Whitepaper on the uptake of virtual conferences- essentials for success
- 1. The Uptake of Virtual Conferences Essentials for Success
- 2. Contents Introduction Section 1- Today’s platforms What are the most common platforms? What you need to know Pros and Cons Section 2- Audience Understand your audience Choosing a virtual event format- which approach is right for you? Section 3- What makes a good conference Crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s FAQ’s Conclusion
- 3. Introduction The outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic has pushed many meetings online- including flagship conferences like the UN General Assembly that usually attract thousands of attendees from all walks of life. The pandemic manifested a clear message. It is not business as usual, virtual meetings are changing the face of business. Organizations shut the doors to their offices and allowed their employees to work from home, shifting to embracing working remotely. Digital workplace is now the norm and several organizations are revisiting their business models to include virtual conference. Still, this is new territory for some organizations who have had to cautiously, but hastily implement and embrace this new media to survive and remain relevant. The goal of this whitepaper is to enlighten organizations on the existing virtual conference software available to them and provide a road map on how to successfully execute such conferences. It is not business as usual, virtual meetings are changing the face of business.
- 5. What are the most common platforms? The standard conference has for the most part involved travel and accommodation to specified locations- we board a plane or train to a conference, carry our business cards, and prepare ourselves for a week of plenary sessions from keynote speakers, breakout sessions that run past close of business, and then attend evening networking events high on fatigue from a long day of activities. Virtual conferences allow remote participants to access live onsite meetings and events from their computers from any part of the world and are hosted entirely over the internet. Through virtual conferencing platforms designed specifically for the remote experience, participants can attend meetings virtually with ease, and say goodbye to fatigue caused from rushing from one breakout room to the next. 1 An example of such a platform is Engagez. Engagez is a cloud-based software that offers a combination of content and interaction features that include virtual classrooms, simulated live sessions (simulive), webcasts, curated resources, Q&A forums, polling, on-demand presentations, private and group chat, video chat, virtual booths, online community functionality and analytics.2 There are many other platforms similar to Engagez for example whova, attendify and bevy. The one you select depends on what factor is most important 1 Hamm, Frew and Lade, 2018 2 Engagez Virtual Event Playbook
- 6. to you- features, pricing, or support policies. The Accelevents top 14 virtual conference platforms gives a good starting point for beginners. Other than using virtual conference platforms route for meetings, there is the option of using cloud based virtual conferencing communications apps or tools that allow you to set up virtual video and audio conferencing, webinars, live chats, screen-sharing, and other collaborative capabilities. Examples of these communications apps picked from a list of many include Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google meet. The one you select will be based on various elements with the key ones being the number of people you want to host, the features of interest for example- interpretation services and security settings etc. Virtual conferencing has become a powerhouse, and the above tools are the new norm around the world to accommodate remote working, ensure delivery of organization objectives, encourage productivity whilst helping to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Nevertheless, even after this phase of the pandemic lifts, a preference has been established unless for cases where physical interaction is absolutely necessary. What you need to know Each of these relatively new tools have seen rapid development, added features and increase in users. Therefore, the big question on everyone’s mind is- what is the BEST video conferencing system to use for both business and personal
- 7. use? The indicators for reviewing these platforms are based on security, price, ease of use, reliability, limitations, and opinion of preference. This sub-section will compare Zoom and Microsoft Teams, which are currently the most renown virtual communication Apps worldwide. Microsoft Teams Security is a huge strength for Microsoft Teams, it is embedded into Microsoft 365 system- it requires user/host to invite people rather than open meeting to the public. Ease of use on Teams is satisfactory once you are in, but before getting in, there is a lot of rights to be undertaken by IT team-license users/create users. Teams basic package is free and can host up to 300 participants, with a plan to increase to 1,000 participants over time. It has an option of paying for added features like making Teams your phone system. There have been reports of occasional unstable moments while using Microsoft Teams, people abruptly kicked out of meetings or once you start recording meetings you lose some participants, but this over time has become better, and could have been due to the strain of so many new users at the same time. According to Business Insider3 there were approximately 32 million users as of March 11th , 2020, which after a 3 https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-teams-hits-75-million-daily-active-users-2020-4
- 8. week rose to 44 million daily active users, then hit 75 million on April 29th , 2020. Currently, it has 115 million daily active users, a figure that is rising. A huge limitation of Teams is the inability to conduct seamless language interpretation. Nonetheless, Teams comes highly recommended for business especially for companies who already use office 365, because it offers more than virtual conference, it is also a collaboration platform- file sharing, workflows, screen sharing and when setting meetings, it integrates seamlessly with outlook. It also has compatibility with other video conferencing devices like BlueJeans and Pexip . Zoom Zoom gained 100 million new users in three weeks during the onset of the pandemic4 and this has come with a lot of criticism over privacy, all wrapped up with the label zoombombing- this is the act of unwanted folks intruding conferences even though they have not formally been invited to- they can do so because the links are shared openly and publicly. Security is a weakness for zoom, and to mitigate this they recommend establishing a waiting room, creating a password, and locking down the meeting room once all participants are present. 4 https://www.itpro.com/software/video-conferencing/355430/zoom-gains-100-million-new-users-in-3- weeks-sending-stock
