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Category: Events

Winning at Hybrid Events: 3 Tips to Flex Your Creativity for Success

Posted on by Alice Momo

The COVID-19 pandemic forced millions of people worldwide to embrace remote working. Across all industries, companies experienced huge changes that led to complicated challenges.

Almost overnight, governments banned face-to-face interactions. Executives had to quickly provide another way to deliver meetings and training. Employees had to gear up for a digital way of working.

This lead to the use of virtual conferencing platforms skyrocketing. And although there seems to be hope for the crisis to ease pretty soon, most companies will continue to offer hybrid events.

Do you want to find out how your company can organize successful virtual marketing events in the post-pandemic era? Then read on: we are about to dish out the three best ways to do so.

1. Get All the Right Gear and Tech

First of all, you want to make sure that you have all the necessary equipment in place. Unlike purely virtual events, hybrid ones still include some in-presence features. For example, you’re going to have to book the right venue, for the right length of time.

Allow for some wiggle room here and there time-wise, in view of potential new regulations around security and sanitization.

Once you’ve got the venue sorted out, you’ll need to either hire or buy some tech equipment. This usually includes mics, speakers, and cameras. Bear in mind that, just because the gear is not a lot, you’ll still need high-quality tools to ensure the smooth running of your event.

2. Cater to the Needs of Both Live and Remote Participants

Now, because a hybrid event features both live and remote speakers and delegates, you’ll have to cater to the needs of both.

Rules around social distancing, mask-wearing, and handwashing are still likely to apply. So, you should ensure that the venue satisfies all of these requirements for your live speakers.

For those joining the event from their homes, you’ll want to minimize any technical disruptions, and offer an easy way to connect and communicate.

3. Keep Your Remote Audience Engaged

If you’ve hosted even one virtual meeting, then you’ll probably know that one of the biggest challenges is keeping your audience focused and interested.

Hybrid events will face just the same hurdle. To overcome it, you could try a few approaches.

First of all, send your home-based delegates some material on the event ahead of the day. This will help them to understand in detail what the event is going to be about, and might even motivate them to prepare some questions or observations.

Secondly, you’ll probably want the event to last no longer than a few hours, and have plenty of breaks. These could be virtual “coffee breaks” that include ambient music and a live chat to allow participants to relax with a hot drink.

Last but not least, how about sending your home delegates a quick survey after the event? This will enable them to provide any suggestions that you might incorporate in your next hybrid meeting.

Hybrid Events: The Future of Conferencing in the Post-Pandemic World

In the post-pandemic work landscape, hybrid events will feature heavily. For this reason, it’s essential that your company prepares to organize and host meetings that engage both a live and a remote audience.

With our tips, you’ll be ready to achieve this in no time. Just follow your guide on how to host a great hybrid event, and your employees will look forward to them.

Did you enjoy this post? Then you should definitely subscribe to our blog and receive regular, inspiring insight into the world of marketing and business.

Level up Your Next Online Event: The 411 on Virtual Event Giveaways

Posted on by Alice Momo

You are swag.

You are an innovative businessperson. You want interesting and engaging ways to connect with your clients. You give to people every day, and the best way to reach clients is to just keep giving.

Virtual event giveaways are becoming one of the most popular ways to reach out to clients. Get in on the action with this guide.

Activate Your Brand: The Theory of Virtual Event Giveaways

Clients have stuff. The average household has 30 promotional items. But clients remember where they got that stuff; 85% of consumers remember the advertisers who gave them those items.

Every time a consumer wears a branded T-shirt, they see the brand and remember it. They tie the brand to something positive, an item they can use in their day-to-day life. The recall and positive view of the brand encourage them to do business with the brand.

Promotional items are also a subtle way of promoting with others. A T-shirt can reach more than 6,000 people. Someone walking by sees the branded T-shirt, and they remember and want to do business with the brand.

Swag works even when it is virtual. The key is to give away items that attendees will value. You have many choices.

Virtual Event Giveaway Ideas

Consider specializing your swag. Give packages to general event attendees, but also give special packages to speakers and VIPs.

Speaker packages can include custom backdrops. Zoom features virtual backgrounds, and you can create your own for your event. Include your brand name and other meaningful visuals.

You can have one-on-one meetings between your VIPs and important people in your company. Schedule a time that works best for both parties, and loop the VIPs in on your plans and ideas. Give them time to respond.

For general attendees, you can send out coupon codes. Providing discounts encourages them to buy more products. They also remember you for having lower prices and for valuing customer loyalty.

If you are location-oriented, you can send out virtual flipbooks about your location. Include photographs and writings about your city or country. Send out lists of places to visit, and give out travel pointers.

