Coronavirus and general quarantine are canceling events one after another. They confused our plans for holding the IDRF - International Digital Retail Forum. At first there was hope that everything would calm down by April 24, then there was a temptation to postpone it to October, but in the end we saw a sign. Conference domain - IDRF.online, and this is the solution - to transform it into an online event. However, we did not expect the obstacles we would have to face. We tell you how the process works and give advice to other organizers.
Platform
We started by looking for best practices and were surprised to find that there simply weren't any. As a rule, we can watch two types of events on the Internet: a webinar with a simple structure, when the speakers take turns, and an online broadcast from an offline conference hall. We are planning to hold a fully interactive event with three streams of reports simultaneously and discussions during round tables.
It turned out that there are no platforms for such events. For example, the popular Zoom does not meet all our requirements. It does not allow you to brand streams, connect commentators and chats, and also does not have cool features for engaging listeners in real time. Other platforms also have: Crowdcast And Livestorm there is no multi-threading and no single speaker control center, Adobe Connect It is more focused on training rather than on reports, although it has wide functionality.
Good option - BigMarker. It is designed for holding summits and mini-conferences, and has good tools for interacting with the audience - chat, voting, ratings, and more. However, there is not enough customization to organize multi-threads and manage reports and sections.
In the end, I liked the Russian one the most Zeen platform. It was launched just a week ago, and we have already started testing it. It's super customizable and offers a lot of interesting tools. Next time we’ll tell you how Zeen lives up to its promises.
Speakers
It turned out that many speakers, who have several dozen speeches under their belts, are not ready for the online format. Indeed, receiving instant feedback from a live audience and communicating alone with the green light of a camera are two different things. We are faced with the need to instruct experts on how to properly work with an online audience.
Another problem is the background. One will have a closet with books, another will have floral wallpaper, and the third will have a palm tree outside the window. All this creates the effect of heterogeneity and blurs the conference brand. This also includes weak light, poor sound and extraneous noise.
We solve this problem comprehensively. To create the most uniform style possible, we invite all speakers to a professional studio from which we will broadcast. For those who cannot come, we will send a kit - a ring lamp, a separate microphone and a remote high-resolution web camera. Foreign speakers will receive recommendations on the selection of equipment. We are also preparing requirements for the background. All this will be recorded in the speaker’s checklist along with tips for engaging the online audience. We will share it in the next publication.
Involvement
A big plus of offline events is productive networking. Online events usually don’t provide for this, but we figured out how to unite conference participants and involve them in what is happening. To do this, we plan to attract professional commentators, organize general chats and random acquaintances.
The idea of commentators was suggested to us by sports broadcasts and game streams. During these formats, professional commentators express their own opinions and engage viewers in dialogue. We will have market experts as commentators, so they will be able to speak professionally on the topic of the report and discuss pressing issues.
Instead of physical networking, we will create private chats where all participants can meet and communicate. We also have an idea to connect participants randomly so that as many specialists as possible can find business common ground.
What inspires us
Upon reflection, we realized that an online conference is much cooler and more promising than an offline event. Here are five reasons:
- We are not limited by geography. A Russian-speaking person from any country can join. This expands the format of the event and takes it to a new level in terms of the number of participants - from 700 people offline to 3000 online.
- We are not constrained by the schedules and flights of speakers, so we can invite the coolest experts to speak, regardless of their place of residence. Now online performances have already been confirmed by those who could not fly to Moscow. As a result, there will be five Western speakers in our network.
- The online format is much more convenient for listeners. Such an event moves from the category of a business event to the category of professional education. Participants can effectively plan their time - watch priority reports live, and watch the rest in recordings. All videos of performances will remain, which means they can be reviewed.
- Sponsors gain new media and reach opportunities. We can brand any stream, session or report, and also engage a commentator from a sponsor.
- Online allows you to collect advanced analytics and find out the number of views, questions, likes and comments for each report. This will allow you to identify popular topics, assess the level of the speaker and, most importantly, segment participants for further communication.
And in the end, this is a challenge for the whole team 24TTL. In just a month, we will reformat a major event into a grandiose online event, and at this time the entire office is in quarantine. The result is “remote 3D” - we are remotely preparing a conference at which participants will remotely listen to speakers speaking remotely.
But in fact, quarantine has challenged not only us. Over the coming weeks, the volume of online sales will only grow, which means this is a challenge for multi-category platforms. During this time, they will be able to learn how to quickly replenish warehouses and carry out an order of magnitude more deliveries than they are used to. On the other hand, people will change their behavior patterns. Until recently, buckwheat and sugar were not the goods that people came to buy online. However, now users order everything online. During the quarantine period, they will get used to it, appreciate the convenience of online retail and remain regular customers.
Have you held or participated in online conferences? Share your tips on how to make it awesome!
Original
https://vc.ru/24ttl/113738-kak-effektivno-transformirovat-konferenciyu-v-onlayn-sobytie-chtoby-ne-otmenyat-meropriyatie-iz-za-koronavirusa