- 9. Ease of using Zoom is remarkable before you join in and while in- the chat system allows for conversations with all and privately without having to leave the meeting space. In addition, you can easily LIVE stream meetings through social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube, though at a cost, but this allows public to watch live presentations without accessing meeting itself and being vulnerable to zoombombing. Zoom’s free version includes meetings that can host up to 100 participants (with a 40-minute limit) and with a paid-plan allows up to 1,000 participants. Zoom is quite stable with minimal reports of outages despite the huge number of users. Zoom also has the capability to conduct seamless language interpretation which is a necessity for most global conferences. Zoom comes highly recommended for external meetings and has been adopted by many learning institutions. A key thing to remember is that with Microsoft Teams, integrations are typically to bring app data into its own platform. While Zoom is often added as an integration to other platforms. A great example of this is how Zoom and Engagez work well together. In addition to this integration, Zoom has numerous other integrations, including an integration with Office 365.
- 10. In many cases, Microsoft Teams and Zoom complement each other, rather than forcing an either-or situation. The final choice depends on your own organizational needs and requirements. Pros and Cons Virtual world technologies were originally created for online gaming. The exploration and evolution of these technologies has improved the quality of communication within online space, and inspired organizations to manipulate these platforms according to their specific interests. The biggest benefit of virtual conferences is allowing attendees to communicate and interact without the need for travel, which is expensive in most cases and therefore by extension saves on costs associated with travel, accommodation, meals, and registration. Thanks to virtual conferences, life for attendee’s both at home and at work will not be disrupted. Another benefit is access, many people have reported that with virtual conferences, more impromptu meetings are possible with people who would never have availed themselves easily for in- person meeting. The major challenge of virtual conferences is that not every attendee or participant has access to stable internet connection and bandwidth. Some people With Microsoft, integrations are typically to bring app data into its own platform. While Zoom is often added as an integration to other platforms
- 11. could be living in the outskirts where internet connectivity is not available/stable, while others may not have the financial means to purchase stable internet connection through Wifi. Mitigation to this in the short run, would be for participants to go where there is stable Wifi to participate e.g. a coffee shop, library; long run mitigation would require policy makers to modify their policies to ensure internet fibre cables are stretched out within all regions of a country. Another challenge is the lack of face-to-face human moments- walking down the halls together, having heart-warming conversations at lunch together, hi-fiving when a proposal sails through etc. these are moments that can only be truly experienced through in-person conferences. Mitigation to this would be to ensure virtual conferences are interactive- have surveys, games, social breakout room and engaging ice breakers. Thanks to virtual conferences, life for attendee’s both at home and at work will not be disrupted.
- 13. Understand your audience Thinking carefully about the needs and objectives of your attendees, presenters, exhibitors, sponsors and other stakeholders will help you design positive and engaging virtual event experiences. It is also helpful to create priorities based on which audiences you really need to serve. In addition, you must have the necessary tools to support special needs audience like the vision impaired and hearing impaired. Otter.ai is a software that enables you to upload audio, audio-video, or video- develops speech to text transcription. In addition, can be used for closed caption. If your conference is going to include an international audience, you must ensure that you select a platform that supports language interpretation service. For example, now that you know Engagez integrates well with Zoom, you can now enable Zoom language interpretation. The following questions can help you crystalize your understanding of your participants: • What are the objectives of your scholars, presenters, and attendees? (e.g. feedback on research, publishing, graduation, networking, etc.) • Do your participants have access to the necessary software and technology for your virtual event? • In what time zones do your participants reside?
- 14. • Do your participants represent a definite age group? Choosing a virtual event format- Which approach is right for you? Depending on the needs of your attendees, presenters, exhibitors, sponsors and other stakeholders, your virtual event can either be entirely virtual or a hybrid experience. • Virtual event – In a virtual event, all event participants, attendees, presenters, and exhibitors participate in the event virtually. Virtual events can present content live, simulated live sessions (simulive) or both. • Hybrid event – A hybrid event combines an in-person event at a physical destination with virtual elements for remote attendees. With many learning institutions re-opening, this format will become very popular. If you choose to go virtual, the following checklist can help you navigate and evaluate the various technology solutions mentioned in section 1: Does it fit within my budget? Can it accommodate authentication of registrants? Is it General Data Protection Requirements (GDPR) compliant? Will it accommodate my number of participants?
