Tag-Archive for » virtual attendee «
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
Face-To-Face or Virtual Go
My mother told me
To pick the very best one
And you are [not] it.
Often when meeting professionals consider whether to offer a face-to-face or virtual event, they feel as if the choice is best made by using a children’s counting rhyme.
You know…
Pizza, pizza, pizza pie
Offering virtual will cause our face-to-face to die
Or perhaps this is the rhyme you use. Get your fists ready.
One potato, two potato
Face-to-face galore
Hybrid or virtual
Which offers more?
Face-to-Face? Virtual? Hybrid? Which should I offer? The choice can seem daunting.
And understanding all of the dynamics involved with hybrid (offering both a face-to-face and virtual elements) or virtual events can be overwhelming. Heck, finding a common vernacular for virtual events is a maze itself.
Why? Virtual is a catchall phrase that encompasses a broad variety of terms. To the purists it only means 3D immersive environments like Eve Online, EverQuest, SecondLife, Virtual U or World of Warcraft. To others it means a high tech component that has a steep learning curve and unique software that must be downloaded–something most don’t want to do. Still to others it means something as simple as an online gathering of people.
Kelly A Graham, a Cisco System’s Virtual Events Strategist, says “A virtual event is a gathering of people who meet in online environment at a set time to acquire info, share, network and engage.” Using Kelly’s definition, a virtual event can include 2D and 3D environments, hybrid events, livestreaming, online chats, teleconferencing, telepresence, video conferencing, Webinars or Web streaming. In short, virtual is an umbrella term for any type of an event that is not face-to-face in person.
So figuring out the right mix for your audience can be overwhelming.
But won’t a virtual event cannibalize the face-to-face attendance? That’s the first reaction and fear of many.
And, it was the reaction of Mike Ray, Intel Americas’ North America Channel Sales Manager. Ray spoke recently on the Virtual Edge Summit 2010 panel: Learn How Oracle, Intel and SAP Extend Reach And Build Community With Hybrid Events.
In 2009, Ray decided to offer a hybrid event with both face-to-face and virtual live streaming components to his customers. His number one concern was if he did, would it cannibalize the face-to-face registration, costing more and reducing revenue. He and his team were concerned that the virtual element would deprive the company of vital elements, resources, and funding as less people opted to attend the face-to-face experience.
Ray said he now likens the decision to attend a face-to-face or virtual event similar to attending a baseball game. The choice: to watch a baseball game in person in the stadium or watch it at home on his large screen high definition TV.
His answer: “Depends.”
It “depends” on:
- Who’s playing
- How important the game is
- Where his seats are in the stadium
- How much his tickets would cost
- Who’s going with him
- Where the game is held
- How much is it going to cost to get there
- What the travel time would be
- What the weather is like
- What his schedule is like
Ray’s analogy has rich meaning for understanding how people decide to attend a face-to-face or virtual event. His baseball analogy identifies the criteria many use, often intuitively, when deciding to attend.
The attendee’s registration, whether face-to-face or virtual, “depends” on:
- Who will be at the event in person (both speakers and attendees)
- How important this event is professionally and personally to them as well as how unique the content and experience is
- Where the attendee will sit…is it a large event with more than 10,000 people so good seats are premium and they are going to watch the image magnification anyway or a smaller intimate experience
- How much the registration fee is
- Who in the attendee’s professional and social network is attending too
- Where is the face-to-face event being held…location, location, location…can the attendee do additional business in that location, can they bring the family and make it a mini-vacation, are there other things to do in the conference city, is it easy and quick to travel to
- How much is it going to cost to get there
- How long will it take to get there…especially in this day of long security lines, increased airport delays and constant flight cancellations
- Will weather impact travel, don’t forget 2010’s snowmageddon
- Can the attendee take the time off from work to attend the event
And did Ray’s concern about cannibalization of the face-to-face event ever materialize? No, just the opposite happened. Intel now has more people registered for the 2010 face-to-face event and for the virtual event than in 2009.