If you are health-oriented, you can send out guides. Include recipes, playlists of songs, and daily wellness rituals.

Promote interactivity through contests and special events. Put up premium prizes, including physical goods like drinkware and apparel. Encourage attendees to write, give speeches, and take photos of different things.

You can also tie in social media campaigns to your events. Encourage people to share or respond to your content in exchange for rewards.

Go Big, Go Bold

If you want swagger, you should give away swag. Swag activates your brand, putting it into action through useful and fun items that your clients use.

Virtual event giveaways work just as well as live event giveaways. Specialize and personalize giveaways to speakers and VIPs. Give out coupon codes and E-books to general attendees.

You can level up your next event with the right help. Big Bold Thinkers offers a number of marketing and creative services to meet your needs. Contact us today.

Virtual Meeting and Conferences

Posted on by Alice Momo

Welcome to the second article in our series, “The New Digital Marketing.” Over seven weeks I’m going to lead you through the steps of developing your own online marketing strategy from start to finish. Whether you’re a traditional brick and mortar business getting online for the first time – or have had your digital ducks in a row for years… the world has changed and we are adapting. Let’s do it together. Today we are digging into, “Virtual Meetings and Conferences.”

 

If you’re just joining us, don’t miss the first piece in this series:

 

Week 1: Realign and Get Online

 

———————

 

Remember Maslow and his brilliantly simple pyramid illustrating the hierarchy of human needs? Coming in third, only after our physiological and safety requirements, is our need for social love and belonging. We weren’t meant to be solitary beings. Humans thrive and find magic in connection and collaboration. We discover strength, solidarity and meaning through social interaction. 

It’s no wonder we began to gather – and eventually to bring together our social and professional needs in the form of meetings, conferences and tradeshows. These serve to connect us on many levels as professionals, but there’s more to it than that. This is where we meet our tribe. We find a place where we belong and people with whom we relate. This need to connect to other humans is a powerful behavioral motivator.  So, we meet.

 

Then, the world changed…

 

So, we are on this new digital marketing journey together. By now, you’ve got your team meeting setup to realign and get online. The next step is to determine new ways of satisfying this human need to connect at a time when live, in-person meeting is difficult or impossible. 

 

Be brave and bold – your ability to innovate will let you shine like a light in the darkness. 

Here’s how:

 

  1. Meetings. Online meetings aren’t new, but as often happens in a crisis, we are all moving rapidly towards using technology and taking leaps that we’ve been putting off. Checkout our Online Meeting 101 article for the basics plus some important ideas for innovation.
  2. Conferences. Here’s a secret – a conference is just a formal meeting, or a series of them. We use conferences to connect larger groups of like-minded individuals over an extended time period–and yes, they are still going to happen in the digital universe. We just need to get creative.  Here’s how. 
  3. Tradeshows. Collaboration with our industry peers is crucial for every business. We need to share common struggles and innovative solutions with each other. Tradeshows are a chance to meet the players and experience their brand activations in action. It can still happen online and we can help.
  4. Events and activations. The most powerful way I’ve found to build brand awareness is through direct interaction with our customers. This category may require the most creative thought. Our natural inclination is to just put our heads down and wait, but that’s not going to start building your sales funnels for the new normal. So, Here are some ideas to overcome this unique challenge.

 

So, don’t cancel that event – reinvent it. Gather your people together and be the first to try that new thing. Technology offers incredible solutions to meet our human social needs. Take your brand boldly into the new normal. Keep pushing for real, authentic interaction with your tribe and keep your brand top-of-mind. If you need more ideas or a plan to get started, let’s talk. Remember, we are on this journey together.

 

The next step in our journey is digital strategic engagement and its place in your new normal. See you next week with an article on how to “Engage to be Engaging.” Comment below with your thoughts on these ideas and share your successes.

 

Wishing you light and love. ~Hema

 

Virtual Conferences

Posted on by Alice Momo

A conference is typically a more formal affair, falling somewhere between a meeting and a tradeshow. While providing attendees an opportunity to connect, your virtual conference should also offer components of learning and community building. It’s not a tradeshow, where you have a group of buyers (attendees) and sellers (vendors/exhibitors). At the conference level everyone attends with a shared passion, vision and desire to expand their knowledge base while making personal and professional connections. So, here’s the formula for taking your conference online:

 

Setup: 

  1. Jump off with a platform. Just like when planning a virtual tradeshow, you’ll need a digital venue to host your conference. Most virtual tradeshow platforms will offer everything you need and then some, but you might also be able to use a more robust version of your everyday meeting software. There are several good options out there – do your research to find one that meets your needs and get signed up. 

