In the association world, the greatest fall-out from the COVID-19 crisis has been our in-person conferences and events. With the booming economy and ease of travel going into 2020, many groups were on-track to experience their highest-attendance and revenue ever. Then it all came crashing down. Instead of counting registration and sponsorship dollars, event planners were left reading the fine print in their hotel contracts and trying to interpret what an “act of God” really means.
After a couple months scrambling to figure it all out, many of these conferences have been recast as virtual events. But all too often, groups (and their vendors) try to cram the exact same experiences we enjoy face-to-face into an online mold. The results are at best forced and awkward and at worst, they fall flat, risking reputation with attendees and relationships with sponsors.
I’m not tossing around any blame here - we’re all trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t in these “uncertain times.”
But I think this disruption of the conference space was going to happen anyway. Although short-term numbers have been up, the long-term trends for conferences haven’t been encouraging. From diminishing support for “boondoggle” travel to an influx of service provider registrants throwing off the ratio of buyers and sellers, something was going to have to change.
I’ve already laid out how an updated conference event could be strengthened by extending the educational brand to include not just the in-person event but additional engagement after. This is where we should be headed. COVID cancellations just quickened the pace.
In more concrete terms, here is how your typical conference could be framed virtually:
SPREAD EVERYTHING OUT
No one is going to sit still all day for two to three days like they would if they had traveled to your sunny-outside-and-freezing-inside hotel or convention venue. One idea is to claim a week (or month) as yours: “Gravestone Studies Week” or “Professional Pet Sitters Month” and schedule educational sessions throughout.
PRE-RECORD EVERYTHING
Even the most polished presenters need a live audience to feed off of. They’ll be much more watchable if rehearsed and recorded ahead of time. Live Q&As can be added at the end for engagement and interaction. These videos will also be available immediately for registrants to access after or to sell a la carte or bundled to new audiences later. (And they’ll be sponsorable.)
SESSION MATERIALS
At the end of a session, attendees usually bum rush the podium, business card in outstretched hand, to request the PowerPoint (and a sales pitch) in the weeks to follow. Many organizations even post the slides behind a password protected area on their website or on their event app. But without the presenter, these slides are often not as compelling or useful as they were live.
Offering the content in different formats instead serves different learning styles, extends the life of the conference and materials beyond the event and could even provide additional revenue for the organization. Scheduled additional Q&As or “Ask Me Anythings” with the presenters or other experts is great for online engagement. And “printed” handbooks or guidebooks that go deeper into the subject matter can be sold separately or bundled with the original registration.
COMMUNITY AND NETWORKING
If you have an online community, chatroom or bulletin board (and you should), it should be fully integrated into the rest of the offerings on your site. And your virtual event should be fully integrated as well. Presenters can tease their sessions in the weeks leading up to it. And then host further discussions after. Moderated (and seeded) discussions can continue the conversation long after the event has happened.
I’ve seen some groups try to recreate virtual cocktail parties, mostly to assuage sponsors and exhibitors they’ve already sold the event to. I’m still trying to figure out if there’s an elegant way to do this without it devolving into a free-for-all or awkward silence like my Sunday family Zooms. I wonder if there’s an in-person hybrid where members could meet locally for drinks with some kind of virtual video-based national welcome and kick-off. I would even let these meet-ups be member-driven. Let me know if you have any ideas!
SPONSORSHIP & THE EXHIBIT HALL
Like that welcome reception, some things just won’t be around to sponsor anymore. So we’ll have to get creative to support our service providers by offering more robust engagement opportunities both at the virtual event and year-round. These include pre-recorded intros and outros to sessions, branding opportunities everywhere, product and service demos added to the event schedule, access to the postal and email registration list (with tight usage rules), opportunities to post blogs and other thought leadership on your site, distribution of materials on behalf of sponsors, an annual buyers guide and social media hits.
Like the virtual cocktail sponsorship, I’ve also seen groups try to recreate the exhibit hall with some kind of app. This seems really forced to me. Who’s going to virtually “walk” around some non-existent booths hoping to be sold to? Better would be a robust year-round directory with scheduled engagement opportunities throughout the year.
Please contact me with feedback. I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences with these or other virtual techniques.