Engine, engine number nine,
Going down Chicago line,
Virtual, hybrid, face-to-face,
Which will win the meetings race?
What other criteria do you think people use when deciding to attend a face-to-face or virtual event? What is your experience with hybrid events? Share your thoughts.
There seems to be an important theme lately in some bloggers posts.
The topic de jour is the poor quality of conferences.
These bloggers are tired of paying for negative conference experiences. Their posts give conference organizers some insight into what attendees really value at events.
Conference attendees speak out about their experiences.
Olivier Blanchard has some harsh, strong and truthful thoughts about social media conferences. His thoughts apply to all events, not just social media conferences.
Thoughts On The Sorry State Of Social Media Conferences- Comments From Readers
3 Conferences & A Funeral – Part 1: Good Conferences Vs. Pointless Conferences
Don’t miss the 70+ comments from conference attendees too. There’s gold in them there attendee hills.
Nathaniel Whittemore wrote The Conference Is Dead (…Does Anyone Care?). He has more than 20 comments, many from dissatisfied attendees. More than 600 people clicked the link I sent out about this post so a lot of people are reading it)
Angela Rao-Brown wrote Are Conferences Really Necessary? about the 2009 SHRM conference.
What do these posts and comments all have a common?
- Dissatisfied conference attendees
- Average presentations with boring speakers typically chosen from “a call for proposals”
- Monologue presentations with little audience engagement
- Lack of structured peer-to-peer learning and facilitated networking
- $200-$600 registration fees for status-quo conference experiences
I think these writings are a wake-up call to meeting and event professionals. So what can we do differently to provide a better experience for attendees? How can we create more value for our attendee? How can we create raving evangelists of our conferences and events?
Here are eight things meeting and event professionals can do to provide remarkable, purple cow, unique experience with stellar content
1. Focus on the strategic and education design of the conference first.
What are the goals of the event? How do we provide a memorable, unique and remarkable experience? Think strategic first. Then proceed to the logistics and details of the event.
2. Think holistically about the attendee experience.
Put the attendee first. What can we do to upgrade the attendee experience? If it fits with the goal of the event, how can we create a unique, themed experience from the first marketing piece to the post-event reflections? How can attendees help create the experience? Think of Disney, Starbucks and Vegas which all have experiential elements. Stay away from hokey themes. What “Wow factors” can we employ?
3. Find some unexpected and unusual experiences to shake up the traditional conference format.
Do all presentations have to happen at the front of the room? What about using multiple small stages throughout the room? What about in-the-round? Think about the music you’ll use for walk-ins and walkouts. Consider the décor as it affects the experience.
4. Include money in the budget to pay for quality speakers.
It is imperative that conference organizers at a minimum cover conference registration, lodging, travel and expenses when securing speakers. Stop asking professional speakers to present for free. Write incentives into speaker contracts. If the speaker scores 80%-90% favorable from attendees according to your evaluation process, give them a bonus of $xx amount of dollars. If they score 91%-100% favorable, give them a higher bonus. You get the picture. Put the burden of the speaking performance back on the speaker. They’ll either live up to the job or stop asking for fees to speak.
5. Decide what topics should be discussed before choosing speakers.
What trends are impacting attendees? Identify the niche groups in your audience and topics that will attract each. Think about advanced topics too. Choose the topics first, not the speakers. Then find speakers to meet those topics. Don’t depend on the call for proposals to provide you with the best speakers or best topics. Search for the right speakers and current thought leaders. Talk to those thought leaders and ensure that they know how to present using good adragogy (adult learning techniques). Once topics are chosen, think of ways to extend that content by providing basic and foundational content through webinars and blog posts before the event. Then provide advanced content onsite.
6. Consider how to provide the best education design possible for those living in a Web 2.0 world.
Is this conference only about those attending the face-to-face event? Or do you need to engage a larger community including virtual attendees? What social elements can you add to the conference to extend the community experience? Should you provide a genius bar, free Wi-Fi, a bloggers lounge, etc. View the face-to-face conference as one touchpoint within a larger eco-system of the community experience.