- 15. Will it accommodate my intended content format (live stream vs simulive?) Is it easy for presenters to upload content? Is it easy to use by attendees? Is there a place to store content? Can this content be viewed after my event? Does it include interactive components like attendee polling? Can I customize it with my event branding? Does it meet my security requirements? Thinking carefully about the needs and objectives of your attendees, presenters, exhibitors, sponsors and other stakeholders will help you design positive and engaging virtual event experiences.
- 16. Section 3 What makes a good virtual conference?
- 17. Crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s Great speakers leave nothing to chance when preparing for an event, and that approach is especially important with virtual conferences. There are numerous tips related to executing a successful virtual conference or webinar. Below are the key ones according to my experience and research. For more on this topic visit leading learning. Accessibility o The operations team should be vigilant and ensure that your virtual event opens to participants at the designated time. o If you have moderators for your event, they should be well equipped to provide transitions between sessions or facilitate Q&A sessions o Subscriptions- buying subscriptions is recommended because of not wanting the instability of unpaid subscription. Experimentation o Highly recommend having a pilot with the same equipment and internet connection that the event host will be using on event day. In addition, involve good tech people who can get in early to figure out the system or pay for the inhouse support on the platform of choice, because it is not just plug and play.
- 18. o Assigning roles to the operations team early in the game (staffing, timelines, lead time) is very important for success of the virtual event and for gathering lessons. o Event host, session chairs and moderator should conduct last-minute presentation and sound checks with presenters to check everything (screen sharing capability, audio/video quality, host-to-speaker private messaging, participant Q&A) is in order. Plan for technical issues o Assigned team members should be available to assist presenters and attendees with technical difficulties and any questions that may arise o Technology can be unpredictable, therefore, be safe and develop a contingency plan for whatever technical issues might crop up during the conference. For example, if speakers are using PowerPoint slides, have them send their presentations to the event host in advance – so if the speaker is unable to coordinate the session effectively or loses connectivity, the host can step in and advance the slides for them. Interactive sessions
- 19. o You want your audience to be as intrigued as they would be if it were an in-person conference. More still, you want them to relish this new approach and you can do so by using the participants polling features, encouraging attendees to submit questions via the platform and ensure speakers keep an eye on questions as they are submitted so they can address some of them instantly. Lastly, incorporate a break-way room for socialising whereby participants can interact casually with drink and snack and operate freely by applying different backdrops to stimulate conversation. After event tasks o Make sure you have a resources folder open (for at least 3 weeks) and easily accessed by participants even after the event, as most of the time attendee’s like to download a captivating presentation or refer back to a report that was shared. Giving them something tangible to take away from the experience will help enhance the perceived value of the event. o Analytics: when you pick a platform, ask yourself- do I want analytics? Do I want to track user behaviour on the backend? Some platforms like Engagez allow one to trigger a survey so that as audience is signing out, they are forced to answer survey (feedback)
- 20. which is important for measuring business value and or return on investment (ROI) FAQ’s Which is the best service provider for a virtual conference? Different platforms do different things. The tool chosen will fit the need of respective individual/s. It is not a one-shoe-fits-all solution. What are the different types of presentation options? Presenters can have a LIVE online presentation with the structure that allows for questions and feedback such as chat window, recorded video presentation, record slide show with just narration and in areas where none of the mentioned is possible, papers can be posted for comment. How can we ensure networking is still possible amongst attendees? By dedicating networking sessions- breakout room based on interest and allow attendees to schedule appointments with keynote speakers (another breakout room). Lastly, incorporating icebreakers in between sessions. Technology can be unpredictable, therefore, be safe and develop a contingency plan for whatever technical issues might crop up during the conference.
- 21. Conclusion Virtual conferences are the new business for higher learning institutions, corporate world, small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), Non-governmental organizations (NGO’s), basically just about every global sector. If properly executed they are positioned to be just as engaging as in-person conferences. The key to success is to accept that the status quo has tilted and being able to pivot from face-to-face conference to a virtual conference is vital, with deliberate focus on the quality of your audience’s experience. After all, with the right content, and the right delivery, you can bring your virtual conference audience to its feet even though in the comfort of their home. The Author Africia Ida Rabare is a communications professional with over five years’ experience in designing and executing strategic internal and external campaigns rooted in increasing brand value, strengthening market position and influence. Linked In: Africia Rabare Twitter: @Frishiz