Tag: tips

Simply streaming a discussion or a lecture may be enough for some of the events, but that makes them less engaging and less memorable. For an event to be successful, it has to drive engagement. But bear in mind—online guests are different from offline guests in so many ways. Their attention span, for example, is much shorter, and they are harder to keep engaged.

The same basic principles of engagement apply to online and offline events. You need to engage your guests with original and creative content, offer them something in return for their attention and add a human aspect to the equation. Nevertheless, we still witness event teams and organizers shying away from the challenge. Why?

The first reason is the fear that online environments lack that in-person or human touch, which is often the key to driving engagement. The second reason is the limited functionalities of online event platforms. That is why Confiva offers so much more. For example, stand-alone interactions in our Showrooms section give you countless engagement possibilities to draw in your attendees. On top of that, we will let you in on a small-trade secret! Intertwining interactions with the program and offering short breaks for specific discussion time slots with speakers increases engagement, especially if the speakers are the ones who invite and incentivize the attendees.

Now, let’s get down to driving that engagement!

1. Engage your guests with original and creative content

When it comes to interactions, you need to be mindful of the visual elements. Graphical elements can substitute many event features, which are only available in the physical world. For example, in-person events can entice all of your senses, while digital ones are limited to the visual and sound specter and effects. Therefore, the design team plays a vital role in adding a creative flair to boosting interactions at your event. If you play your cards right, you can create a lasting impact using the visual elements only.

2. Gamify your event experience

Games provide simple ways to draw more attention to your sponsors or give you a chance to examine your attendee’s knowledge of specific topics. Our platform offers a variety of games that you can easily integrate into your showrooms. For example, Confiva enables you to run a short quiz after a lecture or allows your attendees to be playful and relax with a fun game after a heavy debate. Both functionalities are available directly on the Confiva platform.

Gamification, in general, does not mean using only video games to create more traction for your partners. With just a little bit more planning, you can create a platform-wide interaction with active scoreboards. Make attendees spot different objects in the live stream or search for clues in ongoing lectures. Using this technique, you can connect all areas of the Confiva platform and engage every guest.

3. Online event hosts

Increase your engagement rate by offering an in-person contact. When it comes to interactions or simple event information—it is always good to have a human counter-side to answer any questions. We advise all our clients to enlist the help of PR professionals for in-platform communication. They offer information about the event and answer any questions your attendees might have. If possible, include one PR professional on every stage to interact with attendees about content-related and sponsor questions.

4. Combine

Recently, we are noticing a lot of 1-dimensional interaction. That means that only one engagement is planned throughout the event, which in some cases can be enough, but only if it’s thoroughly and well designed.

We strive for more. When it comes to Confiva, we want our attendees locked to their screens, enjoying every second of the online event. To achieve this goal, we must combine and align multiple elements and plan the interactions to complement each other. Having multiple interactions that don’t have any coherence can create aconfusion and oversaturate the experience. Managing that risk is easiest with a well-thought-out engagement plan for your event. Here is a checklist for you to go through:

• Design engagements
  • Search for the interest points of your attendees and get creative.
• Find engagement fits for your sponsors
  • Align your engagement with the goal of your sponsor. Extra income is always welcome.
• Engagement overview
  • Write down all the interactions you are designing and review their impact.
• Set a timetable for engagements
  • Plan the engagement activity. The plan must be as clear and straightforward as possible.
• Communicate
  • Inform your staff about the planned engagements and work closely with your online host on clearly announcing them.

5. Have a cause

This one is important. If your alignment with a cause is purely based on the financial gain we would recommend finding another one. Your reason behind each engagement should be to strive to add value to your attendees and the community.

Aligning engagements with a good cause is the cherry on top of a well-built-up plan of engagement. The incentive is much bigger when we know that we are helping others.

Well, we have come to the end of the list. Fijuu… that was a long one right? But you made it. Now you are also equipped with the knowledge and know-how to start engaging your attendees at your next big event!

So roll up your sleeves and get to it.

Imagine you are preparing your next event, so you have allocated available funds for marketing, sales, organization, production and now you believe you are ready to rumble. We think there is still one thing missing.

You guessed it, the online segment. Expanding the experience of your event to anyone who wants to attend is not only financially sensible but can also drastically improve your attendance potential.

Let’s dive into the main question:

Why?

Why go online with my event, you ask? Well, there are about a million reasons why, but the most prominent are time and money.

