Virtual Event Strategy and Business Planning

This handout for the Mid-Year Meeting was created by Kristin Beaulieu, Senior Vice President Sales & Development, UBM Studios.  Her email is: kristin.beaulieu@ubm.com.

Deciding to Go Virtual

  • What problem or opportunity might a virtual event address, and how?
  • What strategic objectives would a virtual event achieve or support in a substantial way?
    • What alternatives are there to achieving the same objectives?
    • What are the risks associated with a virtual event as opposed to any of the viable alternatives?
  • What percentage of your target audience attends your current place-based offerings, and with what frequency? If the percentage is lower than you would like it to be, why – i.e., what’s the cause?
  • What activities are your target audience engaged in online/digitally?
    • Educational (courses, discussion forums, Webcasts, etc.)
    • Non-educational (e.g., engagement on major social networks, gaming, smart phone usage)
  • Who would you like to be reaching that you aren’t?
  • What is the competition doing? And to what extent is you audience engaging?
  • What, if anything, do you consistently hear is weak or missing in current place-based offerings?
  • What are the main sources of value in your current place-based events? (Assessed objectively – i.e., based on evaluations, attendance data, etc. – not just on staff opinion)
    • In what ways could this value be transferred and/or enhanced online? For whom?

Planning Analysis

  • Stand-alone or hybrid event?
  • Timing – When will it happen (simultaneous or post physical)?
  • Have you already sold promoted the physical? Is there proper time to sell/promote virtual?
  • Are you intending to make this a revenue generating business?
  • Produce in-house, outsource, or combination?

NOTE: A virtual event should be approached as if you are launching a physical event – it requires all of the same resources and planning.

Timeline –Virtual Architecture

Marketing

  • How do you envision the virtual experience?  Is it a VTS, a series of seminars, a briefing center, etc.?
  • Will you have sponsors or partners?
  • What is a minimum acceptable number of vendor /sponsor/ showcase participants to drive attendance value?
  • Will you charge for attendance or offer for free?
  • Need to create sell sheets or collateral
  • May need demo/presentation/sell sheets/proposal/terms and conditions/contract

Sales

  • Package Virtual with Physical show – this may include bundling sponsorships, exhibits, and/or attendance
  • Set reasonable financial goals for first time
  • Sales will need 6 months minimum
    • Planning will take minimum 1 month
    • Vendor – choosing, contracts, kick off = 2 -6 weeks
    • Marketing materials should begin alongside planning and will take 3-4 weeks for full sales package
  • Need to target key accounts/partners
    • Create enticing package and bundle with other opportunities
  • Conduct sales training and assign point person who can assist with any client/partner calls where needed
  • Consider giving away a few sponsorships to get keystone names associated with the event


Sales Support

  • Plan for providing “training” to vendors/showcase participants; on building their “booths” and for their staffs when “manning” the virtual booths
  • How much direct support will be provided to the showcase participants in building their presence/their virtual “booths?” (Typically vendors/exhibitors are not prepared or staffed properly to handle the planning for these events.)

Audience Acquisition

  • How will you drive audience?
    • Draw out all promotional mediums
      • Direct email
      • Press release schedule
      • Social media plan
        • Facebook page
        • Twitter hash tag
        • LinkedIn group
        • Newsletter
        • Website
        • Partners
        • Print advertising
        • Promotions on top of physical event
        • Google, SEO
    • Make the marketing plan for each medium. When will each promotion begin and end, who will be in charge of creative and execution on your team?
    • Who will create the registration site?  If you have a physical event, will it reside on the same site and what is the plan for separation and clarity of each event for your audience?
    • In tandem with registration for physical registration? Pros and cons – can drive numbers, but may also lead to low conversion for virtual event (registrant to actual participant)


Content

  • If running physical event will content be captured and recorded?
    • If yes, need video production crew on site and need to assess schedule, what can be captured, and how many cameras are needed
    • If no, what unique content will be created and how much of it?
      • Who are speakers/moderators?
      • How long are sessions? How many?
      • Live or on demand? Q&A?
      • What technology will be used?
      • Video or audio PPT?

Creative

  • Do you have in-house creative or will you outsource?
    • Need to consider all promotions and registration website
    • Will you want a customized look and feel to your virtual experience?  If yes, what is the vision and can your in-house person create this or will you need to outsource to graphic artist or vendor?

