A good event partnership leaves a lasting impression – also in virtual implementations.
Various forms of operational cooperation, carefully considered objectives and visibility – with partners creating opportunities and experiences for event visitors or spectators and strengthening the brand image. The form of collaboration can surprise you, and is sure to spark a debate!
Partners are an important stakeholder group for events, and when partnerships are built properly, they bring high quality added value to visitors and spectators. A good event partnership leaves a strong impression, serves the participant, engages and appeals. Building a partnership starts with the partner’s objectives, also for virtual events; what is the partnership trying to achieve, what is the main goal?
Once the goal is clear, we can move on to consider different ways of reaching out in virtual implementations.
HIGH QUALITY CONTENT
Virtual events emphasise the importance of concise and high quality content, and different opportunities can be built for partners to produce content. Many different formats of content, presentations and programme segments are possible, such as panel discussions, moderated Q&A or product demos. The key is that the content should be relevant to the target audience of the event, relevant to the objectives of the visitors and presented in a concise way to be memorable.
To create a strong impression, the idea of content can be taken further; would teaching a new skill or providing something concrete to do fit the partner’s objectives? Participants can practice and learn the new skill under the guidance of an expert at their remote workstations and can be provided with a range of product packages to support their learning and the desired content.
When thinking about content, there is no need to be locked into a studio environment now that we are not tied to a specific venue for visitors. If the objectives and the desired image are better supported by another environment, the speaker or performer can be moved to the middle of a busy city or an open field to be filmed.
ENTERTAINMENT
If giving a pertinent talk or teaching a new skill does not seem to support the desired goal, entertaining and well-being-promoting forms of cooperation can be built. A short performance by an artist of interest to the target group is more engaging and memorable than a drawn-out elevator speech at a virtual stand. Remote participants are likely to have poorer work ergonomics than those in the office, and new contacts are likely to be scarce – would a break-up meeting or a tailor-made ice-breaker before the networking event fit the bill?
After the virtual event, it’s a good time for a virtual after-party – people long for encounters and informal chats, especially at the end of an intensive session. A partner can meet this need by offering visitors time and a platform to discuss the day’s offerings with the facilitator and network at the same time.
USE OF THE STUDIO
The event studio from which the main broadcast is made also offers opportunities for partners. Various materials and videos can be designed to be shown on the background screens. When setting up the studio environment, the partner can work with you to consider the desired theme and messaging, as well as product placement or even building your own angle – the cameras can be panned to a branded angle for a specific segment only, or the same content, look and desired products can be displayed continuously.
VIRTUAL PLATFORMS AND APPLICATIONS
Some of the platforms and applications designed for virtual events allow for designated meeting places, such as separate rooms or virtual stands. When considering the content of a virtual stand, it is important to bear in mind the partner’s objectives; is the focus on enabling networking, showcasing products or services, or something else entirely? The only limit is your imagination – stands can feature 360 live images of your partner’s premises, in-house experts chatting with visitors via chat or video call functions, or 3D miniature models created using AR. The platforms and applications used for the implementations can be customised according to the partner’s look and feel.
In addition to virtual stands, event pages and platforms offer other opportunities for partners. Viewers can be engaged and challenged through various surveys and polls throughout the event. Event pages can be branded with the partner’s identity, and virtual banners and materials such as those shown during breaks create a space to showcase and engage with viewers.
SOCIAL MEDIA AND DATA
With partners, different social media campaigns and competitions can be built around the virtual event, and visibility can be provided before and after the event. For virtual implementations, social media channels such as Twitter can be used to boost comments during the broadcast and encourage conversations on channels relevant to the partner. By making use of the official tags of the event, partners can themselves attract more visitors and discussants to their channels.
The advantage of virtual events is the possibility of higher visitor numbers and the possibility of tracking clicks and participation of visitors. When a couple of hundred people arrive on site for an event, the number of viewers of the online event and its recording can double. With a virtual implementation, it is easy to keep track of how many people follow a presentation or visit a particular meeting place and how many new conversations are started.
While bringing partners into virtual implementations seems to be a concern for many, there are solutions that work. We strongly recommend challenging mindsets and habits – what can we do when we are not tied to a venue or time?
We’re happy to help with brainstorming and implementing even the wildest ideas – contact us if we can help with your virtual event!