Over the last 12 months most event companies have had to change direction and start delivering virtual events. We at HIYA are no different. We decided to build a state-of-the-art studio near our premises here in Shannon. This virtual studio gave us great scope to deliver high end conferences and virtual events. We also built a smaller studio at our head office here in Shannon, where we could facilitate smaller events, with a smaller budget. Having both studios has given us the opportunity to quote for events of any size or any budget. We were very lucky to have our team of technicians still available to us, to work in such events. All of our team became as knowledgeable as possible on platforms such as zoom and teams etc. Today, we are quite confident that we know these platforms as well as anyone.
Online Events
Virtual events are completely different from normal events. As professional entertainers we feed off a live crowd in front of us at an event. Every member of our team, no matter what type of event we are delivering loves the buzz of a live event. Yes, there are pressures that come with this, however when you’re completely confident in your ability generally these events run very smooth.
Virtual events are different. You do not have the live crowd, and I believe there is always a little doubt in the back of your mind as you’re trusting technology not to let you down. Of course, in all our studios we have backup Wi-Fi and yes we have a team of very capable technicians, but it would be wrong to say that we are completely confident trusting technology. So far, we haven’t had any problems, thankfully but we have heard a few horror stories. If you have your homework done, you have your backup Internet , good Wi-Fi and a good team all should go according to plan, and generally does.
Tips
When you are presenting a virtual event it’s very important to get to know your audience fast. The very second that you go live and you’re looking at all the participants in front of you on the screen it is important to gain their trust and let them see that this is not going to be a typical zoom call or event. You will hear people saying that they are fed up with zoom calls etc and this can be often down to and an unexperienced presenter.
A professional presenter or at least somebody with a lot of experience can make the virtual event a much nicer event to attend. We always recommend to our clients to give away a few spot prizes and have as much interaction as possible, especially on the fun virtual events. We do bingo, race nights, quiz shows and makeup nights which have proved to be very successful.
For all of these events we ensure there are plenty of spot prizes to be won and it keeps people interested, and on the event until the finish. Even when it comes to virtual conferences, we would also recommend a few giveaways at the end or maybe a bit of fun during lunch time to break the monotony of a boring virtual event. This works and works very well. Again it’s about the delivery and interacting with your crowd from a very early stage.
Looking Ahead
So overall we are getting better at delivering virtual events. We feel a lot more confident than we did a few months ago. We’re not going into the event with as many doubts as we did 12 months ago.Hybrid events could end up being the norm for the next 24 months, as many people will be unable to travel. We know we will deliver the event to the highest possible standards and we know we will engage the audience from the minute they joined the call.
Every day is a school day in the event business , especially in the virtual event business . Would we rather be in a room with a live audience, absolutely. Are we happy with the quality of virtual events we are delivering currently, absolutely. Do we look forward to returning to live events in the very near future? Without a doubt, and we look forward to seeing you all then.
But for now let’s make the best of what we have and if we can ever be of assistance to you don’t hesitate to contact us. If we can only offer a little bit of advice or point you in the right direction, we are happy to do this because this virtual stuff can be confusing, and we have learned a lot about it.
So for now we wish you all well and stay safe. Hopefully our next blog will see us back in business doing events in venues, where we all want to be.
