Module 6 : Executing your event on the day
MEET THE INSTRUCTOR :
NAME : DAWN DENNIS COMPANY : CONTINUITY CONSULTING JOB TITLE : EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR
Dawn Dennis started her events life as a stagehand at arenas in Las Vegas almost 30 years ago . In 2007 , she moved to Beijing with the ambition of working on the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games . Her ambition was realised when McDonald ’ s asked her to work on its Olympic partnership both for Beijing and for the Winter Games in Vancouver two years later .
Dennis spent four years working out of Beijing before moving to Hong Kong , where she ’ s worked for myriad agencies as head of operations on everything from small-scale conferences to gigantic major events throughout Asia .
Are virtual events going to feature heavily as part of the event mix going forward ? What evidence have you seen ?
I feel like they should have cemented their place in the events mix almost five years ago now but there was too much trepidation .
The coronavirus crisis has certainly accelerated their adoption although it is still a slow-burn , which has seen planners move from in-person to glorified Zoom calls before beginning to experiment with proper virtual events .
Charities and smaller budget brands have taken longer to experiment but now that the available data shows just how effective online events can be , more and more companies are investing in this future . The mindset that it was only a short-term thing to convert live event planning onto digital platforms is changing . The data is causing a significant acceleration as the proof of their success is now in the pudding .
Provide a top line overview of the module and what it covers .
My module is all about how to execute your virtual event on the day . It focuses on the technical . Students have already gone through the marketing modules , the business cases and the speaker sourcing . Now you need a show flow , you need to understand your technical and how you treat your sponsors in this forum .
Many event professionals are overly
“ THE MINDSET THAT [ VIRTUAL EVENTS ] WAS ONLY A SHORT-TERM THING TO CONVERT LIVE EVENT PLANNING ONTO DIGITAL PLATFORMS IS CHANGING .”
cautious that there skill sets are in live and virtual technology is a new area for them . The key thing is that this is still an event and the guest experience still needs to be amazing and core to everything you do . Then you just need to know how to develop it into a virtual forum . You still have video , audio , internet and the technical . The lighting guys and the carpenters don ’ t have very much to do unfortunately but you have a technical package that you ’ ve already dealt with in the past . The only difference is the software and the platform , so you just need to learn a bit more and adjust . It all comes down to laptops and browser windows in the end .
I teach students not to be scared of the technical . It ’ s important to hire the right people to do their part . Virtual events shouldn ’ t be glorified conference calls . The technology is available to get a high standard of production . You just need to think in terms of video layouts instead of cue sheets .
The other part that ’ s really important is that every second counts . If you ’ re timings are wrong and have people locked in an auditorium that ’ s fine but if your timings are wrong in the virtual space , people will refresh the page and then leave . Your cue sheet needs to have