow the organizer to change things at the last minute when those changes (speaker line up, presentations) inevitably occur.
Generating revenue and creating value with virtual events
Beth shared that early in the pandemic many of her clients instinctively assumed that if the event is online, it should be free. She worked to address those beliefs and help her clients build models where they can still monetize their events. For example, when a big in-person event moved online, she convinced her client not to refund the ticket price. Instead, they gave participants extra guest passes, 25% towards 2021 tickets, and created additional networking opportunities leading up to the event.As a result, “the event was a wild success, we increased the attendance, everyone showed up … That was probably the funnest event so far”. Ashly mentioned that for one of her flagship events that used to be in-person, they turned big keynotes into virtual fireside chats and attendees welcomed that change in format.
“Only relying on ticket sales is not a winning strategy”, said Beth. Other monetization/value creation ideas include:
- Paywall for on-demand content
- Email capture (content is free, but you need to leave your contact info and agree to become a part of the distribution list)
- On-demand access can be used as a driver for ticket sales, for example, joining live is free, but to access content on demand you need to pay
- Subscription model
- Use recordings for marketing promotions on social media, company website by creating highlights videos around key themes, speakers etc.
Last but not least, Ashly talked about “experience amplification” which involves creating an endless information loop that increases an event's audience reach through 5 platforms: live, social\simulcast, asynchronous, recap and amplification.Pandemic as a health detox for the event industry
According to Ashly, the pandemic has been beneficial for the event industry in some ways. For example, event organizers were pushed to reevaluate their strategy and “to learn new tricks” in an effort to make their events more exciting. While the volume of events went down, the loss of some of those events is not bad.“Having an event for event’s sake is not a good way to engage your audience”, said Ashly.Tricks on how to make a virtual event a success and engage the audience
Don’t discard the simpler tools
- You might not need fancy virtual event platforms. “Not every virtual event needs a 3D lobby … A shockingly large number of programs can be hosted on Zoom, including breakout sessions, networking functions etc.”, suggested Beth.
- Features, such as chat, poll, Q&A are available on most platforms and can be used to engage the audience. “They become a part of the content that way”, shared Ashly.
- Color-coded stickers to indicate the attendee’s level of comfort with socialization can be helpful when hosting an in-person event.
Online signage
With an in-person event, signage is there to help inform and engage participants. Same with virtual events, “with such diversity of event platforms out there, you can’t expect people to just hit the ground running.” Beth emails her event participants a 30-second video or a one-page primer on how to connect and engage on this particular platform including a compelling reason on why they should do this.”You just have to show them around so that they are not weirded out by a new platform”.
Visual brandingWith some upfront investment and effort, you can send your attendees handheld reaction signs (thumbs up, thumbs down, smiley faces etc) for them to use during your conference. The best part is that they get to keep them and use your branded assets during other events.
- Handheld reaction signs
For a corporate event, you can introduce an event dress code, such as a certain color, or ask that attendees wear their corporate swag.
- Event dress code
Invest some time and effort in an interesting background. It can be as easy as a poster board propped up on an easel, or a branded virtual screen with the event motto. Incorporating your event hashtags into your background can be a simple but effective way to amplify your reach.
- Your background matters
2021 Predictions. And hybrid events!
- People were feeling content fatigue towards the end of 2020. So while early in the pandemic, 95% of registered attendees would show up for an event, the industry average for live participation will continue to hover at 25 to 30%.
- “Virtual is here to stay, it will become better, easier and more accessible”. Beth is considering focusing her company’s efforts solely on designing virtual experiences for her clients moving forward.
- As the year progresses, there will be some opportunities for hybrid events by introducing an in-person component, but never at the pre-pandemic scale of thousands of people in an arena. When it comes to hybrid events, Ashly recommended that organizers “focus on attendee equity rather than attendee equality”
Ashly explained: “Your in-person and zoom audiences are going to have different experiences being a part of that hybrid event. You need to make them both feel special, but you have to treat them very differently.”
She also encouraged her fellow event organizers to think out of the box. If you used to have an in-person event for several thousand people, perhaps instead of going back to this, you can have a small virtual anchor event with your keynote speakers and host multiple smaller in-person watch parties in multiple locations.