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We are no longer prisoners of geography.

This means you now can have attendees from Palo Alto to Perth joining, participating, and collaborating at your virtual event. That’s incredible.

But once you’ve (virtually) high-fived everyone in the marketing team, and start thinking about the logistics of it all, there’s one big challenge that you’ll notice immediately: how can you create an engaging and exciting virtual event experience for all your attendees if they’ll all be tuning in from different places and different times? After all, when your attendees are all set to go at 10:00 AM in Palo Alto, other attendees will be snoring away in their beds at 2:00 AM in Perth. Hardly ideal.

And even if your attendees were all located within your timezone, it’s still improbable that every single one of them will be able to stay throughout your event. Thanks to busy workday schedules as well as the blurring of home-work life, we are all working more nowadays which means that your attendees may have to miss out on parts of your event.

So, how do you ensure that all your attendees are able to attend your event and derive value from it? 

Asynchronous content delivery.

Wait, what does asynchronous mean?

‘Asynchronous’ simply means not existing or occurring at the same time; it’s the opposite of something ‘synchronous’ which is used to describe something happening in real-time. For instance, if you send someone an email and they reply hours later, that’s asynchronous while a video call, a phone call, a face-to-face meeting is synchronous.

How do I use asynchronous content at my virtual event? And why should I?

In the context of virtual events, this means that you can plan in some asynchronous content that everyone can consume and engage with regardless of different time zones i.e. instead of specific times for a live session or conversation, attendees can watch pre-recorded content or consume pre-made materials like PDFs or presentations and answer questions or prompts on their own time (think Netflix vs. TV).

The  advantages are undeniable:

1. Offers flexibility and convenience for organizers and attendees‍

Organizers no longer have to deal with the headache of finding times that work across multiple time zones. And attendees don’t have to deal with having to join an event at strange times; there’s no need for anyone to tune in at 3:00 AM. Everyone can enjoy the convenience of joining when they can, engaging and contributing on their own time.

2. Gives people the ability to learn at their own pace

Asynchronous content gives your attendees more time to digest information and formulate ideas, and as your event content can be produced in multiple formats— such as blogs, research reports, and video presentations — your attendees have more freedom in the way they want to learn about a topic. This is “very learner-centric. It’s for me to consume when I can consume it and how I want to consume it,” says Derrick Johnson, director of event strategy and development and chief diversity officer at Talley Management Group.”

3. Enables diverse input

By giving attendees from different geographies and disciplines access to your event content, you can receive broader and deeper responses and insights. Additionally, because there’s no pressure to immediately respond, more attendees and especially introverted participants can feel more emboldened to share their opinions. 

It’s very clear that ‘anytime, anywhere’ content is integral to ensuring that no attendees miss out on important parts of your event, and in this way, it helps to build a shared experience for all your attendees. 

But this is not to say that your entire virtual event has to consist only of asynchronous content.  When speaker and attendee dialogue, or real-time attendee connection and collaboration are essential to the goals of your event, planning in synchronous content is needed too. 

Striking the balance between asynchronous and synchronous content 

The appeal for blending learning and engagement is that your attendees will benefit from the advantages of both: content they can access at any time and real-time meetings that are focused and productive.

Derrick Johnson, director of event strategy and development and chief diversity officer at Talley Management Group, sums this up succinctly, commenting: “For me, in this event space, the best model is a collaboration between synchronous and asynchronous learning, where you have the opportunities for the learners to [learn] at their own pace, at their own leisure, engage with the pre-recorded content that exists in the space,” he says. “But you’re providing opportunities of adapting this synchronous learning together so that people can connect at a later point and build upon the learning and on the concepts that they’ve gathered during that independent time.”

Here are some simple ways to incorporate both at your event:

• Simulated live sessions

With a simulated live session, a speaker or panel’s presentation is pre-recorded and played on a specific date and time during the event. But it has a live component as well. While the presentation is played, a speaker/speakers will be available to talk in real-time with a virtual audience and answer their questions. Simulated live sessions can accommodate different regions and time zones - with local presenters available for the real-time chat - to generate the same excitement and immediacy for all your attendees.

• Pre-recorded stage presentation + live workshops/group discussions

Playing recorded content on Stages or creating a content hub using a virtual Expo Booth is an easy way to get all your attendees to consume the material as per their convenience. Then organize workshops in each time zone for attendees to discuss the pre-recorded content and share their opinions with each other. 

Pro-tip: Zuddl’s virtual Rooms enable you to host and moderate small group conversations. This feature is particularly useful as it has an option to view the content playing on a Stage, so attendees can refer directly to it during their discussions. 

• Training sessions

You can turn the last suggestion on its head. Hosting live instructor-led training sessions for attendees in each of your timezones is a great way to drive value, especially since it gives attendees the ability to ask questions and get real-time feedback. You can record these sessions and make them available to attendees in other timezones as well, so everyone can learn from each other.

Real-life examples of asynchronous and synchronous content at virtual events

Example 1:  The University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland’s Kongress zur Begabungs- und Begabtenförderung (IBBF)

FHNW, one of Switzerland's leading universities of applied sciences and arts, hosts an international event every three years for all teachers and specialists interested and involved in the promotion of talent. Usually, talent centers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland hold sessions with world-leading experts to enable an exchange beyond regional and national borders; international speakers present current school developments and findings for discussion.

With the pivot to virtual, the organization had to rethink routine practices. With experts from the US as well as teachers with busy school schedules joining the event, organizers needed to bring in some flexibility within the fixed schedule. So live presentations, as well as pre-recorded workshops, were on the agenda and organizers made the program available as a recording for several days afterwards. Attendees could also download the presentation slides from the virtual event platform.

Example 2: German Society of Periodontology DG PARO’s hybrid 2020 Annual Meeting

DG PARO is a leading German dental organization that hosts a meeting for professionals every year. Responding to the challenge of the pandemic, the organization decided to host a "hybrid congress" instead, combining in-person and online events. This meant that up to 100 attendees could attend the event from the physical venue in  Stuttgart while virtual attendees could join via a virtual event platform. 

Organizers were careful to ensure that all attendees were able to derive plenty of value from the event; networking and chat rooms were set up throughout to encourage attendees to get to know each other and make professional connections as per their convenience; furthermore, in-person attendees were able to attend live presentations that were streamed to the virtual venue so attendees joining in from home could also access and engage with the content. The sessions were recorded and made for subsequent on-demand viewing for those tuning in from other time zones.

To sum up …

With asynchronous content, you can spread your event over longer periods of time, hold repeated sessions for attendees in different time zones, and keep that content available for consumption and lead generation after the official event ends. This gives your attendees more flexibility in selecting and consuming content and can help you drive more registrations,  participation, and member value.

But it’s not a be-all.

