64 / MASTERING REMOTE COMMUNICATION
Making a plan
With more people working remotely,
online events are increasingly common,
from small public lectures to larger
conferences. With so much technology
available, hosting one is now much more
accessible to all types of professionals.
Identify the purpose of your event—is it
social or will attendees be working?
Calculate your running time; if it’s more
than a couple of hours, factor in breaks,
activities, or other ways to keep people
engaged. Break the event into sections,
such as introduction, presentation and
live poll, first guest speaker. Get all the
details down in a plan, assemble helpers,
and start delegating tasks, such as
compiling the guest list or agenda.
Promoting your event
For an event that’s open to external
attendees, you need to provide more
than just the date, time, and duration.
Consider using a designer to create
branded e-invitations. You may need
to send these out more than once to get
all the responses, and you should send
reminders to make sure people attend.
Choosing your technology
Research a suitable platform that works
for your specific event. Work out what you
need: appearances by speakers, polls to
gather live feedback, a virtual whiteboard,
“breakout rooms” for group activities, and
so on (see pp.36–37). When you’ve chosen
your appropriate technology, test it with a
colleague by running through the agenda
in sequence.
Hosting virtual events
Virtual events require as much planning as their real-world equivalents.
As well as organizing speakers and invitations, you need to pick the right
platform and stick to a tight schedule. But whether its a conference or
virtual away-day, the key is not to treat it like a larger work meeting.
US_064_065_Flexible_Working.indd 64US_064_065_Flexible_Working.indd 64 02/02/2021 11:0502/02/2021 11:05
HOSTING VIRTUAL EVENTS / 65
Creating your content
Make sure any presentations are
eye-catching and not too text heavy.
Think about adding interactive elements,
such as ice breakers, quizzes, and polls,
or presenting some of your information
in video format. If you’re giving out
prizes or providing props for activities,
send these out to attendees well in
advance. Book any guest speakers early,
making sure they understand exactly
what you need from them on the day.
To ensure everything runs smoothly
when running the event, put someone
in charge of keeping everyone to time.
Collecting feedback
After the event, send out anonymous
feedback forms to find out what
participants thought, and what they
would like to see another time. Use
this information to make your next
event even better.
BRINGING IN THE
PROFESSIONALS
For bigger occasions with lots
of attendees, consider getting
an external event management
company involved. Event industry
experts are used to reproducing
the elements of an in-person
In focus
of virtual event organizers
send out surveys to gather
feedback from attendees
90%
event in a virtual environment.
They take care of the planning,
the technical side, and the smooth
running of the proceedings. Work
with them to create content and
manage the event. Then you can
sit back and relax when it comes
to hosting the event.
US_064_065_Flexible_Working.indd 65US_064_065_Flexible_Working.indd 65 02/02/2021 11:0502/02/2021 11:05
..................Content has been hidden....................

You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.
Reset
54.144.81.21