7. Choose a variety of presentation delivery methods for the conference experience.
Intentionally structure both vertical, monologue, one-way presentations and then provide facilitated dialogues and polylogues to discuss that content. When choosing panels, choose moderators with experience that can keep the discussion flowing. Create horizontal, networked learning with peer-to-peer facilitated sessions. Provide plenty of adult white space to allow attendees to digest information and connect with each other.
8. Provide opportunities for attendees to learn without walls and customize their experience to their own needs while providing cutting-edge, content in a variety of ways.
What would you add? What have you done that’s been successful for creating a unique, remarkable purple cow event?
Are you thinking about adding a virtual experience for your customers or members?
Perhaps you are considering adding a virtual component to your next conference or event?
Ian McGonnigal, Executive Director, Program Strategy at George P Johnson defines a virtual event as “… a gathering of individuals who meet through a computer-generated environment at a prearranged time in order to acquire knowledge, share information, interact with each other and engage in activities of common interest.“
Are you considering intergrating a virtual experience in your current offerings?
So whether you’re looking to create a virtual event or integrate a virtual experience into your current offerings, here are eight types of virtual experiences for your consideration:
1. Hybrid Event
A mix of face-to-face and virtual experiences usually running simultaneously which may include overlapping content and interactive elements to two different audiences, those present within the four walls of the face-to-face event and virtual attendees.
2. Internet Radio Show Or Interview
Also known as web radio, net radio, streaming radio and e-radio, Internet Radio is an audio broadcasting service transmitted via the Internet. Some Internet radios providers like blogtalkradio, offer social media platform integration, free recordings and podcasting applications.
3. Live Streaming
A continuous stream of data, usually video or other media, sent in compressed form over the Internet and displayed by the viewer in real time. The receiver uses a player, which is a special program that uncompresses and sends video data to the display and audio data to the speakers. Many Internet browsers have built in streaming players. Some conference organizers are creating hybrid events and live stream aspects of the face-to-face conference to virtual attendees. Livestream, Qik and UStream are examples of free or low-cost live streaming. There are a wealth of high-end live streaming companies as well (like Midori Connolly’s Pulse Staging & Events or Carrie & Mike McAllen’s Grass Shack Events & Media). Livestream, Ustream and Twebevent integrate live streaming with other social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook for real time chat.
4. Online Conference
An online platform that integrates webinars, streaming video and audio, discussion boards with RSS, file libraries and vendor showrooms. Often the online conference follows a similar format as a face-to-face conference, with attendees participating in real time or on-demand recordings. Some conference organizers are offering an online conference in association with their face-to-face event. Some conference organizers offer online conference social communities as an extension of a face-to-face event that may or may not include some of the online conference features like webinars, streaming video and audio. iCohere is an examples of a platform that provides online conferences. CrowdVine, NFi Studios’ MemberFuse, Omnipress’ Conference 2.0, Pathable, and Social Collective are examples of online conference communities.
5. Podcast
An audio broadcast that has been converted to digital, such as an MP3 file or other audio file format for playback in a digital music player and downloaded from the Internet. For some of the best meetings and event podcasts, check out Mike McAllen’s McCallen’s MeetingsPodcast.
6. Teleconferences
A conference of people who are in different locations that is made possible by the use of telecommunications equipment. It can be supported through telephone, computer, telegraph, radio and closed-circuit television. It is sometimes referred to as audio conferencing, telephone conferencing and phone conferencing.
7. Virtual Meeting
A live event or meeting held using a virtual platform, custom built or hosted in a 3D or 2D virtual world. InExpo, InXpo, On24, SecondLife’s Virtualis Convention Center, and Unisfair are a few of the companies providing real-time virtual events and meetings.
8. Webinars
Short for Web-based seminar, a webinar is a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the Web. The information is streamed, live or on-demand, broadcasting the message usually from one source to multiple users simultaneously. Most Webinars, also called Virtual Seminars, offer interactive features with the ability to give, receive and discuss information. Some differentiate Webcasts from Webinars since Webcasts only offer one way data transmission from the presenter to the attendee.