It’s important for organizers to consider both synchronous and asynchronous content delivery in planning, and be purposeful in creating opportunities for both to complement each other. Without asynchronous content, attendees in multiple time zones can feel like second-class citizens, but with synchronous content you can add more energy, excitement, and real-time feedback.

Providing both options offers attendees a balance between content and community and gives them the ability to choose how to consume and interact.

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

At first glance, planning a virtual event can seem pretty easy. All you need to do is curate an amazing line-up of speakers, rope in a fantastic virtual event platform partner, and you’re good to go, right?

Well, not quite.

Just like catching a roadrunner, organizing a virtual event can seem deceptively simple. Think through all the activities associated with the event lifecycle: from making an event landing page to setting up ticketing, and creating your virtual event venue to sending out post-event emails, there's quite a lot to do (not that we’re trying to scare you).

But the fact of the matter is that every part of your event lifecycle is a separate activity in itself. And if one fails, it’ll have direct consequences on every other activity - in the end, impacting the overall success of your event. 

The best way to cut through the planning and logistical stress: virtual event tools that make your work more efficient and streamlined. Here are the essentials that you should already know about:

The virtual event tools you need to use

Ticketing

As you know, the event experience starts as soon as your prospective attendee shops for tickets to your event, which means that you can’t afford for the ticketing experience to be anything other than smooth and clear. That’s where an event ticketing tool can be invaluable. 

Tools like Aventri, or Eventbrite will streamline the entire ticketing process for you. You will be able to 

• Create a dedicated landing page for your event with ticketing incorporated (the amount of customization offered depends on the tool you choose)
• Put different ticket tiers, and corresponding prices in place
• Set up payment options
• See real-time ticketing performance data so you can improve and optimize sales.

The tool you choose will determine how creative you can get with ticketing; some organizers for instance are offering  NFTs as a virtual/hybrid event ticket which is a unique and exclusive way to drive sales and nurture brand loyalty. (Click here for more on the inventive ways NFTs are being used in virtual events).

Payments

In the world of ever-increasing impatience and frustration, speed and effortlessness are the name of the game. If your attendees face any issues at the point of purchase, they’re likely to back out and have a negative view of your brand. That’s why domestic and international payment tools like  Stripe, Razorpay, Paypal or PayU are so important. A fast, easy and reliable checkout shortens the time from interest to purchase and helps to create a good brand impression. 

CRM

Today’s attendees are more demanding than ever before.

Salesforce’s “State of the Connected Customer” report spells this out, stating that attendees expect “proactive service, personalized interactions, and connected experiences across digital channels.” And 71% of those polled said that they would make a purchase decision based on experience quality.

What this boils down to is once an attendee purchases a ticket, you’ll need to make sure that they feel like a VIP. To this end, CRM tools such as Hubspot, Marketo and Salesforce are an organizer’s best friend, enabling you to manage your attendees through the entire event lifecycle and streamline communication with them. This means you’ll be able to:

• Send out automated ticket registration emails, event notifications and reminders, and session recordings post-event to create a personalized experience - there’ll be no chance of attendees receiving an email addressed to the wrong person.
• Keep tabs on attendee activities throughout the event and provide more opportunity for fostering leads 
• Automate tasks and optimize your time and effort

Leverage a CRM tool to its utmost and you’ll be able to give your attendees an event experience that’ll earn you rave reviews on social media, make them more open towards a future purchase, and foster brand loyalty.

Streaming

An overload of virtual sessions with talking-head programming just won’t cut it anymore. For your virtual events to be more engaging and impressive than a PowerPoint presentation, you’ll need to be able to play video during your sessions. Here’s why its indispensable:

• With the help of a production studio, you can leverage technologies like Augmented Reality (AR), Extended Reality (XR), and other virtual sets to create a unique and immersive experience
• Live-streaming also helps to build community. Speakers can interact with attendees, and answering questions, and taking Polls which bring an immediacy to the proceedings
• Playing pre-produced video content ensures that there are no hitches during the event

Thanks to streaming tools such as Youtube, Vimeo, GoToWebinar, Zoom, and Teams, you’ll be able to stream videos in and out in real-time with ease.

Translators

One of the biggest advantages of virtual events is the ability they give you to reach a larger audience than was previously possible; one that is spread throughout your country or even around the world. 

However, with this ability also comes a responsibility that all your attendees regardless of location or the language they speak, are equally able to access and consume your content. 

This is where translation tools like Interprefy, SyncWords, and Google Translate can make a big difference:

• Multilingual audio support enables attendees who speak different languages to still be able to read and digest the content presented at your event
• Live captioning allows you to make every spoken word in the videos you share at the event consumable for attendees who are hard of hearing

What’s the secret to getting all the tools you need for your virtual event?

From making your life easier to creating a better experience for your attendees, it’s easy to see the benefits of virtual event tools. So why aren’t all event organizers using them? Sadly, not all virtual event platforms offer integrations with these tools forcing organizers to depend on paid tools to manage such integrations, which is neither a flexible or scalable solution.

To resolve this integration headache for organizers, Zuddl offers out-of-the-box integrations to the most popular CRMs, ticketing systems, payment gateways, and translation tools which means that you’ll have every tool you need in one place at your fingertips. And furthermore, our team will also work hand-in-glove with yours to build custom integrations for homegrown systems.

To sum up

While creating  a virtual event experience that your attendees will remember for all the right reasons can be challenging, virtual event tools can play a vital role in getting it right. But this can be made more complicated by clunky integrations or the lack thereof for your favourite tools. 

Which is why Zuddl will work with you to develop the integrations your organization needs specifically. Working together, we can ensure that your next event is dynamic and impactful. 

Want to learn more about Zuddl?

If you’d like to discuss how Zuddl can help you produce a flawless event experience, book a demo with our team today. 

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

Online burnout. It’s been increasingly cropping up in casual conversation with colleagues and friends, in Forbes articles and LinkedIn thought pieces, to say nothing of Twitter. And it’s no surprise. 

Ever since easing into a remote world of work and a virtual-first way of life, we are now all spending inordinate hours online, attending back-to-back meetings, replying to countless emails and messages, and jumping from tab to tab to tab. It can get overwhelming pretty quickly, leaving you exhausted and unable to focus. Everyone has had at least one of these days.

‍What does this have to do with virtual event attendees?

It’s the same principle.

Assuming your virtual event runs for 1-2 days, with each day filled with sessions and activities, there’s a high probability that your attendees too will experience online burnout. There’s no point in putting all that time and effort into organizing your virtual event only for your attendees to tune out and drop off during its run. 

It’s clear that while well-meaning virtual event organizers are working hard to make their events unique and worth attending, not all understand that simply having a great line-up is enough; that’s only one part. The other is really paying attention to the attendee experience and doing whatever you can to make sure that they feel engaged and energized throughout the event.

