The Collaboration Space
Pull up a chair in our virtual conference room as we chat with industry experts about collaboration and experience technology. We explore the latest audio visual and unified communications solutions designed to create better user experiences. Brought to you by AVI-SPL.
AVI-SPL is a global technology solutions leader that ignites confidence and curiosity. We provide unmatched audio visual and unified communications services for IT. Visit avispl.com to explore how we can help you.
Explore how we can help you attract and retain customers and employees. Visit avispl.com.
The Collaboration Space
How to Create Engaging Virtual Events
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Discover how to create an engaging virtual event including what types of content to include. Joining Nancy and Anthony is this episode are Lloyd Bunting and Stu Siegal From VideoLink, an AVI-SPL subsidiary.
Our guests also discuss virtual Town Halls and other events, along with how to outfit executives with quality video production solutions while they are working from home.
Here's the link to Stu's blog he mentioned: https://www.videolinktv.com/video-production/virtual-events/top-five-strategies-for-a-great-virtual-event/
Get AV and unified communications news delivered to your inbox.
Follow AVI-SPL: Linkedin X YouTube
Welcome to the collaboration space. Pull up a chair in our virtual conference room as we share ideas on how you can create an engaging and productive digital workplace. Join AVI SPL hosts Nancy Lucier and Anthony Salvedgie, along with expert guests, as we chat about fostering collaboration in the office and online through video conferencing. Hey everyone, welcome back to the collaboration space. I'm Nancy Lucere, here again with my co-host, Anthony Salvedgie. Anthony, how's it going today?
SPEAKER_02It's going well, Nancy. How are you?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm doing good. But I got a question for you, Anthony. About how many video meetings would you say you do in a week?
SPEAKER_02I just looked that up since we just got off of uh July. And I saw that in July, I probably did about between three or four meetings every day. So you're probably looking at what is that, about 12 to maybe 16 meetings or more every week.
SPEAKER_01So that's a lot of video meetings and maybe a little bit of video fatigue?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I would say so. I mean, it depends on the meeting. I mean, sometimes if a meeting is productive and directly relates to what you're doing or what I'm doing in that case, then it's great because you know you're working toward a goal. If it's a meeting where you're more listening in on updates, yeah, that's when it can be kind of fatiguing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and that's kind of what we're going to be talking about today, because in addition to all of our meetings still being virtual, you know, we're still dealing with COVID, all of our trade shows and conferences and other events are still virtual too. So the challenge is how do we make that engaging? How do we make it different than just another online meeting? And Anthony, you went to our virtual trade show not too long ago, our sales conference, correct?
SPEAKER_02I did. Yeah. I thought it was a great show. I think it was really well done and well produced. And everything worked exactly as it should have.
SPEAKER_01Great. So what we're going to do today is share with everyone how we did that. And in order to do that, I've invited two special guests with me today. I have Lloyd Bunting and Stu Siegel from VideoLink. Good afternoon to you both.
SPEAKER_00Hi, very thanks for having us.
SPEAKER_01Wonderful. So, like I was saying, VideoLink and your teams, your production teams, helped us out create a wonderful virtual event. We had hundreds of salespeople attend. We got positive results, great feedback from the vendors who participated in that trade show. So, what I wanted to start out with was how do we determine the kinds of content to include in such an event to make sure that people, A, show up and B, are engaged and intend for the duration of the conference?
SPEAKER_00That's a great question. I think the way that we do that is we start by asking a lot of questions and in particular questions about what the live event was like. So, what was it that was working live? And then we really kind of drill down and try and figure out how can we take what was at the core of that and port it over to a virtual environment where things are different. Attention spans are shorter and run times tend to contract. How can we make it an engaging experience in the virtual environment based on what it was in the live environment? That's really where figuring out what is right starts.
SPEAKER_01Okay. And I know we had a lot of different types of content that I saw. We had live video, recorded video. We even had a trade show, which we can talk a little bit more about. But is that kind of a good plan to have those different types of content?
SPEAKER_00A diverse program is critical. Initially, back in March, when these events started to migrate very quickly online, you would see a live event that was ported over to the virtual environment. And it was speaker, speaker, speaker, speaker from 8.30 to 5.30. And that doesn't work. And my dog agrees. And so what we find is that creating a run-of-show that is diverse, that makes for some engagement, makes for some different segments, mixing it up between keynotes, panels, fireside chats, interactive segments, breakouts is really critical. And that looks different than a live event. So that's where we start in terms of thinking about what makes for a great virtual event lineup.