I know there are others. What other types of virtual experiences would you add to this list?
Hybrid meetings and blended event experiences are the buzz of many organizations this year.
But, are they as important as some say or is it just hype? (Get ready, this is a long post. Stay with me, it’s has some interesting research though!)
Along with the buzz, you’ve probably also heard several reasons not to integrate virtual experiences into your face-to-face meeting. Here are some of the naysayer’s mantras:
- Adding live streaming or virtual attendance will cannibalize our onsite attendance.
- Virtual experiences do not promote networking and learning.
- It costs too much to add a virtual element to our annual conference.
- There are too many distractions for people attending virtual events.
- You can’t control the audience when they attend virtually and therefore the value drops.
- Virtual attendees start chatting with each other and don’t pay attention to the presenter. It’s just like they’re passing notes.
- The back channel is rude and disrespectful, and promoting it is a fail. It can be highjacked by spammers and inappropriate talk.
Whether it’s hype, buzz, concerns or complaints, here are four reasons, from recent studies, that show the positive impact on learning by adding virtual experiences to your face-to-face meeting or events.
Online learning of polylogues creates hyper time and increased learning.
- A 2009 Department of Education study shows that adults in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. (Holy Kaw Batman. That can’t be true!)
- Giving virtual attendees control of their interactions with each other, the media and the content enhances learning. (That’s right, go ahead and lose control of your attendees. They’ll learn more without you in the way!)
- Online learning is superior to face-to-face instruction. (Wow, the U.S. Department of Education said that!)
- Source: U.S. Department of Education, Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies
- Research published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication shows that online a polylogue (multiple people talking with each other simultaneously) is better than a monologue (speaker presentation) or dialogue (turn-taking interactions).
- In face-to-face presentations, words follow words, paragraphs follow paragraphs, people’s thought patterns follow a single, one-way linear medium—the presenter’s speech–, which discourages flexible, open-ended, multidirectional and multidimensional thought.
- Face-to-face presentations demand that an attendee follow an authoritarian, straight-line, fixed point of view and the medium can become stronger than its content.
- Attendee engagement during a face-to-face presentation demands turn-taking interaction, a dialogue, where the process of taking turns may become more important than the message and comments may be out of snyc as a result of waiting for one’s turn. (We’ve all been there where we’re dying to add a comment, ask a question or ask for clarification. By the time we get called on to speak, we’ve forgotten what we were going to say or it’s no longer relevant to the discussion.)
- Virtual experiences where attendees can control their conversations and participate in polylogues of words and images increase learning and retention. (Ok, here’s the proof that chats, like Twitter chats are better than monologues or dialogues.)
- Source: Comparing How Students Collaborate to Learn About the Self and Relationships in a Real-Time Non-Turn-Taking Online and Turn-Taking Face-to-Face Environment
- Supersynchrony, as Dr. Davis Fougler calls it, allows attendees to control of level of synchrony with parallel interactions, which magnifies learning opportunities and retention.
- In face-to-face presentations, the majority of the interactions are between the presenters and the attendees, basically one-way and expert centric. Sometimes, presenters involve audience engagement yet conversations are still one-way dialogues between two people.
- Virtual experiences promote supersynchrony that creates hypertime, bending time so to speak, by allowing for additional data flow to the attendee and increased productivity. (There’s your new word for the week, supersynchrony.)
- Virtual or online presentations give attendees the ability to break and restore communication linearity. Participants can scroll back from the moment the statements was posted, while interacting presently in the here-and-now, resulting in several conversations happening all at the same time (which are archived for later use). (I know, go ahead and say that’s too much noise for you and you need to focus on one thing at a time. There’s a time and a place for that too.)
- Such hyper synchronous, multi-layered online interaction not only connects each participant in a web of discussion, it affords each participant time to respond during the online synchronous discussion and time to reflect and digest what was said in the archives. This increases interactivity, learning, retention and is a better than face-to-face learning. (For all those naysayers about Twitter chats, here’s the research to back it. Just because YOU don’t like it doesn’t mean that it’s that everyone doesn’t like it. Get out of the way and let your attendees interact with the content and each other.)