Here’s how to make this happen:

To improve attendee engagement in events, prioritize creating memorable experiences over simply conveying information. Utilize virtual event platform tools and strategic planning to enhance the quality of engagement. Here are four simple suggestions to implement for better attendee engagement in your virtual event:

1.  Vary your content strategy

A “one-size-fits-all” content strategy won’t work anymore given that people prefer to consume content in different ways at different times today. Attendees want to and will consume content in a format, time, and place of their choosing. Some learn by reading, others by listening, some by watching, and some by experiencing, so the content that you offer must be customized to engage this newly empowered attendee. 

This can be accomplished by creatively using the features and capabilities of your virtual event platform. For example:

• Invite a guest speaker to lead a session on an important topic on a Stage
• Simultaneously set up Rooms in which small groups can watch the session on Stage whilst discussing it with other attendees
• Set up an Expo Booth with downloadable material such as PDFs, checklists, guides etc
• Make video recordings of the session accessible to attendees even after the event ends so they can watch whenever they want

This way, by creating different touchpoints and experiences around your content, your attendees will be able to actively engage in consuming your content according to their preferences.

2.  Get attendees involved 

Let’s be honest. How many times have you drifted off during an online meeting - checked your phone, browsed Netflix, or caught up on chores, etc.? We’re not judging. 

As per the 2020 Amex report, around 54% of event planners have already shifted their focus to enhancing the attendee experience, against the backdrop of virtual fatigue. What this means is that given the tendency for people to disconnect one’s attention, especially when they aren’t speaking, it’s critical for organizers to make attendees still feel involved and integral to virtual event sessions. 

This can be achieved by leveraging your virtual event platform’s engagement tools to turn them from passive viewers to active participants.

Zuddl, for instance, has a variety of tools designed to make attendees an active part of the conversations on Stage:

• Chat, Q&A, and Polls can make attendees feel like their voice is heard, especially if the questions, comments or results are incorporated into sessions. 

• Raise Hands lets attendees  talk face-to-face with speakers on stage

• Emoji reactions are an easy, quick, and fun way for attendees to indicate enthusiasm

The upshot is that these tools help attendees quickly feel like they're part of the proceedings and realize that their voices matter - a simple but powerful way to make them want to continue attending and engaging at your event. 

3. Use gamification to the fullest

Improving attendee engagement in events goes beyond initial participation and requires maintaining their interest throughout the event. While attendee engagement tools facilitate participation, incorporating gamification can motivate attendees to remain engaged in your virtual event.

Organizers can set up a point system, wherein attendees can earn coins or points by completing actions or activities at the event,  set up a leaderboard to encourage friendly competition, and award prizes to the top performers.

It’s an extraordinarily fun way to remove the drudgery that can come from attending many online sessions, and instead make your attendees feel excited and motivated to keep their focus on the event.

4. Give attendees downtime to recharge

It’s only natural for people to get a bit virtual-ed out so break up a packed day of long sessions with mini-breaks for attendees to recharge their bodies and minds.  Not taking this into consideration is a virtual event planning mistake you’ll want to avoid.

• Use push notifications on the platform to remind attendees to get up, stretch their legs and make themselves a cup of coffee. 
• Plan in micro self-care activities, such as yoga or meditation
•  Set up gaming zones within the virtual venue 

This will definitely earn you goodwill from your attendees and as an added bonus, it will also help to increase attentiveness after the break. Research shows that taking brief mental breaks when faced with long tasks can dramatically improve one’s focus. 

To sum up…

In today's virtual event landscape, it's crucial for organizers to recognize that attendees are exposed to an overwhelming amount of monotonous programming. To improve attendee engagement in events, organizers must prioritize delivering an exciting and valuable experience that feels memorable and engaging.

A combination of the right strategy and the tools and features of a customizable virtual event platform can help you deliver a memorable attendee experience. Book a demo with Zuddl today to learn more.

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

When global superstar Marshmello was invited to headline at the UEFA Champions League 2021 final Opening Ceremony, the DJ hitmaker wanted to give the 380 million fans watching, a show the likeness of which they had never seen before; and so he turned to virtual reality (VR). 

From VFX and game engine technology to 3D cameras and real-time virtual production, Marshmello’s  6-minute VR set was designed to “bend reality” - and it did. Fans looked on as a giant Marshmello walked through the streets of Europe’s capitals and danced with an army of fellow Marshmellos; he played guitar while fireworks went off behind him, and raised the volume as the stadium filled up with water. 

It was an electrifying virtual event experience. ‍

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Marshmello’s incredible performance is just one of the many ways in which the events industry has embraced the transformational potential of virtual reality—and rightly so. VR offers a remarkably sensory experience to boost engagement and entertainment for any event. It can attract greater participation and deliver better experiences than a presentation or discussion.

VR at virtual events: what you can do

Ever since Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus VR, some of the biggest names in tech, such as Google and Samsung, have already entered the VR tech market. So, this futuristic technology is becoming increasingly accessible for the events industry.

Brands and event organizers worldwide are already creatively using VR technology to supercharge their virtual events. Let’s look at how you can too.

For knowledge sharing—conferences, seminars, training

In a world where businesses aspire to focus more on showing than telling, VR is the perfect tool for organizers to create immersive and educational experiences for attendees. Instead of keynote pontifications and dull powerpoint presentations, organizers can easily bring a subject alive through a VR experience. For instance, learning about a new and innovative piece of medical equipment is so much more impactful if you can ‘watch’ it being used in surgery rather than just hear it being described.

That’s precisely what AltSpace achieved through its VR-powered conference, vMed20. Participants could attend this conference virtually through the organizer’s free VR social tool, AltSpace—to learn about the multiple use cases of VR in the healthcare industry; an excellent demonstration of  the game-changing potential of immersive technology in the healthcare sector 

For marketing—product launches and demos 

A basic presentation will no longer cut the bill when you’re launching a new product and want to keep your audience hooked and wowed. Showing off your products at a virtual event can be best accomplished with VR technology that lets your attendees appreciate it from 360 degrees.

And that’s exactly what OnePlus pulled off with its  first-ever VR product launch.Speaking about the decision to use VR,  Carl Pei, Co-Founder of OnePlus said “ In our industry, product launches tend to be the same. An auditorium, a keynote, and a seated audience. For the OnePlus 2 launch, we didn’t want that barrier between us and you; we wanted to invite you into our world, because you’re a major part of it. That is why we decided to unveil the OnePlus 2 to the world completely in VR.”

To this end, the event was shot entirely with 360° filming technology ahead of launch. In it, users were welcomed into the  OnePlus office, leading to the unveiling of the product. Attendees could tour the office, meet the team and other fans. On the day of the launch, fans were able to watch the launch on their Android app or on Youtube. Those using the app were able to see detailed specifications of the new smartphone and interact with its features.

And it’s clear that the strategy paid off with 45,000+ concurrent viewers in 170 countries tuning in during the launch, and the VR event racking up 750,000+ views in the first 24 hours.

