A PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association) straw poll on the biggest concerns when planning a digital event shows 77 per cent of respondents picking user experience and engagement, and 52 per cent picking content strategy, creation and delivery.
Conducted during its Pivot Your Event from Live to Virtual webinar on May 13, 50 per cent of respondents also said it was “somewhat likely” for planned events not to be cancelled, but become virtual or hybrid events instead.
During the webinar, a meeting planner from the financial sector shared that the focus this year was on virtual events, embracing them and how to get better at delivering them.
She advises to keep things simple for live events and “test, test, test and test again” what is being done on the platform, be it the Q&A or live poll function.
“The more you do on the platform and if the content is great, the more likely people stay. And do not assume the easiest platform is easy for all,” she pointed out.
Another Asian meeting planner who said its executives have been meeting virtually the last few months to keep the business running, sees technology taking precedence this year, and they are “eating into unused travel budgets”.
In managing a virtual or hybrid strategy meetings management programme this year will require meeting planners to think differently, according to Justin Choy, managing director, Hong Kong, Creative Technology (CT), Asia Pacific.
Choy commented that the price to stage a virtual meeting “is actually not a direct function of the number of participants anymore”, but “a direct function of the complexity of the visual environment”. Hence, planners should consider enhancing content, use animation, etc.
For events on a tight budget, Choy advised: “Instead of doing 10 things with mediocrity, I strongly believe in focusing on doing one or two things really well.”
To assist those who are less-tech savvy, CT offers a package where a user simply plugs in the power and Internet, with the CT event technology production staff remotely controlling everything else.