Time

Event platforms that look out for you (as we do) usually have dedicated event managers who will ensure that you are efficient in time management and will make sure to spend as little of your time as possible. The time you do spend on extending and upgrading your event by adding an online format gets overshadowed by the potential it can bring. Your in-person event and its online counterpart will utilize the same resources, saving your team’s time on production and coordination. Think of this as copying your existing event to an additional venue. Keep in mind that the online venue requires about 20 % of your effort while the ticket for the online event costs 50 % or more compared to your regular one.

And this brings us to:

Money

It is well-known that money is a big part of any business, irrelevant of the industry. So we segmented it into 2 main sub-reasons to make it a bit fancier.

Attendance

Can your event host everyone that wants to be there? Let us answer: no, definitely not. Every event that is not online is missing out on a lot of potential attendees. Some do not have time to fly over and visit your event, some don’t want the spend their money on the travel, and some are just introverts who don’t enjoy crowds. So why not offer them the option to attend online?

The number of these potential attendees is not limited by any venue and with it, the revenue potential can be as high as your demand. The RWC per participant increases with every participant added, and with Confiva the price per participant reduces with the increased number of participants.

Workload

When organizing an event, you need to consider that the workload is there regardless of the online component. That means that you have an additional revenue stream for a lot less workload as the content has to be modified and not created from scratch.

The timeframe in which we are able to successfully transfer an event online is less than a week, the transformation is simple, effective, and guided by our dedicated event managers. However, we strongly recommend including the online segment in the initial planning of your event.

In the end, this is a simple question of risk and reward. We and many others using Confiva believe that the risk is minimal for the reward you are able to achieve. You can read all about our Success stories here but if you are ready to roll simply contact us and we will take care of the rest.

7 ideas for your next online event

Each of us attended several events in our lifetime. Some events create the best memories of our lives, while others we forget about in minutes. The difference between an event we enjoyed and an event that bored us to death is quite substantial. It can make or break your event – and in the virtual world, it is even more significant.

That is why we always promote engagement and inform our clients of some of the best practices of online events. Remember, the event is only as good as its impact on attendees.

Here are some of our top recommendations:

Online event host

Online event host is usually a one-man band, but in the case of complex events, it can even be a whole team that interacts with the attendees throughout the platform. Their role is to:

• Inform attendees of any changes happening on the fly.
• Answer questions from attendees.
• Create conversation topics in the chat.
• Give attendees a sense of security.

Usually, the assigned hosts are PR managers, copywriters, or in some cases, random event team members. Basically, anyone that is:

• Correctly briefed on all the event information.
• Briefed on how the platform works.
• Has a knack for conversations.

Networking incentives 

In this case, we are playing with the idea of The reasoning. Some guests will be eager to network while others won’t, but we are quick to forget about the attendees that are in between. If you give them a good reason they are more likely to interact, expand their network or just find new friends. So what can you do to promote it?

• Push the message of connecting (event host, visual material).
• Host workshops and encourage colaboration.
• Have a meet and greet of attendees with common interests.

By creating common spaces where attendees can be introduced, we give them reasons to connect.

 

Quiz games

Quiz games are always fun and a great way to connect with a specific topic, presentation, or lecture; they can also have a strong educational element to them. With Confiva Gamification option you can keep scoreboards and hand out prizes to daily winners. Games can be inserted in any area of the platform (Stage, Session, Showroom, Lobby) and customized with content that is relevant to your topic.

How does it look in action:

Treasure hunt

A platform-wide treasure hunt is always a fun way to introduce the content of your event and engage your guests. Attendees will gather clues in different areas and specific times that will slowly guide them to the final location. Note that the prize/treasure must be worth their time, so make it a good one.

Here are some recommendations on how to do it:

• Plan, inform and promote.
• 1st clue is at the start of your event in the main live stream.
• 2nd clue is hidden in text in a specific area.
• 3rd clue is in a specific graphic.
• 5th clue is at a specific time in a lecture.
• 6th clue will be at a workshop.
• The final clue is in the closing speech.
• Ship gifts or send digital gifts via app/email (Amazon gift card etc.).

We have seen very high interactions with the treasure hunt, but make sure to cover the basics first. »Plan, inform, and promote« is the most important part.

Remote control

We all know how remote control cars work: you press left, they turn left. The same logic applies in a live stream, where participants are the decision-makers of everything. They are viewing the stream and voting on the next moves. Voting is done through our native Confiva polls that are placed next to the live stream to ensure effortless voting.