For entertainment—live games and concerts

For the entertainment industry, VR offers organizers a way to replicate the excitement and energy of in-person events at a virtual one. Putting on a headset can transport the wearer to the front row of a musical festival - an experience that you can’t really get from watching a Youtube video for instance. 

A great example of this in action is  FOX Sports VR-powered broadcasts of NBA games. Attendees wearing Oculus headsets can experience the thrill of watching basketball greats live in action. 

Halestorm’s virtual reality concert is another great example of how the entertainment industry is adopting this technology.

For charity—fundraisers and charity events

VR lets non-profit organizers bring their causes to life. Through 360-degree video, donors can step into the shoes of those who need their aid.  It’s a form of emotional storytelling that can prompt a donor to make a financial contribution more than powerpoint presentations and data can do.  

The Royal Trinity Hospice, for instance, created a VR video tour that takes viewers through the entire grounds of the hospice, and highlights its services. Through this, potential donors can understand the impact their aid will have. This movie is displayed in several of the organization’s virtual events, including its annual celebrations and fairs. 

Challenges in using VR for virtual events - and how to tackle them

As can be seen, VR has played a significant role in virtual events across industries, but some organizers are still hesitant in embracing this innovative technology for their events. Here’s how to tackle some of the challenges that come with VR. ‍

Keeping costs low: While the tech required to produce VR and for your fans to access your videos can seem daunting, the good news is that VR technology keeps getting better, and less expensive. Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2 headset at $299 has already significantly lowered the entry price point for VR devices. And with a $15 price tag, Google Cardboard allows users to experience VR with just a smartphone‍

Accessible to everyone: VR technology does provide a way for audiences to access new experiences, but it still has a long way to go in terms of accessibility. This high-powered technology is not feasible for users living in low connectivity areas. But this is easily addressed by partnering with venues that have the requisite bandwidth and power, or opting to use more accessible technology like smartphones.‍

Sharing is caring: Unlike the universe of ‘Ready, Player One’, at the moment, users cannot enter virtual reality with anyone else - for the moment atleast. But, if you have the budget, you can create group VR experiences. When Jaguar launched its electric I-PACE concept car for instance, it was through a  shared virtual reality experience. Groups of attendees sat together at round tables, wearing their helmets to take a virtual ride in the driver’s seat. They could see the hand controllers of attendees to their right and left, and hear the comments and reactions of everyone else, contributing to the group experience feeling.

To sum up...

Like any technology, VR continues to change and evolve, and so organizers using the tech need to be as equally avant-garde in their creativity in its use. While the brands and the events they held can serve as inspiration, be sure to think about how you can use it to further the goals of your event. 

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

Amongst the many challenges faced by organizers is that of driving value for event sponsors. 

Every organizer knows that sponsorship is critical to a successful event - not only in terms of financial backing but also because of positive publicity, increased brand awareness, reach, and prestige that it powers. So, after bringing a sponsor on board, it’s extremely important to be able to give that sponsor the ROI that you’ve promised them - or else you risk losing them for future events. 

But the growing popularity of hybrid events and the fact that 86% of B2B companies see an increased ROI of their hybrid events within 7 months of conducting it—presents a great solution to tackle this challenge.

Gone are the days when you would slap sponsor logos on merchandise. Thanks to the virtual and in-person components of hybrid events, organizers have more and better opportunities to drive both brand awareness for sponsors and lead generation as well. 

Here’s how to go about driving value for sponsors at your next hybrid event:

1. Understand what your event sponsors want 

Mike Butcher, the Editor-At-Large at TechCrunch, explains how sponsors’ expectations have changed over the years while reiterating the importance of understanding them from the beginning, stating "A lot of these sponsors don’t just want to have a sponsor sticker slapped onto an event. They want to do something that has a real conversational element to it.”

So discussing your sponsors’ objectives from a hybrid event at the outset will allow you to produce tailor-made sponsorship opportunities and results. Keep in mind that an essential part of managing sponsor expectations is clarifying what you can and cannot do with this event.

For instance,  sponsors could be seeking a high level of interaction with the target audience but may be unsure of what results could be achieved through a hybrid event. Accordingly, you can share engagement metrics from previous virtual or hybrid events you’ve hosted as well as touchpoints you’ve planned for the upcoming event with them. This can help you and your sponsors agree on a goal that you are both comfortable with.

2. Choose a virtual event platform that offers branding, engagement + analytic tools

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Whilst you are having these important discussions with your sponsors, you will also need to be scouting and evaluating virtual event platforms that can help you drive the results you desire ie. happy attendees and happy sponsors.  What are the basics that your virtual event platform will need to have?

• Branding - Just as your physical venue has banners and signage showcasing your event sponsors, so should your virtual venue. So your event platform needs to have the capability to allow you to customize the venue as per your wishes. If you want to put up banners in your lobby dedicated to sponsors, you should be able to. Want to highlight that a sponsor is sponsoring a specific Stage or session by changing the background image of the Stage? You should be able to do that too. Basically, you should have free rein to be able to drive brand awareness for your Sponsors throughout the venue.
  

• Audience engagement tools: The more you make a hybrid event memorable for attendees, the better it reflects on your event sponsors, so choose a platform that can elevate engagement. Look out for these:

• Chat, Polls and Q&A: These tools can make a huge difference by turning what can feel like a video playlist of lectures into a lively and exciting two-way conversation. Whether an attendee is sitting at the in-person venue or tuning in from home, using the same tools helps everyone feel part of the same experience and boosts participation.

• Gamification: This feature can encourage attendees to do more at the event by rewarding them for every action they take during the event. ‍

• Virtual Breakout Rooms: These can be used to host small group conversations and curate more focused discussions. So you could for instance dedicate a room per Sponsor; this means that they would have a representative sitting in the Room and striking up conversations with attendees interested in the company or a service/product of theirs. This allows your sponsors to gain more qualified leads and interact with their target audience at a deeper level.‍
  

• Analytics: One of the biggest advantages of hosting a hybrid event is the data that can be collected. The virtual component of the event means that attendee actions - such as questions they ask, Polls they answer, booths visited etc can all be captured. In this way, sponsors can see how many attendees watched a product video, for example, or visited a sponsored Stage, Booth or Room. This insight can help in post-event follows and in better understanding feedback or sentiment about a product or service.
  

3. Give sponsors their own virtual Expo Booth 

An exhibit booth is perhaps the oldest strategy for driving value for sponsors at an event - and that holds true today. By enabling sponsors to set up booths at both the physical and virtual venues, you double the exposure they receive. 

Each booth acts as a hub for sharing branded content, marketing collateral, and downloadable assets. And as each booth can be staffed by a company representative, sponsors can offer product demos and hold private conversations directly with attendees. 

Importantly, each virtual booth comes with a ‘Register Interest’ button for attendees to express their intention. This is a simple but powerful way for Sponsors to collect leads. 