Management

  • Dedicated person on staff to act as manager
    • Vendors – technology and any other outsourcing
    • Registration – What questions will be asked, and do they need to match back to a centralized database? If yes, need to plan out questions and order and look at how they will be exported at end of event or simultaneously via an API (need to set up at beginning before any registrants)
    • Schedules and timing for everything
      • Registration site
      • Promotions/advertising
      • Weekly meeting with vendor
      • Orchestration of any sponsors/partners
        • Collecting materials, training and overall assistance
        • Content packaging and integration into virtual event
        • Post event analytics – who gets them and how will they be delivered?
          • If have sponsors, will they have direct access to data or will you package the data in a presentation?
          • Who will create and deliver any presentation? How will sales close the loop and upsell for next event? Is this already incorporated into marketing materials?

Integrations

  • If have a physical show do you want to integrate all physical registrants into virtual event?  Need to look at vendors for virtual and registration and ensure that they can integrate seamlessly.
  • If you have a paid membership base do you want them to all be automatically registered or are you OK with having them uniquely register for this event?
  • Will you build from this event and carry forward your registration base? If yes, who will manage this new database and how will it be segregated from others?

Architecture of Virtual Event

  • What is experience that you want the user to have and follow?
  • Landing page of environment
    • What do you want here? Welcome video?
      • Who will write script and record the welcome?
    • What is on navigation bar?
      • What are the key elements you want?
        • Presentations – Theater
        • Group Chat/Scheduled Chat – Lounge
        • Sponsor/Partner Spaces – what will they have in their spaces?
          • Video/Webcast presentation
          • Documents
          • Demos
          • Chat
          • Staff to respond to audience
          • Profile – what information do you want from audience?
          • Resource Library – Content space
          • Prize Center
  • Attendee – Flow of activity and clear schedule/agenda
    • Plan out timing of sessions/presentations
    • Plan for group and scheduled chats
    • Prizes – based on activity of attendees
  • Sponsor – What is their experience?
    • Plan group chats in lounge for them
    • Let them sponsor session and run Q&A
    • Drive attendees to sponsor booths after presentations for expert chats/CEO discussions
    • Encourage them to be involved beyond booth staffing to enhance their experience

Wrap up of Event/Experience

  • Sponsors/Exhibitors
    • Set up calls with each and review the event and their experiences
    • Use surveys to gather feedback
    • Prepare walk through of data either with PPT or walk through of data portal link and how to analyze the information
    • Customize reports for them as needed
    • Close loop and engage them in another conference/event
  • Attendees
    • Follow up email of thanks or sorry we missed you and provide link to archive
    • Survey for attendee feedback
    • Not necessary but nice touch to follow up with a newsletter email providing interesting stats and take-aways of the event
    • Continue dialogue until next event with newsletter drops and promotion for next conference

Virtual Business Planning

  • Need to run 1 to 2 trials to determine if this is a viable business for organization
  • Research all vendor solutions and create RFP to determine who can offer best capabilities, services and pricing model for your business
  • Create business plan to include
    • Technology costs
    • Production staff (if not outsourcing)
    • Content costs (moderating, webcast content and agenda
    • Audience costs – SEO (search engine optimization fees); advertising, list rentals, etc.
    • Dedicated person to run and manage the business
    • Dedicated sales person(s) or outsourced if needed
    • Support person to assist management of business
  • Determine realistic revenue goals for the year
    • From the point of launching the business use caution in budgeting revenue before 6 months
    • Network and find out other similar revenue models
    • Look at Year 1 as a growth and investment year with Year 2 as picking up in revenue
    • Be sure to stagger revenue according to event schedule with bulk of sales revenue booking 1-2 months prior to date of events
  • Marketing/Legal Needs
    • Sales demo, sell sheets, presentation, proposal
    • Legal Terms and Conditions contract

Resources

Reports/Whitepapers

Web Sites / Blogs

Tools and Apps

  • Cool FREE app – Qik Let’s you stream footage from a live show or presentation and share it and stream live online with near zero latency.  You can download and start recording.  Viewers can chat live, and video is archived on Qik.com. Other great feature – it can be embedded in profiles on social networks such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. – http://qik.com/
  • Event app – Eventgenie – offers event planners a great app for providing individual tailoring of a show and bring virtual and physical together for a true hybrid experience to show the schedule, networking, social media, attendees, etc.  http://www.eventgenie.com/solutions/business-events/
  • Event app – Follow me – http://www.core-apps.com/Follow_Me.html – Features include linking friends to each others’ schedules, interactive floor maps with routing to booths, social media, and the ability to download brochures from the exhibitors. This was used for the NAB show!
  • Unisfair: www.unisfair.com
  • 6Connex: www.6connex.com
  • On24: www.on24.com
  • INXPO: www.inxpo.com
  • Digitell: www.digitellinc.com
  • Expos2:  www.expose2.com
  • iCohere: www.icohere.com

Platform Providers

Service Providers

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