SPEAKER_01Let's talk a little bit about that trade show we had where our vendors all had booths. That's a great opportunity that everyone has when you go to a trade show or an event like that. You meet people in person. And that's a little bit hard to duplicate in a virtual event. But when I went into the trade show, I got to say I was impressed compared to some other virtual trade shows that I had seen. It was 3D. I could chat with the representatives in the booth. There was more videos to play. Can you talk a little bit about the production that goes into that and how video link helps?
SPEAKER_00Sure. First of all, thank you. I'm really glad that you enjoyed the experience. We got a lot of great feedback on it. And those events offer some things that live events don't. And I want to talk a little bit about what goes into producing it, but I also want to point out something that's really valuable is that when you produce a virtual expo that looks kind of like without being intimidating, an online video game, you're you collect amazing data about what everybody does and what they're interested in. And it helps you to craft follow-up messages, to identify hot prospects, and to build your next program. So that data has been a silver lining to this whole cloud of not being able to attend live. What goes into a production like that is extensive. It really is designed from the ground up. We think about what kind of environment we should create that's appropriate for the brand, and then we think about what sponsors should attend and what a virtual expo floor could look like. And we create booths that are really try and replicate in as many ways as possible the live experience of a booth. As I said, we really do want a hue to the live because it's what your guests are familiar with. And so what did that include in this case? It included building up booths that had videos and 3D models and chat and meetings and interactivity. It works. But obviously, once you do that and you just say, okay, we're going to design a virtual environment from the ground up. And we designed ours to mimic our, or rather, I guess, emulate the environment that we usually have our live event in, and people felt comfortable in that environment. So it is definitely an involved process. It's time-sensitive. There's definitely some lead time to build out a virtual expo like the one that we held with booths and interactive events and leaderboards and Easter eggs and raffles and videos and so much more, including a theater where you could go and attend sessions just as if you were at a live event on a floor and you wanted to pop into a ballroom and watch a speaker. So, what goes into that and how do we help? VideoLink's a creative agency. VL Creative, the creative division of Video Link, is the group that I run. And we work just like any other creative agency. We come in, we listen, and we learn, and then we shape an experience that's going to be right for your partners, for your employees, and for your guests. And it's an iterative process, I guess I would say. You know, we start by learning about the live event and then we start to design some things. No two events are the same. And there are just a lot of different directions that virtual events can take. And so we help guide brands through that process because it is overwhelming and it is very new. So I guess that's the core role that we play is really guiding you through that process and then executing it, bringing it to life.
SPEAKER_03I would not underestimate also the logistical aspects of these events and the large amount of work and the number of decisions that have to be made. It's it's like a live event in that respect to lots of things that need to be done. And most of our clients don't know how long things take, how many things need to be done, what needs to be prioritized and whatnot. And we can provide a lot of guidance in that area too.
SPEAKER_00Lloyd makes a great point. It's not just that they don't know what to be done, it's that everybody's so new to this. This is just such a new thing. I don't think we've been on a call or produced an event where a client hasn't said to us, we don't know what we don't know. I guess our job is in the most succinct form is to help you know what you don't know and to make good decisions. And there is a lot to know, and there is a lot of planning that has to happen and take place to pull it off. But the great news is that when it's done right, I mean, you cited the responses that we got from our internal and external partners. It can really be dazzling.
SPEAKER_02So I'm interested in the designing and planning aspect of events like virtual trade shows and town halls, where you have to follow the direction of many stakeholders. And I'm thinking of those that are say internal to the client and also their own partners who are part of a show. Stu or Lloyd, how do you handle that right up to the live production so that you know everyone is satisfied? What is that process like for you?
SPEAKER_00For us to make sure that the partners are satisfied all the way through the process. Once we start the process, we work so closely together that it's really easy to know because we're collaborating every day and on the day of the show, full time, so that you know you've field-tested things, you've road-tested things, we've rehearsed things. The way that we work is we build a table, a timetable with a series of milestones. And so we know at each milestone that, yep, we've got this right, we got this right, everybody's clicking here, and everybody's in agreement that this is working. So there are just each step of the way is very transparent and so that when you get to show day, there are just no surprises.