4.  More touchpoints and activities that give sponsors more exposure

Plan in activities and touchpoints that drive visibility and awareness for event sponsors. Here are a couple of ideas:

• Strategically create in-show placement at different places in the virtual and in-person venue, such as the lobby or breakout rooms zones to boost the sponsors’ visibility organically.
  

• Add representatives from sponsoring brands as moderators or presenters for event sessions and involve them in panel discussions or forums as well. This is a great way to highlight your sponsors’ domain knowledge.
  

• Plan in sponsored sessions targeting the brand’s primary audience. 
  

• Play videos by event sponsors in between sessions to educate your audience about their companies, and offerings.
  

• Offer educational content and downloadable assets from sponsors in your event lobby to reinforce their thought leadership and collect leads in exchange.
  

• Host trivia quizzes that include a question or two about sponsors. For instance, a tech-related trivia session centering around your sponsors from the software technology domain. 
  

• Hold a raffle with prizes from sponsors for the winners
  

Protip: Gamification is your best friend here as it can nudge attendees into completing actions that can drive value for them and your sponsors. 

5. Give your sponsors actionable insights

So far, we’ve focused on creating value for your sponsors during the event. But what happens once the event is over? Post-event insights are crucial to retaining sponsors for the long run as it can help aid strategy, product development, decision-making, and budget allocation. To this end, event organizers can share attendee data, survey and poll results, and insights from other activities to reveal what resonated the most with the sponsors’ target audience. 

Here are some crucial metrics you can share with your sponsors:

• Total number of participants
• Leads generated
• Audience engagement
• Results of sponsored surveys and polls 
• Sponsored sessions with the most engagement and attendance 
  

 To sum up…

The key to attracting more sponsors lies in creating value for them by building brand awareness and accelerating lead generation. Their primary interest lies in accessing your audience base, establishing their domain expertise, and capturing qualified leads.
Hybrid events give you ample opportunity to deliver these demands. Start by recognizing your sponsors’ needs, and then using the unique benefits of a hybrid event to meet them. All it takes is a little creativity, a little thoughtfulness, and a powerful virtual hosting platform like Zuddl to pull it off.

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

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Today, we have some exciting news to share — we’ve raised $13.35 million in our Series A round!

Alpha Wave Incubation led our Series A round with participation from Qualcomm Ventures, GrowX Ventures, Waveform Ventures. We’re thrilled to work with investors that believe in our long-term vision of the future of enterprise events and I wanted to take a moment to celebrate this milestone and share my thoughts on Zuddl’s journey and our plans for the future.

Additional reading: Here's a sneak peek of event trends in 2023 as per our latest report.

Our Journey

When Vedha and I first talked about the idea of Zuddl, we could not have imagined that mere months later COVID-19 would propel us on a dizzying journey to turn that idea into reality. We started Zuddl in May 2020 and spent the next couple of months in the YC summer batch racing to launch our MVP. Since then, we’ve been working hard to improve our product, grow our team and get Zuddl in front of as many potential customers as possible, growing 30x in the process.

In the last 18 months, we have launched a lot of features and improvements to enable organizations to run awe-inspiring events all the while putting their brand front and center. Event organizers have built digital replicas of their physical office spaces, recreated their favorite venues, and built completely themed event spaces.

All of these lead back to one theme: organizers are ready to embrace the world of hybrid and virtual events. What started out as a begrudging exercise forced on organizations by the pandemic has unlocked a host of new possibilities that organizers are embracing. For the first time ever, it is the norm that access to events is not dictated by where you are. Going back to our favorite analogy, imagine being unable to watch a football game because you can’t attend in person. Wild, right? For a long time, that was an accepted reality for business events. Expectations have shifted now and we are excited to empower organizations to embrace that change.

More than anything else though, I am so humbled by the team of A+ players that have pushed us forward on this incredible journey. The Zuddl family has grown significantly in the last year. We have grown from a team of 7 to over 75+ across the globe working together to empower organizations to deliver remarkable live experiences.

The Road Ahead

With this new funding, we’re excited to continue to empower organizations to build remarkable live events. More and more, teams tell us that they are feeling the fatigue of boring virtual meets and are struggling to keep their attendees engaged. Zuddl enables organizers to bring the energy back to their live events with a backstage studio that delivers high-quality production and drag and drop widgets that stay true to their brand.

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Our vision is to be the one platform for all enterprise events, whether that’s internal or external, hybrid or virtual. This new round of funding will enable us to continue building on the foundation we have built so far and help us achieve our next few goals:

1. Double down on product

Organizations have just dipped their toes into the possibilities of hybrid and virtual events. That’s why we’re committed to building the best enterprise event platform - more interactive, powerful and integrated into the other tools you use.

We are investing in data and integrations to enable data-driven post event decisions. We are revamping the organizer event setup experience to be simpler and more intuitive. We are doubling down on our feature set for hybrid to really break the barriers between virtual and in-person attendees. We are launching new product lines.

2. Scale our team globally

Zuddl started after the pandemic and we’re proud to have built a talented remote-first team. With this funding, we’re thrilled to be able to continue to grow the team and have more people join us on this journey.

We are also opening a new office in Abu Dhabi this month. This will be our headquarters for EMEA region sales and support and will also allow us to tap into a larger market of engineering talent. You can view our open positions here.

3. Accelerate our growth

We’ve been so fortunate in the last 18 months to work with customers like Kellogg’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Microsoft, NASSCOM and over 15 Fortune 500 companies. We know that this is just the beginning and we have so much more work to do. We want every large organization and every large event to be powered by Zuddl. We’re beyond thrilled to enter this new phase of growth and take a step closer to that goal.

To all Zuddlers, thank you for everything you do. I couldn’t have imagined a better bunch of people to embark on this journey with. I learn from you all every day. To our customers, thank you for the trust and faith you have placed in me and in Zuddl. We at Zuddl, remain committed to your success.

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With gratitude,

‍Bharath Varma
Co-founder & CEO, Zuddl

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

As an event organizer or marketer, the one thing that probably keeps you up at night is worrying about the attendee experience — as you should.  

It’s never anyone’s intention, but even the most experienced organizers can overlook some details that can contribute to a not so great virtual event experience. Just think back to the last event you attended. 

• Was it riddled with sluggish loading times and technical glitches? Or did everything run perfectly?
  

• Were the speakers and sessions able to capture your attention - and hold it? Or were you on your phone 60% of the time?
  

• Did you find yourself enjoying the event? Or were you making a mental note to never attend an event held by the organizer ever again?
  

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Clearly, it’s easy enough to identify issues that could crop up at your own event and work on measures to prevent them. It’s a simple exercise in thoughtfulness that can pay dividends.  With that in mind, let’s look at 6 of the most common complaints attendees have about virtual events with some actionable insights to tackle them.

