by Bharath M | Apr 13, 2020 | event management, Mobile Apps, Technology
Virtual event software platforms to host online events
With the Covid19 outbreak, the event organizers are increasingly canceling or postponing events. The organizers are also not sure when things are going be back to regular, and in-person events are going to start seeing active participation. There is a lot of uncertainty. In these times, many organizers are thinking or organizing virtual events.
With virtual events, the crucial areas that organizers focus on is the ability to broadcast live event and recording for playback. This enables streaming, and in case attendees have missed a session, they can view the playback. The attendees should be able to connect with others across the web and mobile app with one-to-one chat and video calls. With gamification features, the attendees can have fun engagement with other attendees and earn rewards. The sponsors want the ability to showcase their product for attendees and capture high-quality leads.
Here we showcase a collection of best online event tools that can help to organize your events virtually. These tools can include broadcasting your event sessions, engage attendees, and integrate into your existing event tools.
Video Conferencing and Webinar Tools
Zoom is a new video conferencing and engaging solution. Its cloud platform used for video, phone, content sharing, chat across mobile, desktop, telephones, and room systems. Zoom includes HD video and audio for up to 1,000 video participants allowing for the in-person experience in a virtual environment.
Features like high-quality video, recording and transcripts, built-in collaboration tools, calendars, and chat allow you to make the next internal or external virtual meeting fun and convenient.
2) Google Hangouts
Google hangouts have many features and an excellent option for small team meetings and private events. It offers Instant messaging, voice calls, group conferencing, built-in screen sharing, auto-screen focus, and HD experience.
3) Cisco Webex
Cisco Webex is another popular virtual event platform because of its reliability, audio, video, and content sharing features. Users can share files, mute and unmute event participants, and record online meetings. There are a host of processes and business applications to integrate with this service. There are no cumbersome codes needed for participants to join conferences. With this service, companies can enjoy higher levels of productivity without any disruptions as it filters out background noise automatically.
4) Vimeo
Vimeo offers you live stream videos in high-quality 1080p, get tools to boost collaboration and engagement. You can work from home and collaborate via live and uploaded videos.
5) Ring Central
RingCentral is a cloud video conferencing service that unifies HD video conferencing, mobility, and online meetings. Share information easily and collaborate with teams live in HD video.
Virtual Immersive Event Tools
5) VFairs
It is an online event platform that helps event organizers make great connections with their target users. They offer complete virtual experience.
6) Ubievent
Ubievent helps organize virtual fairs, webinars, online career fairs, virtual customer events, online trade shows, virtual kick-off meetings, online academies, or virtual conferences.
7) Hexafairs
Hexafairs offers Virtual Tradefair, Virtual Fair & Virtual Conferences solution for the business catering to agencies, tradeshow organizers, and event consultants. Virtual Tradeshow/Fair, Virtual Property Fair, Virtual Summit, Virtual Community Networking Event, Virtual Job Fair, Virtual Career Fair, Virtual Education Fair, Virtual Corporate Events, Virtual Business Development & Training Events.
Audience Event Engagement Tools
8) Sli.do
Sli.do offers easy to use Q&A and Polling tools. Slido helps the audience get the most out of conferences and events by connecting the space between speakers and their attendees.
9) Poll Everywhere
Poll Everywhere adds live audience interaction to every meeting, town hall, training session, and class. It works on everyday devices like phones and laptops, changing the presentation screen instantly as responses roll in.
Hybrid Events Tools with an immersive experience
10) Virtual engagement by webMOBI
webMOBI provides you a complete mobile event management platform and help you to automate the entire life cycle of your event from web site with live streaming integration, branded native mobile event apps, pre & post-event survey, push notification that will allow you to update your audience about any updates during the event, live interactive polling, social media integration and mobile streaming. The best part is that you can customize everything as per your organization’s branding.
Summing Up: Your Virtual Engagement Tools
When looking at hosting your next virtual event, consider investing in tools to help you deliver quality audio and visual experience as well as attendee engagement options throughout your virtual event via web and mobile app.
You can also combine your virtual event tools with your event management platform to tackle the virtual world to deliver a comprehensive hybrid event experience to reach attendees wherever they are.
To get more information on virtual event, visit our Facebook page
by Ashwin | Mar 16, 2016 | Blog, Events, Marketing
Completely dedicated to share thoughts, ideas and desires through images solely, the Instagram app not only connects people through visuals but also has the capability to act as a strong marketing tool. Here are some effective ways through which you as an event organizer can leverage Instagram.
Event Hashtags
Instagram predominantly thrives on the usage of hashtags. The addition of hashtags to your photos is a great way to find new followers and new users to discover you. To understand the functionality of hashtags, one needs to keep in mind certain pertinent things.
- Ensure that the hashtags that you include are pertaining to the theme of your event. Be specific while you key in the tags so that you can connect to people with similar interests. You will be able to establish the nexus between your event and your prospective attendees through the Instagram hashtags.
- Hashtags like #event or #picture will be very vague and may not simply fetch you followers. If you add more specific as well as pertinent hashtags that includes your event name, goal, vision etc., the chances of people following your event will be amplified.