Deliver interaction packages

Sending a physical package to your attendees is a way to create a bridge between the attendee and the event happening. Connect the topics on the stage or in workshops with the package your attendees receive. One of our best clients created a box that was received by all the participants and had 3 segments that coincided with 3 workshops:

• Coffee pack

It was opened in the morning workshop that was curated by a professional Barista who educated participants on the contents of their coffee packs. The attendees were carefully guided through the correct way of cooking a coffee. A good way to start the day.

• Smoothie pack

A Nutritionist and a Chef prepared and guided the mid-day workshop that help participants use the contents of their smoothie packs and guided them in creating their smoothie recipes. A nice energy & focus booster.

• Cocktail pack

This evening workshop was to let loose and unwind. The Barman helped use the final contents of the packages and with his help, the participants created professional drinks. An enjoyable end to the event.

Virtual Escape Room

Challenge your participants with riddles and puzzles in a limited time frame. The experience boosts collaboration, team building, and teamwork in general, but most of all it’s fun. Participants get a break from the usual routine of the event and connect through fun interactions.

There are countless cases of good virtual escape rooms online and a quick search will give you many options for different topics. But just in case, here is a link to some ideas. The next step is just to find the right one for you!

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Keep in mind that although engagement is quite crucial for any event, the foundation is always in the content and the software. And with Confiva the software will never be a concern. Contact us for more information or help with your next online event.

7 reasons why your company should try online events

To start this one off we would like to address that we are still big fans of in-person events. However, not all people have the option to attend, and there are a lot of them. Most professional online events have boosted their attendance and extended it to a wider pallet of attendees.

In this blog, we will cover a few more reasons why your company should consider online events. Here are the main ones:

• Employees
• Education
• Exposure
• Reach

• Community
• Business development
• Evolution

Employees

There has been countless researches that have proven that a happy employee will be more productive, create more value for a company, and consequently will have a better quality of life in general. We feel that everyone should be happy at their job or at least have a dog in the office for some therapeutic belly rubs. If dogs are not allowed, you should definitely use events to create a better atmosphere in your work environment.

With company events, we create a better and more connected workforce. No matter the event goal, whether it is education, team building, or just simple fun, online events will get your message to each one of your employees.

Education

Give your employees the option to grow and improve through educational online events or host informative events for your business network. Streamline the process of conveying information. Have it at the fingertips of any of your peers. With the help of our dedicated event managers, you can prepare interesting and fun courses for any purpose.

Exposure

Events were a great tool to shout out to the world about your company, service, or product. With special experiences, we can create ambassadors from attendees and create exposure during and long after the event.

Reach

Any real-life event is always limited by the capacity of the venue but not in the case of using an online event platform. Anyone with an internet connection is now a potential attendee, and they can join from any device and any time. Confiva even offers all specific areas to upload and show any content you have in your live event. With this, all your attendees will have access to the same content and can network with the same people.

Community

With Confiva you can create a private portal for your clients or business network. Having a community is good for any business. For global owned and operated businesses, though, it’s even more exciting because you can interact with your customers and prospects outside your country. Community involvement shows your customers what you’re doing to make their immediate world a better place for everyone.

Revenue

The event industry has been on a bumpy ride since the pandemic but online platforms have rushed to the rescue in every sense, and the monetization has not been left out. Sell tickets, offer showrooms to sponsors and create lasting partnerships with brands. With the right content, the financial potential of your event is endless.

Evolution

We are well aware that this era of social limitation will not last and the need for only online events will be lowered. So what will be the future of platforms such as Confiva? While the „forced“ digitalization offered many opportunities for the expansion of SAAS companies it will also introduce their benefits. Confiva aims to become an added revenue stream and networking module for public events while evolving into an integral element of employee engagement and information sharing in bigger companies. Using digital platforms aligns your company and employees with future-orientated practices, positioning it as forward-thinking.

No matter how some of us view online platforms, they have proven to be powerful tools to help you reach your event goals, and with Confiva our team of digital event professionals will make sure of it.

New Features, New Reasons to try out Confiva

After quite a few updates that we did »under the radar,« we are happy to announce that from now on, we will let you in on all future releases. Transparency builds trust, and trust is the foundation for great work.