1.“I can’t sit still for hours on end”

Say you’ve decided to attend a virtual conference over the weekend. The 3-hour long conference seems taxing, but you’re banking on the speakers’ exciting insights to help you power through it. But even with your highest concentration, you couldn’t make it past the first hour. 

If you’ve been there, you’re not alone.

The biggest challenge of hosting a virtual event is often the responsibility of engaging the audience. Even with this goal in mind, most organizers fail to address that an average virtual attendee will only pay attention to 68% of the event if it’s longer than 20 minutes.

So, the first and most crucial complaint deterring participation in your event is your audience’s short attention span.

How can you solve it?

The best way to tackle this challenge is to understand your attendees better. Use pre-event or during the event surveys and polls to identify their preferences regarding the length of the event, as well as timings for sessions and event activities.

Once you have this information, plan out your event schedule to be accommodating and inclusive (this is especially important if you have attendees joining in from different time zones). Planning regular intervals between sessions are important as they allow everyone to take a break and relax. Multiple short sessions are better than a single lengthy and endless session any day.

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Moreover, you can use Zuddl’s innovative gamification feature to keep them hooked throughout the event. Set up an attendee leaderboard and set points for activities completed by attendees to maximize participation. Even better if you announce that you’ll be awarding prizes to the top three scorers. (Click here to read more about our Gamification feature in detail).

2.“I find it challenging to listen to the speaker and read the chat simultaneously.”

For some, it can be difficult to listen to speakers and type out their responses at the same time. More importantly, this constant back and forth between listening and writing can affect their takeaways from the session — reducing the value of the event.

How can you solve it?

Ideally,  you want your participants to first listen to the speakers and then air their views. This can be facilitated by the virtual event platform in a couple of ways. Zuddl, for example, has in-platform engagement features that allow attendees to easily express opinions or questions. 

• Emoji Reactions: Instead of having to type out text replies to real-time moments on Stage, emoji reactions are an easy, quick, and fun way for attendees to indicate enthusiasm - it's a natural extension of a reaction language we use almost everywhere else in our digital lives.
  

• Raise Hand: Eschewing any need for typing, with this feature, attendees can go from the audience and right onto the Stage alongside speakers, upon approval by organizers.
  

With these, you’ll be able to give your attendees a chance to consume as much information as possible while also enabling them to share their takes and ask questions.

3. “I am bored out of my mind” 🥱

Imagine putting in weeks of energy and effort to organize your event only for the audience to space out because of boredom. Many participants complain that they zone out during virtual sessions because it’s not intriguing enough to grab or retain their attention.

The primary reason for this is the lack of a solid audience engagement strategy. 

How can you solve it?

First, create an audience engagement strategy aligned with your events’ goals, speakers, and audience preferences.  Use virtual event platform tools like Polls and Quizzes to keep your audience excited and tuned in during event sessions. As mentioned earlier, Gamification can play an important role here. 

Next, leverage your event platform to create a virtual venue that your attendees will enjoy exploring. One of the greatest benefits from using a platform is the different virtual sections or zones you can create within it - such as an event lobby, Breakout Rooms, an Expo zone, and networking areas. 

Attendees who want to take a break can visit each of these areas to participate in different kinds of activities, from 1:1 video calls with peers to small group discussions to taking pictures at a virtual Photobooth. The more avenues for interaction you have at your virtual event, the greater engagement you create for your audience.

4. “I want to meet and mingle with speakers post-session”

While online events have replicated the in-person experience in many ways, some aspects are more challenging than others. One such element is post-session interaction with speakers. Getting to meet or talk directly with industry leaders and experts is one of the best parts of attending a conference or summit, but usually at virtual events, organizers overlook facilitating this important experience.

How can you solve it?

Set up networking sessions for everyone at the event - attendees and speakers alike. Our networking feature is perfect for this. Via Quick Networking, your attendees will be matched randomly with others at the event - just like when at an in-person conference, you would walk up to the nearest person you saw and strike up a conversation. 

Smart Networking on the other hand allows for more targeted matchmaking. Attendees can list interests on their profiles, as well as specify who they’re looking to meet -eg. Startup investors, Bitcoin experts (who might be speakers at your event), and Zuddl’s feature will match them automatically to those who list themselves as such. 

Another Zuddl feature that helps with this attendee complaint is the Raise Hand feature. As described earlier, you can bring some attendees onto the virtual Stage alongside a speaker so that they can have a direct conversation.

5.  This event feels more like a presentation than a virtual conference 

Another key differentiator between a virtual and in-person event is the delivery of every session.

While a physical event gives a clear glimpse of the speakers walking from one end of the stage to the other, a virtual event boxes them into a small part of the screen. This can detract from the effect their presence has on the audience. And network issues, buffering, and audio glitches can always add to their misery.

The lack of this immersive experience—both for the speakers and participants—reduces the entire event to a presentation. Your audience expects a greater degree of involvement and interaction in every session.

How can you solve it?

Deliver a more immersive experience by partnering with a premium audio visual and event production company. Zuddl’s partner Entertainment Technology Partners (ETP) for instance, helps to execute all your audio-visual desires and push the envelope just a little further in engagement.  

Leveraging a combination of live and virtual event technologies, that can include Augmented Reality, Extended Reality, and other virtual sets, your studio partner can help you create unforgettable experiences that keep attendees coming back for more.

6. I miss that feeling of bumping into people and making connections

Those moments of meeting someone at the buffet or the ticket queue or even at the line for the bathroom are actually opportunities for attendees to interact with unexpected people, ideas, or businesses - that can translate into long lasting business relationships. At virtual events, these serendipitous moments are a little more tricky to facilitate but more so the reason for organizers to pay extra attention to this.

How can you solve it?

Organizers of virtual events are tackling this concern in many interesting ways. With an intuitive event hosting platform like Zuddl, you can try some of these best practices to encourage more interactions between participants:

• Create a directory of all participants on the event’s website. This will allow every attendee to know who they can network with ahead of time. 
  

• Enable attendees at your virtual event to set up 1:1 meetings with others. 

• Leverage the AI-powered match-making feature on Zuddl to bring like-minded people together to start a conversation.

• Add activities before and after every session for participants to talk about their experiences such as happy hours, learning circles, or open mics that can be hosted in virtual rooms. 

By giving your attendees agency and choice to meet others from a variety of ways, you’ll be empowering them to mingle and connect with others as per their convenience.

To sum up...

The virtual event industry is expected to grow beyond $500 billion by 2028. In such a rapidly growing market, you can guarantee your success only when you know what your attendees want and need from your events. Start with the tips above to make your events more interactive, fun, and audience-friendly.

Zuddl’s suite of features and partnership with ETP can make your virtual events stand out from the crowd. Talk to us today about how to get started.

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

First,  let's get this out of the way: hybrid events have been around for years.

Take any example of a major sporting event that has been televised worldwide. On the one hand, you have plenty of people enjoying the game in person at the stadium, and on the other hand, you have millions of fans watching the game at home. This is an example of an event that is hybrid thanks to its virtual and in-person components. So, why the hype now?