Feature your Fans
Get your attendees featured on your Event by asking them to post pictures of their best moments during the event or what they feel about an upcoming event. This would establish an emotional connection between attendees and your event thereby forming loyal attendees.
Understand the Trend
Beyond all your promotional strategies and activities the results are largely dependent on the numbers. To keep a track on intricate details like which post was well received, which picture did not have much reach, tools such as ‘Simply Measured’ and ‘Seen Insight’ will be extremely useful. Tactically identify the attendee interests and target your posts such that it adjures engagement.
Host Contests
- Intrigue your attendees and increase their involvement by conducting contests. The competent attitude will also act as an impetus for them to be engaged in your event through Instagram.
- The contests that you host may be as simple as making your attendees post a photo of themselves with your event’s/ organization’s logo or the event tickets including the trending hashtag of your event. When the contest concludes, choose the attendee with most creative picture or anyone randomly and give away prizes like a free pass to your event or an extra ticket etc. Through such entertaining activities you will be able to engage your attendees easily.
Post Event Promotional Photos
- As we know the traditional way of posting photos on Instagram by itself creates a lot of talk in the town and gets many views.
- Post photos of the agenda of your event thereby conveying your event’s theme to prospective audience
- Share photos of your event Schedule, Delegate details and most importantly a Poster of your Event Keynote Speaker.
- If there are any celebrities or renowned people who are going to attend your event, make posters and share it on Instagram tagging your event name and the celebrity’s name. Get fame through people with pre-existing stardom.
- Keep posting images of your event before, during and after the event so as to keep your attendees updated and that everything about the event is in action.
Surveys and statistics show that more than 21% of all the adults present in the US use Instagram with a majority of the users logging in on a daily basis. As the 8th ranked photo sharing app, Instagram has over 400 million monthly active accounts. Every single bit of social media exposure matters and hence Instagram is a highly recommended visual tool for marketing your event.
by Ashwin | Mar 9, 2016 | Blog, event management, Marketing
A large majority of events are dependent on repeat attendees so as to keep up reputation and augment the head count. To achieve this organizers need to deliver quality experience that will in turn entice them to the organizers other events.
The central idea that has been elicited by veterans of the industry ponders upon the fact that when a great experience is gifted to the audience, they are bound to return. This idea is further elaborated here.
Attend to the Attendees First! Quality Service!
A great experience is accompanied by and is the resultant of the laudable customer service. A sense of trust and value must be instilled in the attendees in order to make them feel special and happy about the event. A simple form of customer service that is followed all over the event industry includes Welcome notes and banners, which though considered as mandatory or default, has high chances to make the attendee feel good about his or her presence at the event. When copious preparedness and praiseworthy organization skills are made conspicuous to the attendees, it marks the inception of a quality service which would act as an impetus to discuss and share about the event and its inimitable standards to others, creating a potential customer base for your upcoming events.
Rewards and Gifts for Loyal Attendees
Incentives such as discount coupons and early entry rates are usually provided by most events to hold on to their loyal attendees. Another form of rewarding the repeat attendees may be through small gifts or a token of appreciation. It makes clear that as an organizer or as an event, you are valuing the customers for their long standing support.
A respect for loyalty and recognition for repeat attendees is needed to keep them coming regularly.
Avoid Self-Plagiarism
Repetition of the ideas, agenda, thoughts and theme of the events from the previous years is a threat to the success of any event. No one will be interested to attend events that are going to be a replica of the old ones. Right from the decorations, communications to the event keynote speakers the attendees are going to expect something new and experience or learn something unique. The organizer has to add value to the customer through creative methodologies to enhance customer interaction and interests.
To give fresh experience every time might seem an arduous task but with ample time for innovation one can achieve it expediently. Suggestions and ideas from the team members managing the event can be taken into consideration for obtaining different perspective to implement creativity.
Motivate and Enable Event Engagement
Discovering new and unique ways of increasing interaction between attendees is a must. The success of the event largely depends on the kind, quality and quantity of network that they make. If an attendee has established a good network through your event and feels that this network is valuable he/ she will show gratitude to your event and will make sure not to miss events that you host later on. When you have empowered your attendees with the ability to create a nexus between the audience through live response tools and other social media, your event will reach a greater number of quality customer base.
Learn through Feedbacks and Surveys
Probable assumptions on customer like, needs and desires can be fallacious at times. It is better to ask rather than forming assumptions. Making mistakes is fine, but to once you have understood the trends and customer desires, there will be lesser possibilities for you to commit mistakes. Short feedbacks with radio buttons, check boxes etc., will make the process easier and quicker. Through such polls an event organizer will be able to learn and grasp the wants of his attendees and can implement the necessary changes in his upcoming events so that the valuable customers visit again.
The inception of success is highlighted by the attendees who appear at your event again and again. It makes you feel good as an organizer and creates self-confidence in the events that you conduct. While you execute an event if you are able to create a feel of ownership for the customer by ensuring a great experience and ambience the door to success will take a step towards you.
