What Features To Look in While Hosting a Virtual Conference
As time changes virtual events have become a part of everyday life. Organizations are moving more and more internal and external events online in a virtual space with each passing day.
The upheaval of events in day to day life caused due to the global pandemic has resulted in incline towards virtual conferences and events. It allows you to connect with your employees, clients, business partners, shareholders, etc. residing in any geographical location.
Virtual Conference
Virtual conferencing has become an integral part of businesses nowadays to carry important meetings, discussions, lectures, and so on to keep the business running. A virtual conference is an online event that allows attendees to interact with each other and share their valuable insights on topics in a virtually rich environment. There are ample virtual event platforms available nowadays, hosting a conference on the best virtual conferencing platform that offers interactive and engaging virtual conference solutions is the best bet to rely on.
Virtual meetings became immensely popular among businesses with a widespread global presence with its employees located in varied geographical locations. Due to the global pandemic, many business sectors were affected resulting in a loss of revenues. With the lockdown scenario, virtual meetings have become part of most of the organizations.
Virtual events were in existence for a very long time, but virtual conferences and events have witnessed a major jump in the past few months and have now become the first priority of every organization.
Whether you are all planning to host an online course, a virtual conference with global delegates, or want to host a meeting with your team members in a virtual space, certain features are a must to look for while selecting a virtual conferencing platform. In this article, we have shared some of the most important features one must look for while hosting a virtual conference to deliver interactive, engaging, and immersive virtual event experiences.
1. Customized virtual conference solutions
Customization is one of the most important features to look for while selecting a virtual event platform to host a virtual meeting or conference. Leverage from the virtual conferencing platform that suits your needs and offers tailor-made virtual conferencing solutions. Look for the platform that allows you to host webinars, keynote sessions, job fairs, etc. depending upon the specific need of the organization. There are many virtual event service providers available in the market nowadays that offer customized solutions. Select the best that helps in delivering an interactive and immersive event experience. Look for video conferencing solutions that offer audio/video/text chats that enable real-time interaction between the attendees and the presenter. The customized solutions allow you to add exhibition halls, lobby, auditorium, and so on to deliver immersive and unique experiences to event attendees.
2. Look for Automation
Select a virtual conferencing platform that is easy to use and requires less time in terms of set up. Opt for a site that offers automation, as it results in saving a lot of time. Organizing virtual events in a limited timeframe needs automation. Before making a decision, ask virtual event platforms to give you a tour of the backend to gain valuable insight. You can even opt to ask questions like how long does the platform takes to show changes on the frontend or can the presenter make changes in the backend or not.
3. Live webcasting and pre-recording features
Live webcasting is a must feature to look for while hosting a virtual conference. If the organizer and participants can not interact live in real-time, then we can not call it a virtual conference. Select a virtual event platform that compiles interactive features such as polls, surveys, Q&A sessions, audio/video/text live chats, etc. Look for sites that support presentations from more than one speaker for wide exposure.
You can even opt for a pre-recording feature if you are running short of time as it saves a lot of time. Not all platforms offer pre-recording features if your business or organization needs such a feature look into it before making a final call.
4. Promote your event on social media
Social Promotion plays a significant role in reaching a large number of audiences. While hosting a virtual conference or a virtual event, select a platform that supports social promotion as it will help your online lecture reach as many people as possible. Take advantage of search engine optimization tools such as tags, titles, and keywords to expand your presence. Leverage from social media platforms and promote your virtual workshops or online lectures.
5. Backed by 24*7 customer support
When we plan to host a virtual meeting or a conference, there are certain technical irruptions that are faced by the broadcaster. Problems such as internet connection, sign-in difficulties, and other technical issues might irrupt amid the live webcasting of a virtual conference. Look for a platform that has troubleshooting if you are hosting a virtual event. Make it a point to pick a platform that is backed by 24*7 customer support to assist you before, during, or even after the event.
6. Enquire about the availability of reports
Virtual conferences are easily trackable and can offer a detailed report and valuable information about the attendees and how they interacted. Before making a final decision about selecting a virtual conferencing platform, enquire about the availability of reports as all platforms do not share the data.
7. Feedbacks
Feedbacks are one of the main features you must look at while selecting a virtual platform. As you host a number of virtual conferences, you will become used to a virtual environment. If the platform you use to host a virtual conference offers fewer options, you can send feedback to the platform as an input. If you find any issues, reporting it will make it easier for you to navigate.
All set to host a virtual conference, make it a point that the virtual event platform that you select must be accessible with a large number of devices and browsers. The virtual conferencing platform that is supported by 24*7 customer support and offers interactive features to engage attendees, serves you best.