How have your organisations approached online events during the pandemic ?
The corporate view
Martin Fullard speaks to three corporate events professionals to discover learnings on delivering the attendee experience online and how virtual events can expand your brand reach
Chloe Goddard , events manager , Halifax : “ For us , it ’ s been a test and learn process . It was a completely new landscape so we had to start from scratch but we firmly believe they ’ ll be here to stay so we ’ ve had to up-skill , assess and discover new platforms on a continuous basis .”
Natalie Shattock , senior event manager EMEA for Morningstar : “ We transitioned our regional , smaller weekly events to webinars using Zoom or BrightTALK , which involved relatively small amounts of training and were fairly easy to execute . Then we directed a significant investment into our annual conference , both in terms of resource and technology to ensure that it was impactful and engaging . That investment is definitely for the long-term .”
Tina Moynihan , events producer at The Guardian : “ The Guardian has really embraced online events as they ’ ve really worked for our ‘ in conversation ’ and panel debate editorial formats . One of the main advantages has been the extended audience reach we ’ ve been able to command . Some of our events have attracted 5,000 plus people from countries including America and Australia so it has been a real voyage of discovery and incredibly beneficial to The Guardian ’ s global brand .”
How do you measure online engagement and how do you know the content is resonating ?
Halifax ’ s Goddard : “ We ’ ve analysed the best time of day to stage our events along with the optimum duration . How many people attend and the drop-off percentage after 45 minutes has allowed us to tweak the format . We found a condensed 30-minute event gives people a lot more to takeaway and ensures their full attention .”
“ WE FOUND A CONDENSED 30-MINUTE EVENT GIVES PEOPLE A LOT MORE TO TAKEAWAY AND ENSURES THEIR FULL ATTENTION .”
The Guardian ’ s Moynihan : “ We rely heavily on people submitting questions , either in advance or during the discussions . We did trial a hand raise system for a while but we found that it was more disruptive to the session so we resorted back to submitted questions . Online engagement strategies don ’ t have to be complex if they work .”
Morningstar ’ s Shattock : “ We ’ ve found that done well , polling can have a really big impact on engagement . We take a poll at the beginning of each session to gauge the viewer ’ s views on a particular topic and then we ’ ll do a poll at the end to see if that view has changed or what has resonated most during that session . Anecdotally , viewers ’ recollections of the sessions improve when there ’ s polling and the content resonates more . Short , sharp multiple choice questions will get us 75-100 % engagement with each poll .”