So here they are, three new features on the Confiva platform that will bring you an even more enjoyable and streamlined online event experience:

• Sessions feature – Group video call
• Meetings update – 1v1 video call
• Stage update – Video follows

1. Sessions

This is the main new feature on the list, as it offers the highly anticipated two-way video communication among groups of attendees. Think of Sessions as break-out rooms at your events. You can now host brainstorming sessions, workshops, team buildings, or throw a good old tea party. Every session can accommodate up to 50 participants.

Still modular

The sessions feature is particularly useful for events that require direct video interaction among participants or break-out rooms. As with all other features on our platform, Sessions can be turned off or added. It all depends on your particular needs.

2. Meetings video call

Let your attendees network and have all the meetings that they desire with our native 1v1 video calls. Every event participant on the Confiva platform can now talk for up to 4 hours, share files, screen share, and network.

No external tools or additional logins are needed – participants are free to communicate. And who knows, your potential business partner, ultimate client, or even your future arch-nemesis might be on the other side of your next meeting on Confiva. Try it out and see for yourself!

3. Video follows

Video live stream any time, all the time. As of now, every time you will move from the live stream stage to any other area of the Confiva platform, the video stream will follow you. It’s like having a faithful dog that is always by your side. The only difference is that it’s not a dog but a live stream, and it works on server power, not food.

The main benefits are that participants can move through the platform and view any other content they are interested in while still keeping an eye on the live stream. Speakers can even guide attendees to specific showrooms or other areas on the platform, making the experience much more interactive.

 

We are very proud of our new features, but to be completely honest, they are nothing compared to all the updates we have in the pipeline for the year 2022. We can’t wait to share every one of them with you. Stay tuned!

Marko Šček, CPO of Confiva

5 tips that guarantee your next online event’s success

There are countless simple »event hacks« you can experiment with that are not on this list. Our tips will not guide you through those dark woods. We are going straight to the core fundamentals, the main things that make an event successful. The things that we can guarantee will make your online event good… or even great… Heck, maybe everything aligns, and we are talking about the perfect unicorn event.

These are our tips:

• Prepare

• Create

• Correct

• Host

• Follow up

… and more importantly, if you decide to follow them, make them your own. Adapt and morph our suggestions to your needs and sprinkle them with your event style.

1. Prepare

Plan and prepare every single detail that you can before the event starts. Utilize every possibility to gather the information that will help you make the right choices. Preparation is one of the core planning phases that you should not forget by any means, and by the time you are over, you should have a clear vision of what you want to achieve with your event. Plan marketing, PR, and ticketing/monetization strategies so you can pinpoint the risks and avoid them in time while remaining stress-free.

Also note: In online events, we have to consider that the online participants act differently, so you need to match the program activities accordingly. Consider multiple stages simultaneously to shorten the timeframe, plan fun break-out sessions and think about alternative ways to engage participants behind the screen.

2. Create

The create tip should be fun to enforce if the preparation is complete. Now that you have all your information, the next step is to carry out all the plans, create the visual identity and the program of your event. The event program should use all the possible technology that you have at your disposal.

At this point, it is always good to know what are the features that your online event platform will offer you. It is just like doing an in-person event, where you need to know what your venue will provide you. The online event platform is your venue in this case. A responsive collaboration with the platform is one of the things event managers should always strive to achieve. At Confiva every client receives the help of our dedicated event manager, so this is already a part of our service *wink wink*.

3. Correct

You can plan all you want but always keep an open mind to changes. In the creation phase you will have a chance to communicate with experts in the industry, so don’t be scared to change your opinion based on the information you receive. Improvise, adapt and overcome.

4. Host

OK, it’s time for your event to start. If you are hosting it on Confiva you have little to worry about from the software side. The main focus should be on the program execution, video production, and attendee interaction. In all event platforms, there are usually multiple chats where participants can interact. We have found that having a PR team highly involved in conversations can be a massive change in an online event. Participants feel heard, and it adds a personal element when relaying all the information.

5. Follow-up

The follow-up for an online event should be much more than just a thank you note you get in your email. Offer all your content to be viewed after the event has ended. Let your participants replay and see the content they might have missed, but make sure to always keep something for them for the next time, so you keep them on their toes. If your goal is to keep attendees engaged for as long as possible, think about creating a community by planning the follow-up with fun or educational workshops or similar smaller events.

Whenever you get hyped by fast and simple hacks to improve your event, do not get sidetracked. Always be sure to take care of the fundamentals first, and with Confiva we will take care of the rest.