- Sources: Building Time Machines: Thinking about the future of interpersonal communication and International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Volume 6, Number 2.
- Hybrid events, blending virtual and face-to-face actually drive face-to-face event attendance and purchases.
- In 2009, Cisco Live, Cisco’s annual customer conference, had 10,000 people at their face-to-face event and another 4,400 with virtual experiences.
- Along with traditional back channel chats during presentations, Cisco provided live group video chats after keynotes specifically for virtual attendees to ask experts, Cisco executives, and speakers questions and to provide more in-depth discussions. These tools also allowed smaller groups of virtual attendees to break off into private chats and return to the larger chat as needed.
- 80% of the virtual attendees said they are likely to purchase a product from Cisco.
- 34% said they were likely to attend the face-to-face event because of attending the virtual experience. (Who wouldn’t like a 34% increase in face-to-face registration!)
- They had 21,000 virtual sessions views, 74 blog posts written and 4,000 virtual booth visits.
- Source: Once You Go Hybrid You’ll Never Go Back
My takeaways from these studies:
- Allow attendees to pick their learning preferences. It’s fine if someone wants to use a computer during an event, follow the back channel or just passively listen. Respect all.
- Event organizers must begin to create more networked learning and less monologues in conferences. Start thinking about adding “social” elements to the face-to-face experience.
- Event organizers should see events within the larger context of a community ecosystem including virtual and face-to-face experiences.
- You can’t control learning whether at your face-to-face or virtual event and you never did.
- Adding a virtual element to your face-to-face event, can have a positive impact on attendance at the next event. See virtual experiences as marketing for future registration, not something that discounts the face-to-face experience.
So what say you? If you’re still with me and read all of this!
I am just now returning to the office after managing my association’s 21st annual conference.
After seven days in Scottsdale, AZ at a beautiful resort and 100 degree temperatures, I’m grateful to be home.
In 15+ years of planning conferences and events, this was one of the most difficult I’ve ever managed. The convergence of the recession, health care reform (which directly affects the industry association I work for), challenging venue negotiations, and free online content put us on the precipice of the unknown and constant change. We did our best to manage attendee’s expectations and move on a dime as needed. Many “Midcourse Corrections” occurred at this event. Thankfully, as a small staff association we were prepared to change quickly both off and onsite as warranted.
Attendance was down. Revenue was less than expected. Expenses were cut. Yet, the attendee experience did not suffer and our delegates enjoyed the event and resort. That’s what ultimately matters although the fallout of the bottom line is yet to be seen.
As we head into 2010, here are 16 of my meeting planning takeaways from this experience:
Don't expect the economy to rebound to the way it once was. We are now in the new normal.
1. Signing venue contracts two and three years before the event is no longer the new normal.
There is too much risk for the customer regarding contractual obligations including attrition and food and beverage requirements. Some venues are suffering financially as well and want to hold the customer to their contract instead of negotiating a win-win. Things change very fast today. Shorter planning times mean venue contracts are being signed closer to the event.
2. As an association event planner, forget your history for meeting room space and sleeping rooms.
The past is not a good predictor of the future at this time. The better predictor of your attendance is to connect with your members and ask them about their plans. But don’t expect them to follow through with their plans if they are paying for their own way to the event.
3. Cell phone and WiFi access are necessities like water and electricity for any event venue and should be free.
I’ll never do another RFP that does not include requests for information about all cell phone carrier access at the venue and the venue’s WiFi access. People are doing business 24-7 and need to be able to connect online and through their cell phone. Venues that don’t have good cell phone reception and those that charge exorbitant fees for WiFi will lose business, including mine.
4. Phone-in presentations don’t work without visuals, good land line connections and quality hybrid phones (phones that connect directly to sound magnification).
Don’t assume that SKYPE or the cell phone speaker are good back up plans unless you’ve tested them during a site visit. Both may be inaccessible from the facility.
