From the Desk of Mary
Event Manager - Entrepreneur - Adventurer
At Occasions Inc., we have thoroughly embraced the world of virtual event planning. Though the event industry has dabbled in virtual events for several years, the pandemic has turned it into an all-out revolution. Now we see clients and attendees reaping the many benefits that come from virtual events. Some even say they won’t be going back to in-person events at all, instead of sticking with the dynamism of virtual or hybrid events.
Thus far during the pandemic, Occasions, Inc. has expertly managed virtual weddings and conferences with general sessions and breakouts. Now, we are so excited to have the opportunity to transition an annual women's exposition typically held at a convention center with over 200 booths and thousands of participants to a virtual event. The transition of such a large event is an amazing opportunity to utilize cutting-edge technology and creative engagement techniques to ensure the virtual experience is just as tantalizing, educational, and inspiring as the in-person event.
Want to know more? Here are the benefits of virtual events for those who are still on the fence:
Accessibility
One of my friends was devastated when she had to cancel her intimate beach wedding in California due to the pandemic. Rather than delay her beautiful day, she talked to me about moving it online. The unfortunate situation created an opportunity to involve more people and expand what would have been a small event.
My friend’s wedding went from a small beach day of about 20 guests to a beautiful sunset wedding on her own gorgeous patio with over 500 appreciative guests across the globe. Regardless of location or activity, the virtual environment is immediately accessible with just the internet and a browser.
Cost Effective
Speaking of low cost... a typical wedding with 500 people would be exorbitant, even for the most thrifty. One of the biggest benefits of a virtual event is that it’s endlessly scalable, allowing more and more attendees to participate - increasing profits for registration-based events - with very little, if any, additional overhead.
Most new software, engaging activities, breakout chat rooms, interactive games, and other event add-ons often have only a one-time cost and can be easily managed remotely at no additional cost.
Convenience
Did we mention “easily managed”? The online environment is perfect for remote event management, instant metrics and feedback, and global reach. Not only can attendees participate from anywhere and everywhere, but event and project managers have access to view and monitor various events or breakout sessions from the convenience of their laptops or even phones. This allows almost instant problem resolution, feedback, communication, and changes to the event plan.
Let’s say you need to relocate a session to a different conference room at an in-person event. You’d need to communicate the change to the presenters and attendees, fix any printed or online communications, and move any physical objects needed to the new room (sometimes including chairs, tables, and device setup). This might only scratch the surface, yet with a virtual event, there are no rooms or physical objects to move. If a link needs to be updated or information changes, just a few quick clicks can notify attendees and make the change, saving time and stress and improving the attendee experience.
Engagement
With an ever-changing and dynamic virtual world, organizations have seemingly unending tools for engaging their virtual event audience. Games, chat rooms, quizzes, social media, hashtags, online groups, surveys, live streaming, and more can be easily integrated into any online event to provide an engaging event that turns a boring Zoom meeting into an experience to remember.
What’s more, you’ll have access to immediate and usable metrics for every click, visit, viewed presentations, opened documents, chat, social shares, and more by each attendee. Not only will you know what’s popular and most effective for next time, but if you’d like you can make instant updates to your event that captures audience interests and makes your event that much more phenomenal.
Though the event industry and the world as a whole has had to dramatically adjust to a new post-COVID-19 world, our modern technology affords us great opportunities to engage, improve, and inform each other from afar.
The Occasions, Inc. team is excited to make this upcoming women’s exposition a great success, and hope your next virtual event will be amazing as well!
Contact us if you’d like our help, or find Occasions, Inc. on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter!