Most Common Challenges Virtual Event Organizers Face And Ideas To Overcome Them

INTRODUCTION

Virtual events have helped in working wonders for businesses to keep in touch with their audiences. Many problems have been faced by the organizers to make a lasting impact on the attendees. The personal atmosphere of the in-person events has failed to translate into an online environment.

Most of the virtual event challenges for online event planners can be solved by choosing a platform, like Mixhubb, that helps the organizers to realize the long-term benefits of taking everything online. Virtual events have made a place and are there to stay because they make sense in today’s globalized business.

Even if in-person events come back, virtual events make it possible to let businesses reach out to attendees all over the world. Both the virtual and in-person components are included in hybrid events and make more sense. Below mentioned are some of the major challenges that the organizers of virtual events face and are trying to tackle.

CHALLENGES IN AN ORGANIZING A VIRTUAL EVENT

·   Attendee engagement

A lot of virtual event marketers consider ways to keep the attendees engaged and it is by far the biggest challenge. Many of us have racked up the screen time and the fatigue is setting in. A very carefully curated, planned and the managed event is the next best thing to a one-on-one event.

There are many unique advantages that it brings along and the secret to engaging the audience is in creating an immersive experience. The different presentations can come to life by including interactive sessions. Examples of the tools are live Q&As, polling, and surveys used in online networking events. These help to share the presentation with people outside the meeting too.

·   Personalized networking

This is a much harder drive in virtual events and ends up being more than a live stream. Personalizing the content or event plays a major role in increasing the interaction levels. Many events over time end up being more than the live streams and there are minimal interaction opportunities in such cases.

There is a strong lack of social element and this makes the event easily forgettable. There are many ways to solve this issue and networking can improve. A digital lead can capture the functionality of the tool and allows the attendees to connect directly with the matter experts.

Even in virtual events, it can be a one-on-one interaction and the capabilities bring the group together. A group can be made based on shared interests and priorities.

·   Technical expertise

Since a virtual event requires technical attention, it has become a major obstacle in the path of running a smooth event. There is a prevalent misconception that says that every virtual event on any online exhibition platform is the same.

Many do turn out to have the same set of challenges but this is not necessary. A creative engaging and interactive experience is something that cannot be done with everyday tools. Access to technical necessities and dependable support is needed.

All of it is very essential to recreate the live event with the same people. A very important aspect is to partner with a reliable service provider that helps to access the structured training. The learning curve eases and the familiarity with the best virtual practices helps in better conduct of the event.

·   Privacy and security

Since most of the events have moved to the virtual format, the organizers have a very limited time to prepare all of them. Thus, the cybercriminals have grabbed the opportunity and led to a raft of attacks and bomb the meeting. Most of these attacks come because the organizers did not have enough time to think about the security and privacy of the event.

The virtual events were viewed as nothing more than temporary workarounds, using unsuitable tools in this difficult process. Even the planners who bear the responsibility to protect themselves are scared of sharing confidential information with the team. The rate of cybercrime has increased to this extent.

Online event planners are looking for platforms where there is inbuilt security and privacy option that helps to keep the events safe and confidential.

·   Reporting and analyzing

This is a very unique advantage of virtual events and generates a large amount of valuable data. The major challenge in this aspect is in leveraging the data for actionable insights and it is not easy to achieve when there are different systems to drive the engagement.

The visibility into the reports and analysis of the attendees should be maximized and every team must have access to the data. Different data sources can help to prevent information silos. If it is an integrated event then, there are other systems needed that help to make the working possible.

·   Monetization opportunities

Especially for the businesses involved in the B2B sector, live events are a major source of revenue. Many managers have found it hard to replicate the environment and end up losing sight of the attendees which further pushes towards the failure of the event.

Analytics helps to strengthen the revenue opportunities with the right integration. It also helps event managers to boost their revenue and provides monetization opportunities. This includes the ability to enable online sponsorships, sell premium tickets, sell them directly in the virtual booths, and sell the ad space on the event website.

CONCLUSION

A large part of the revenue in the case of virtual events comes from the above-mentioned factors. Sponsorship plays a major role in the same. When the problems faced by the event organizers persist, the value of the virtual or hybrid seeks revival. A thorough understanding of the functioning of the events is garnished and helps to tackle the challenges.

If the best practices for the virtual event are followed, then the organizers can efficiently expand their audiences, appeal to high-value sponsors, and create engaging and memorable events online. If the above-mentioned problems are tackled then it creates a safe atmosphere for the organizers and the attendees.