Over the past year, event marketers have seen first-hand the benefits that come with virtual events -  the ability to reach a broader audience, drive more engagement, track metrics easily, and improve event ROI. So even though people are able to meet again in person now, the success driven by virtual events have ensured that organizers will want to bring together elements of both to host a hybrid experience; as per the EventMB´s State of the Event Industry Report, 67.5% of event planners believe that future events will mostly be hybrid. 

But there’s one major caveat: in order to take advantage of everything that hybrid meetings and events have to offer,  focusing on ways to keep attendee engagement high is critical. But this can seem daunting - how are you going to keep thousands of online attendees along with in-person attendees invested throughout your event? 

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Set expectations for both live and virtual attendees

Regardless of whether an event is in-person or virtual, letting attendees know what they can expect at the event beforehand has always been a priority for organizers. In the case of a hybrid event, this is especially important.

Keep in mind that your attendees may be confused about how the hybrid setup will affect their event experience. They may not understand how to attend it, how to consume content, or how to and interact with others.

Setting the stage, therefore, is the first step in driving better engagement. Educating attendees about how to access the event, what in-person and digital elements will be present, how they can participate, and how they can connect with other attendees will go a long way.

2. Choose the right venue for your event

From the seating plan to technological capabilities, the venue you choose can play an important role in your ability to keep all your attendees captivated and engaged. The essentials: seating capacity for your in-person attendees, Covid-19 safety considerations, full audiovisual production ability or live studio setup, and secure and reliable WiFi. 

You have to ask yourself: How can I use the venue space and its capabilities to create an immersive experience for all attendees? Does it have the equipment I need to produce a high-definition Netflix-like event experience? Does the venue provide enough bandwidth to prevent any buffering or AV lag?

As hybrid events become increasingly popular, more venues are starting to offer the services that enable hosting them. Today, it’s not surprising to find hybrid events venues that come equipped with a full live studio setup with Augmented Reality, XR effects, LED backdrops, and more. These may be a little more expensive, but the experience they provide is sure to increase your session engagement tenfold.

3. Be mindful of timezones when planning your schedule

It’s quite possible that you’ll have attendees from all over the world tuning into your event, in which case, how can you make sure your attendee from Alaska is able to have an event experience as satisfactory as an attendee from Australia? How can you ensure that everyone has access to your event content? And has the opportunity to connect with other attendees and speakers? Planning your event can seem pretty complex.

But it doesn’t have to be. 

One solution is to create on-demand content or set up simulated live sessions. You can release pre-recorded videos or workshop tutorials each day which means you can accommodate attendees in different time zones easily. You can then follow it up with live Q&A sessions with the speakers featured in the on-demand content, which keeps everyone interested and involved.

Another is to host the event over a couple of days - why not? The virtual component to your hybrid event allows you to do so with agility. As long as you have an event schedule that clearly spells out what sessions or activities are going to be going live at which times, your line-up can scale up or down.

Click here to read about how one of our clients held their virtual conference over an incredible 10 days. 

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

And by creating more chances for your attendees to access and consume your content, the better your engagement rates will be.

4. Choose the right virtual event platform

Keeping hybrid attendees engaged is already a challenging task, so don’t complicate it further with cumbersome technology. You can assume that just like you, your attendees and speakers and sponsors will also be a bit unaccustomed to a hybrid event setup, so your first priority should be to find a virtual event platform partner that makes the entire process as simple, straightforward, and stress-free as possible.

Second, if the event platform you choose has features and tools that will help you drive engagement, that’s half the work done. Live Polls, Q&A, and Chat facilities are the bare minimum you should look for. Then there are platforms like Zuddl that will give you enhanced features like Raise Hands, Breakaway Rooms, and AI-powered Networking that raise the bar. Also critical: a mobile app that in-person attendees can access while at the venue that lets them connect with virtual attendees.

The more spaces and pathways you give your attendees to connect, chat, and interact, the more engaging your event will be as they are constant reminders of being part of something bigger than themselves.‍

5. Facilitate shared and inclusive experiences 

The last thing you want is for any of your attendees to feel left out. Leveraging the capabilities of the virtual event platform and the in-person venue you choose, you can then host activities and sessions that bring your in-person and virtual attendees together.

Here are a couple of ways to do this:

‍Networking -  Give your attendees the opportunity to meet and connect with each other at their own pace by setting up networking sessions, and Breakout Rooms.  Zuddl offers Smart Networking through which attendees are matched based on mutual interests such as a session topic, a job role, or an industry. Once matched, attendees can schedule a 1:1 video meeting, and get to know each other better.

‍Breakout Rooms - These virtual rooms can be used to facilitate small group conversations. Attendees can use these rooms just to socialize and relax or get together to discuss a specific topic. These are particularly effective as they bring together small numbers of like-minded peers who can easily form connections with each other.

Stage Interactions - While it’s important to offer content that is accessible to attendees as per their convenience, it’s paramount to have live sessions that shake things up, get everyone energized and create a greater sense of connection. At these sessions, you’ll need to play the role of a thoughtful moderator - using Polls to remind attendees that their opinions matter in real-time, take as many questions as you can by the audience to Speakers, or even using Raise Hands to bring attendees onto the stage.  These simple actions can go a long way in making an attendee feel ‘seen’ and valued, and will encourage them to keep participating.

6. Use gamification to make engagement more fun!

Gamification is a simple and effective way for you to prompt and encourage attendees to participate more at your event. Set points to different activities and actions your attendees can complete such as asking a question or answering a Poll, and set prizes for those who top the leaderboard. This introduces a lighthearted sense of competition that will keep energy flowing throughout the event. (Click here to read more about Zuddl’s gamification feature)

To sum up…

The popularity of hybrid events is only set to grow over the next few years, so it’s important that you know how to get the most out of any hybrid event you host. Through thoughtful planning and the support of the right venue and a virtual event platform, you should be able to create an event experience that has all of your attendees excited and tuned in - no matter if they’re attending in-person or online. 

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

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Look out event organizers! NFTs will change virtual/hybrid events forever.

When a digital artwork called “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” sold for $69 million at Christie’s in March this year, it became clear that the time of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) had arrived. Although they have been around for years, the hype around NFTs has skyrocketed recently; there’s been $2.5 billion in NFT sales already in 2021. 

Wait, what is an NFT?

First, to address the elephant in the room, an NFT is a crypto asset (similar to a coin) representing an intangible digital item such as an image, audio file, video, gif, meme, or moment. An NFT is made and stored on a blockchain platform, which is the same technology that powers Bitcoin. The digital asset is traded online and cannot be duplicated.</span That’s why NFTs are so valuable.‍

What place do NFTS have at virtual or hybrid events?

