INSIGHTS


Fall 2020


03


CHARGE


KNOW YOUR


AUDIENCE While many platforms offer bells and whistles, from simple add-ons such as live polling to complex environments with virtual avatars that “walk” a simulated exhibit hall space, advanced platforms might be a turnoff to some of your sponsors or attendees. “It is essential that the technology be easy to use for the intended audience,” Gilbert advises. “Gen Xers and boomers can be a bit tech fearful. I trained 47 speakers in five days, and I can tell you they can get easily frustrated. Millennials, by contrast, may really enjoy a high-tech experience, so you need to pick a platform that will work for your audience’s demographics.”


APPROPRIATELY In a recent survey, Wild Apricot, an event-software company, found that 87 percent of organizations are charging less for virtual event attendance than they did for in-person events, with 29 percent not charging at all. While it may be tempting to offer your virtual event for free to boost participation, Beth Surmont, Director of Experience Design for the event strategy and digital marketing agency 360 Live Media, warns against using the term free when marketing events. “Meaning comes from sacrifice,” she notes. “If you just put your event online and don’t charge anything for it, it loses some meaning in the eye of the attendee. If you don’t want attendees to have to pay, [it’s] better to assign a value to the conference and then waive the registration fee thanks to a generous sponsor, a grant, or the generosity of the host.”


TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE DIGITAL


FORMAT No matter what you charge, you can attract more attendees and boost satisfaction rates by adding additional value. One way to do this, Gilbert notes, is to provide access to more content than the attendees would have had in person. “At a live event, you have to pick and choose what sessions you will attend,” she says. “A virtual environment allows attendees to attend multiple sessions that were run concurrently.” The key is to make sure every session is recorded and available to attendees for a period of time after the conference.


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