In this time of crisis, you and your company may have already decided to cancel or postpone your event. But have you considered going virtual? And just how do you plan and produce a virtual event?

Planning a virtual event can be similar in many ways to planning a face to face event in a physical venue.

Attendees will still interface with a registration website.

Sessions and presenters will be selected, organized and scheduled.

Sponsors and exhibitors can promote their businesses and show their products or services.

Online attendance prizes and promotional items can be offered.

Professional networking is possible with chat and Q & A tools offered with webinar platforms.

Outside of scheduled sessions, integrated digital platforms like Budd Boss can provide social networking tools for attendee interactions.

Destination and venue are not considerations for a virtual event but finding the best remote conferencing service is. If your business already uses a virtual meeting service and they have the tools for virtual events, you may feel most comfortable staying with someone familiar. If not, you may want to look at some other options. Services like Zoom, Go to Meeting Video Conferences, Cisco Webex, and Microsoft Team are among the many excellent service companies available.

For tips on selecting a video conference service check out this article in Business News Daily, Best Video Conference Service 2020.

DIY technologies are also available for those who prefer doing it on their own.

Like any event, planning for the virtual event is a critical step in getting to the final production.

Information on planning for virtual events is available online from many sources. A few of these sources are listed below:

learningrevolution.net

blog.hubspot.com

navidmoazzez.com

meetingsnet.com

medium.com

Whatever your decision, being prepared and open to alternatives is good for business.

For event planners and businesses virtual conferencing could be your best alternative to canceling or postponing an event.