SPEAKER_02Let's say I work for a company that wants to host a live virtual event and I'm in charge of strategy. What are some steps that I should follow to make it a success?
SPEAKER_00Well, I will say that the easiest thing you can do is take a look at the blog I wrote exactly on that with our top tips on planning a virtual event strategy. I will give you a quick recap. I mean, hue to the live event, keep it familiar, adapt for the virtual environment, think strategically about who's coming, deliver value, drive engagement, but by all means include people and communicate early and often to the potential attendees. It's a huge thing that's often overlooked. Giving them that same level of communication in the run-up to your event, both about how to join and engage on the event and also about the value of the event is very, very, very helpful.
SPEAKER_02Thank you, Stu. Can you talk about the other types of events you produce, like town halls, what goes into planning for those and how those may be different from some of the other virtual, say, expos we've talked about already?
SPEAKER_03Sure, I can talk about that, I think. Yes, so video link is first and foremost a video production company. We've been doing town halls for years for clients. As you might imagine, up until recently, most of these events are physically in person, but we've been doing them virtually for clients as well, bringing in speakers from remote locations and creating virtual events out of physical events already. You might imagine it's the same issue. Previously, you might have a couple thousand people or 500 people in an auditorium with the CEO and a few other executives speaking and having a panel discussion, and you might have a camera crew there that's uh capturing it and streaming it to everybody else in the company's remote, they're remotely located. Well, now nobody's in that room. Nobody has access to the auditorium, no one has access to the studio equipment and all that. Everyone's coming out of their homes. So we've completely pivoted our business on the production side and are doing a tremendous number of video productions for clients who previously were either doing it themselves or just don't know how to do them this do it this way. And so, in effect, what we're doing is we're capturing people from their homes via Zoom, via Teams, via WebEx, creating a program from that, like you might see it on CNN with people in Windows, bringing in PowerPoints and video slides, rolling in videos with lower third graphics, that kind of thing, making something that looks really, really professional and presents the executives in the in the most positive light as possible. And again, as as Stu was commenting before, making it as easy as possible to watch. Anybody that's been that's sat through a long, one-hour long Zoom meeting or Teams meeting where you have the little small snapshots of a few of the speakers on the screen, and you have a big slide there, it can be pretty tiring and pretty dull. And so the idea is to keep it moving quickly and keep it visually uh appealing, and that's what we've been doing on a regular basis for clients. So those are different, and those are typically one hour, two hour long. So it's much briefer. It doesn't require the same kind of variability and the creative input that virtual events typically require, but they're also very common. They're done on a regular basis. That's something that we've been doing a lot of. Another area that we're seeing people are coming to us about is now that they're doing these, and we're like the first couple of months that we were doing these, Zoom was okay. Teams was okay. Everyone felt that this was gonna just last for a short period of time and this would be an effective stopgap. But now everyone's coming back to saying, how do we improve the video quality of our executives? People are getting Zoom fatigue, and it's happening on TV and it's happening on town meetings and other types of productions. So, as part of what we do, we've been providing studio facilities and remote control services of studios for years. We have over 200 remotely controlled ReadyCam studios in the field and in offices around the country and the world. And we are now taking this capability to the home. And so we're finding we're outfitting clients, executives, senior executives, with the ability to be able to broadcast from their home in a high, very high quality manner over the internet, as opposed to what you might see over Zoom. So those are the kinds of things we're seeing. We anticipate that this environment's gonna last at least for another six months, probably and potentially for another year. And companies are coming to that conclusion as well. So they're looking to invest in things that are gonna enable them to respond effectively and provide the highest quality communication they can.
SPEAKER_01This situation is gonna last a while, so these are all good options for different people to look at. So I wanted to thank Stu and Lloyd for joining me today and Anthony. If you want to learn more about Videolink, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of ADI SPL, you can visit our website or you can visit videolink.tv. And videoink.tv is also where you'll find Stu's blog that he talked about. So thank you all for joining me. I hope you all have a great day.
SPEAKER_00Thanks very much, Nancy. Thanks, Nancy.
SPEAKER_01All right, everyone. We'll see you next time in the collaboration space. Thank you for listening to our latest episode. Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app. We'll see you next time in the collaboration space. Until we meet again, you can connect with us online. Our Twitter handle is at ABI SPL Info, and you'll also find us on LinkedIn and ABISPL.com.