    (Because needs will vary from business to business and legal requirements in your area may differ – I will refrain from recommending platforms by name here, but I’m glad to discuss your needs and help you find the right fit.)

  2. Plan the logistics. Choose the event dates and times as well as the distribution methods of your digital promotional materials.
  3. Invite industry experts to speak. There’s often no better lure to an event than a chance to listen to someone that can help you build your business.
  4. Invite industry brands to sponsor. Sponsorships are a great way to share the cost of the event with other companies while offering them an opportunity to promote their business to attendees.
  5. Invite your potential attendees directly. Before you start inviting people en masse you’ll want to line up some well known industry names as attendees or speakers to lend credibility to your event. You’ll also want to decide how many paid attendees you need to hit your breakeven.

 

Pre-Show Planning:

 

  1. Design a digital itinerary for everyone. Detail the time and topics for each speaker, when the breakout sessions will happen and when there will be opportunities for networking and parties. Link everything, so no one has to go digging for it. We want to design everything with the user’s experience in mind. 
  2. Plan engaging content. You want to keep your audience enthralled throughout the event. So design your marketing to match the level of enthusiasm you want from your audience. Keep it sleek and professional. Of course, you can send out a pre-conference kit electronically – but I invite you to consider something different. Especially if you are planning a conference that is typically held in-person, consider spending some of that typically higher budget on a wow-factor for the online version. Send a conference welcome kit to the attendee’s door. Include invitations to the events, itinerary and a drink recipe for the BYOB happy hour you’re hosting. Include promotional products – because everyone loves conference SWAG and we aren’t going to give that up to go virtual. Get them excited with items that inspire creativity and illustrate the level of expertise they can expect from your show.
  3. Plan next year’s conference dates. I know it’s a long way off – but you have a captive audience that you know is already interested in the subject of your conference, right there. Don’t miss the chance to market next year’s event at this one and offer a discount or a premium gift for early-bird registration.

 

It’s Show-Time:

 

  1. Provide large-audience meeting formats for keynote and secondary speakers. These can be hosted in your usual video meeting space with some careful planning or within a virtual conference platform. You’ll also want the ability for your speaker to show a presentation as they talk and the opportunity for moderated interaction when appropriate. 
  2. Breakout sessions are the new networking event. One of the best parts of any conference is the socialization. This is where we meet our people and make connections that can lead to new opportunities and long-lasting relationships.  Breakout Sessions on an online meeting platform offer a unique opportunity for a moderator to provide a topic for learning or industry specific conversation starters and then mix and match your audience into small groups to get to know each other and discuss.
  3. Host a party at the end of the event and add virtual happy hours to the close of each day. Don’t miss the opportunity to offer that human connection in a virtual setting. Plan live music intermingled with breakout sessions for people to talk and make new connections. Get your sponsors involved – what value can they add to a social session? Have attendance prizes and encourage people to connect both personally and professionally.

 

Post-Show:

  1. Follow up and survey. Send a note to attendees thanking them for attending and soliciting their thoughts on every part of the experience. Reach out personally to each sponsor to thank them and to follow up on their perception of value. Offer ways for them to reach attendees, like a list of everyone that joined the conference (with their permission, of course). Encourage them to reach out in order to maximize their investment. 
  2. Debrief. Meet with your stakeholders to discuss next year’s event. Pros, cons, what worked, what didn’t and what you’re going to do next time are all on the table for discussion. Set a date for next year’s first planning meeting – and congratulate yourself on a job well done.

 

Take your brand boldly into the new normal. Keep pushing for real, authentic interaction with your tribe and keep your brand top-of-mind. If you need more ideas or a plan to get started, let’s talk. Remember, we are on this journey together.

 

Wishing you light and love. ~Hema

Virtual Tradeshows

Posted on by Alice Momo

I love a good tradeshow. Combining marketing activation, meeting new potential clients and then converting those leads into sales is kind of my specialty. Tradeshows give us a chance to market and collaborate with our industry peers–which is really crucial for every business. We need to share common struggles and innovative solutions with each other. Tradeshows are a chance to meet the players and experience their brand activations in action.

Hosting a virtual tradeshow is an awesome thing. Here’s how you pull it off.

