PGi Partners
| Name: | PGi Channel Managers |
About PGi
Established in 1991, PGi began with a simple goal: Empower people and businesses to connect and collaborate. Throughout our 27-year history, PGi has met the changing technology landscape to bring enterprises around the world easy-to-use and effective collaboration and communication solutions.
Today’s connected business environment demands more than a connected workforce. To compete and win, you need the tools and support to enable the ultimate level of team member synergy and interaction. PGi’s flagship collaboration product, GlobalMeet®, is up for that challenge, with a complete range of reliable communications and connectivity solutions that allow people to contribute ideas in real time, from any location.
Blog Article
Steps for Successful Virtual & Hybrid Events
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Although in person events are returning, there is still a great need for hybrid events, where some attendees tune in virtually as others gather in-person.
Planning a hybrid event comes with its own set of unique challenges, however. To ensure that all attendees stay engaged and have an educational experience, event organizers must make sure special opportunities for each audience. There are ways for both audiences to interact and connect despite geographical boundaries.
No matter how your audience chooses to connect, make sure you have these best practices in mind to create a truly transformative event.
Find Success with Proper Content Prep
A successful webcast is only as good as the content provided (and the webcasting platform to get it there). Proper preparation means giving your team enough time to create inspiring and thought-provoking content that will stick with attendees. Utilizing multimedia features like Q&A, video, and audience polling are great ways to keep your event going.
Plan Your Time Wisely
Generally, a webcast should run between 30 and 45 minutes, but make sure to break your content up into shorter segments to keep audiences focused. Speakers should be told early on to create short presentations. Telling them in advance lets them have time to share their message succinctly.
Another great idea is to schedule breaks in between each content segments to allow remote audiences the chance to get up and stretch, use the restroom, or connect with other attendees virtually. In-person attendees will also need those breaks built in.
Hold a Practice
Athletic teams wouldn’t play a game without first having a few practices. Take the same approach to your next virtual event. Create time in your schedule for a run-through of the entire event start to finish. This doesn’t have to take long, but make sure it is a thorough process that includes testing the room lighting and sound, and especially how all of the technology is working. This is a good time to check on bandwidth limitations and make sure they are addressed before attendees arrive or log in.
Utilize the full-service operator-assisted events service from GlobalMeet Webcast to help ensure your event runs smoothly.
Don’t Leave Remote Attendees Hanging
When planning a hybrid event, it can be easy to focus only on the audience who will be attending in-person. But don’t forget about your online audience! Virtual audience engagement success can occur with the right tactics and technology. One tactic is to turn the camera on your remote audience and get their perspective.
Try to think beyond the conference hall, getting both in-person and remote attendees to get up and dance (when appropriate) and then share these interactions, live or remote, with all audiences. At the end of the day, the important thing is to plan for some unexpected moments to keep remote attendees focus and interested in the event.
All these tactics can be achieved with the right webcasting tool. Look for a platform that offers multiple features for audience engagement.
Pursue Your Audience
Just because an event is over doesn’t mean the powerful connections and emotions creating are put aside. Create momentum after an event through follow-up emails, using surveys and evaluations to generate feedback to use for your next event.
If you’re ready to create a show-stopping webcast, let us help you with our full-service webcast solutions. Contact us today!
[link to GlobalMeet page on your website]
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Social Media Post (for LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook)
From the couch to the conference hall, make sure your audience is engaged no matter where they tune in from! Follow our best practices to ensure your next virtual or hybrid event is a success: [link to partner blog] #PGiPartners #PGiConnect