5. Less is more, green is in and spending dollars on content and connecting people creates success.
Cut back on the extravagance and put money towards good content, helping people connect with each other and extending the conference experience before and after the event (webinars, blog posts, conference social community, virtual experiences). A conference social community is a must!
6. Attendees want to pay less for conference registration and expect more value from the event.
The attendee wants more immediate gratification. If the content or experience is not relevant or applicable to their personal or professional lives immediately, forget it. Also, associations that depend on a large portion of their annual budget revenue from conference revenues will continue to face increased challenges. Watch for more associations to drop registration fees or even offer free conference registration. (Also watch as some associations begin to merge with others in the coming year.)
7. Online free content is affecting the conference content and attendance.
Attendees expect onsite conference content to be stellar and better than what they have already seen online. Providing the same ‘ole speakers that you have always used is not good enough anymore.
8. It’s time to view the annual conference within the context of a larger community eco-system.
It is actually only one touchpoint within the eco-system of virtual and face-to-face member experiences. Some of your attendees will be at the venue, others will be outside the venue’s four walls. The organization needs to reach both. Also, step away from viewing the annual conference as a one-hit wonder or stand-alone climatic meeting within the year’s events.
9. Presentations need to move from vertical, one to many presentations to more horizontal, many to many, style sessions.
Attendees want less talking heads, more interaction, networking and structured engagement with each other and with the content. They prefer to learn from each other than a panel or presenter. Structure learning experiences around the audience as the experts. Use crowdsourcing and peer-to-peer exercises for increased attendee engagement and satisfaction. When delegates attend a presentation, they want time to interact with the content and with each other during or after the session. Plan and provide that opportunity.
10. The conference attendee list can drive your registration.
People are attending an event less for content and more for face-to-face time with friends, business colleagues, competitors and vendors. Identify the influencers in your attendee registration and empower them to be your event evangelist.
11. Our attendees are seeking boutique event experiences with fewer people.
We are seeing an increase in requests for a smaller conference experience that we plan every year with condensed meaningful professional development content. People actually enjoyed the smaller number of attendees and felt like it was a special event, just for them.
12. You cannot go backwards with virtual and technology integration.
Attendees expect the same level of virtual and technology integration as in past events. Reducing costs by cutting technology and virtual expenses ultimately reduces attendee’s experience and increases their concerns. Charging extra for virtual and technology integration will be a sure fail whale and you’ll jump the shark at the same time.
BONUS TIPS:
13. Attendees welcome more adult white space in the conference schedule.
Build in adequate time for breaks, connecting with the office, conversations with each other, and time to reflect. Don’t try to cram in more stuff thinking more is better. Reducing the amount of scheduled presentations or events is actually welcomed by the attendee and gives the attendee time to digest and reflect on content.
14. Fear and change are two themes all audiences face regardless of the discipline or industry.
If you provide content on dealing with fear and change, you’ll have a winner. These are unique times indeed and these themes are ubiquitous as attendees grapple with the unknown.
15. The corporate and nonprofit mantra has been “If we can just hold on, one of these days things will get back to normal.” Forget about getting back to normal. This is the new normal.
16. What is the new normal?
According to economist, Don Reynolds of 21st Century Forecasting, “More regulation, a weaker consumer, higher rates of unemployment, years before housing prices get back to old highs, a weaker dollar, more government debt, more taxes, a little deflation, then a lot more inflation and an end to U.S. global economic downturn.” (Don was one of our keynote speakers and delivered optimistic yet cautious economic news.)
As we look into the 2010 crystal ball regarding the meetings, events and associations world, what can we expect? More of the same.
According to Reynolds, “The economy has improved and will continue to do so. However, we are in the new normal!” He felt that this recession will last a minimal of six quarters. He also said, “To expect a normal recovery cycle, whether it is corporate profits or lending or consumer spending or capital investment, or (pick the category—increased meeting attendance, or association growth) is just not reasonable.”
Welcome to the New Normal.
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