 

Setup: 

  1. Jump off with a platform. You’ll need a digital venue to host your tradeshow.  There are several good ones out there – do your research to find one that meets your needs and get signed up.
    (Because needs will vary from business to business and legal requirements in your area may differ – I will refrain from recommending platforms by name here, but I’m glad to discuss your needs and help you find the right fit.)
  2. Plan the logistics. Choose the event dates and times as well as the distribution methods of your digital promotional materials.
  3. Registration should be an experience. Rather than a necessary link in the chain, create a registration journey that fits your brand and foreshadows the event experience. Don’t neglect the UI/UX here, get them excited.
  4. Invite industry experts to speak. There’s often no better lure to an event than a chance to listen to someone that can help you build your business.
  5. Invite industry leaders to sponsor. Sponsorships are a great way to share the cost of the event with other companies while offering them an opportunity to promote their business to attendees.
  6. Invite your vendors/exhibitors and attendees. Which to target first can be a circular problem, but you’ll want to line up some well known industry names to lend credibility to your event quickly. Before you begin, decide how many of each you need to hit your breakeven.

 

Pre-Show Planning:

 

  1. Setup a plan for your vendors that is centered around the important leads they need and offers a plan to capture prospect data for followup. You need to help drive traffic to their booths. This is a chance for you to offer something innovative, like an interactive directory, scheduled live demos on the show floor or paid advertising opportunities. Exhibitors could even send a promotional item to attendees before the event to pique their interest. Happy vendors will come back year after year – and the key to their success is lead generation. 
  2. Guide your exhibitors in setting up their virtual booth space in a way that reflects their brand and offers a marketing activation experience for their potential customers. Since virtual tradeshows will be new to some of your vendors – help them make the most of their experience. The UI/UX here is of the utmost importance. What do they want their first impression to be for a potential lead?
  3. Design an itinerary for everyone. Detail the times that the virtual show floor will be open, when the speakers will be presenting, when the breakout sessions will happen and when there will be opportunities for networking and parties. Link everything, so no one has to go digging for it. Again, we want to design everything with the user’s experience in mind.
  4. Plan engaging content. You want to keep your audience enthralled throughout the event. So design your marketing to match the level of enthusiasm you want from your audience. Keep it sleek and professional. Of course, you can send out a pre-show kit electronically – but I invite you to consider something different. Maybe you send a show welcome kit to the attendee’s door. Include invitations to the events, itinerary and a drink recipe for the BYOB happy hour you’re hosting. Include promotional products – because everyone loves tradeshow SWAG and we aren’t going to give that up for a virtual show. Get them excited with items that inspire creativity and illustrate the level of expertise they can expect from your show.
  5. Plan next year’s event dates. I know it’s a long way off – but you have a captive audience that you know is already interested in your show, right there. Don’t miss the chance to market next year’s event at this one and offer a discount or a premium gift for early-bird registration.

 

It’s Show-Time:

 

  1. Provide an opportunity for exhibitors to chat with attendees on the virtual show floor–both voice chat and texting should be available. It’s also good practice to have a group chat for the booth as well as the ability to break-out into a one-on-one or several-on-one conversation for more in-depth discussions. 
  2. Provide large-scale meeting formats for keynote and secondary speakers. These can be hosted in your usual video meeting space or within the virtual tradeshow platform. You’ll also want the ability for your speaker to show a presentation as they talk and the opportunity for moderated interaction when appropriate.
  3. Breakout sessions are the new networking event. One of the best parts of any tradeshow is the socialization. This is where we meet our people and make connections that can lead to new opportunities and long-lasting relationships.  Breakout Sessions on an online meeting platform offer a unique opportunity for a moderator to provide a topic for learning or industry specific conversation starters and then mix and match your audience into small groups to get to know each other and discuss.
  4. Host a party at the end of the event and add virtual happy hours to the close of each day. Don’t miss the opportunity to offer that human connection in a virtual setting. Plan live music intermingled with breakout sessions for people to talk and make new connections. Get your vendors involved – what value can they add to a social session? Have attendance prizes and encourage people to connect both personally and professionally.

 

Post-Show:

  1. The ultimate success of a tradeshow will be measured by the leads to sales conversions for your exhibitors. So, anything you can do to help facilitate that process is in your best interest for future events. 
  2. Provide lists of attendees to vendors for follow up (with their permission, of course). Design some cool digital materials that your vendors can use to send followup notes to their hot new leads from the show. Offer solutions to your vendors to help them drive conversion of those leads into sales.
  3. Follow up, survey and debrief. Send a note to exhibitors and attendees alike thanking them for attending and soliciting their thoughts on every part of the experience. Then meet with your stakeholders to discuss next year’s event. Pros, cons, what worked, what didn’t and what you’re going to do next time are all on the table for discussion. Set a date for next year’s first planning meeting – and congratulate yourself on a job well done.

 

Don’t cancel that event, reinvent it. Take your brand boldly into the new normal. Keep pushing for real, authentic interaction with your tribe and keep your brand top-of-mind. If you need more ideas or a plan to get started, let’s talk. Remember, we are on this journey together.

 

Wishing you light and love. ~Hema