NFTs have the power to disrupt the landscape of the events industry. Brands can now create unique, engaging, and interactive experiences for attendees, and give them  a token of ownership — something meaningful from the event that they can cherish forever.

Take the example of the music album ‘When You See Yourself’ which was released by the band the Kings of Leon in the form of an NFT. The group released tokens for special album packages, front-row seats at their concerts for life, and exclusive audiovisual art. This way, they gave all those who bought their tokens a piece of a one-of-a-kind and personal moment in time that any fan would have been proud to own.

Event organizers and marketers can employ a similar strategy at virtual and hybrid events. But while there are plenty of ways to use NFTs at your event - from ticketing to giveaways - providing value to your attendees and driving loyalty should be central to your strategy. Here’s what to keep in mind when you make your plan:

Allow the audience to “own” a moment and not just remember it 

By enabling your attendees to take home a unique NFT from the event aka actually “owning” an exclusive piece from the event experience, of which only a specific number will ever exist. With scarcity and uniqueness comes value.

Take digital artist Ahmed, for example, who attended a Clubhouse event on digital assets and NFTs. Instead of doing things the traditional way, he decided to capture a special moment from the event and turn it into an NFT. The ability to “own” this moment—through an NFT—made people buy it for 0.24 ETH from him.

Pique interest and nurtures brand loyalty 

Using an NFT as a virtual/hybrid event ticket lets you give attendees rewards, assign prizes to particular seats, or even offer additional event perks such as an invitation to an exclusive virtual after-party. Such a unique and exclusive brand experience can pique attendees’ interests and nurture brand loyalty. 

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5 ways to use NFTs at your next hybrid or virtual event

Here are a couple of suggestions to get you thinking about how to use NFTS at your event, and how they can work to your benefit.

1. Leverage NFTS as part of your pre-event promotions

With countless virtual events being held every week, it’s not easy to stand out. You’ll need to create a customized and valuable event experience to truly give attendees more than what they signed up for.

This is where NFTs can come into play. You can use them as a major Unique Selling Proposition (USP) for your virtual event. They can act as a tremendous pre-event marketing strategy, help you create buzz around your event, boost brand and event awareness, and give your audience yet another reason to sign up.

To this end, The Preakness Stakes, a legacy American thoroughbred horse race launched a range of digital souvenir NFTs this year, to market an old sport to a younger audience. Soft NFTs are digital such as full race videos and a digital rendering of the trophy, while others come with real-life experiences at the 2021 Preakness, such as VIP tickets and naming a race on the undercard.

2. Create digital assets and collectibles for mid-event giveaways

Virtual event engagement can be challenging, especially when Netflix and online shopping are just a tab away. NFT giveaways are a great way to keep your attendees’ attention firmly at your event and boost their event experience. Creating and offering digital assets and collectibles around the event theme or cause will further cement brand loyalty and bragging rights for attendees. Win-win.

3.  Use NFTs to create a unique ticketing system with add-ons and ticket tiers

Traditional ticketing systems are becoming increasingly unsafe due to online scams and phishing (12% of customers buying concert tickets end up being scammed). So using NFTs as tickets to your event not only adds an interesting element to your event, but makes the ticketing process safer as well. Here’s how:

• Straightforward authentication, as blockchain stores the ticket’s code. 
  

• Preventions of resale frauds and transfer of tickets by making tickets non-transferable.
  

• Ability to offer value add-ons to specific ticket tiers such as rewards and prizes enables curated experiences drives enthusiasm and loyalty
  

• Better security and protection as  NFT ticketing systems have top-tier access restrictions, privacy, and anti-scalping measures
  

Not to mention, it takes less than 5 minutes to generate NFT tickets, and for less than $2.

4.  Offer NFTs as gamification rewards

Virtual event gamification is a simple and fun way to encourage attendees to participate more at hybrid and virtual events. Organizers can set points to specific attendee actions, such as asking questions, answering a Poll, or visiting an Expo booth. Attendees who rack up the most points can then win themselves an NFT. In this way, you can drive engagement and steer audience behaviour.(Click here to read more about how to leverage gamification at your next event).

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5. Give attendees NFTs as virtual event swag

Lastly, NFTs can be used as “I was there” event souvenirs for attendees. Think limited-edition iconic pieces that celebrate memories and moments from the event itself - a charismatic moment from a keynote address, a stylish product launch, a bold prediction by an industry leader, a high-energy musical performance, or an unexpected moment of hilarity. Others who were not able to attend the event themselves may be able to access or view these moments, but only your attendees will own them.

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In conclusion...

Plenty of opportunity lies within the exclusivity and value that can be generated by NFTs. The five points highlighted in the article will help you use NFTs in exciting and innovative ways—to drive conversions, boost attendee engagement, deepen consumer relationships and drive new revenue streams.

If you’re interested in learning more about enhancing your next hybrid or virtual event experience through NFTs, gamification and other engagement solutions, talk to our team! We’ll walk you through best practices used by some of our clients like Microsoft and Kellogg’s, and give you a demo of how to use our platform to achieve your event goals. 

Just book a demo to get started.

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

You've probably heard the expression, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” This proverbial saying continues to hold true, even in the age of remote working, and the great pivot to virtual and hybrid workforces. One of the greatest challenges company leaders and organizers face today is building connectivity and cohesion between employees working from different locations, some from the office and others from home.

And one way to do this is through hosting team retreats that bring everyone together to have fun and socialize.

Retreats, as we all know, allow colleagues to relax, recharge, exchange ideas, work through their problems, and get to know each other better. This also leads to organizational benefits, such as a rise in productivity and creativity. 

But how does this work with a hybrid or virtual workforce? How can you plan a company event when some of your attendees are at the physical venue and the others are tuning in virtually? Designing a hybrid or virtual team retreat comes with its own sets of challenges and will require extra planning. But with the right ideas, the right tools, and the right virtual platform, you’ll be able to deliver an experience that everyone will be raving about all year. 

Designing a virtual or hybrid retreat

To start, remember to accommodate the behaviorisms and needs of both your virtual and in-person team members; for one, no one wants to remain glued to their screen for hours on end. You want to reinvigorate your team, not contribute to digital burnout. Your schedule of activities, therefore, requires intentionality and attention to detail. Here are a few tips to help you with this:

1. Plan in a mix of time-sensitive activities and recorded sessions

One of the biggest benefits of organizing a hybrid or virtual retreat is that every employee can participate, regardless of where they are located. But this also means you’ll need to take into account time zones when planning your scheduling to ensure that important activities can be attended by a majority of your team.

So for instance, you can kickstart your retreat with a pre-recorded video of your company’s year so far and major milestones accomplished - a unifying experience for everyone. In fact, we would recommend making all sessions available as recordings so those unable to join live can watch them at their convenience. You can also consider hosting sessions that go live at different times for different time zones, but with the same content.

You’ll also need to plan in activities that bring team members together such as Networking sessions. Give your attendees a variety of options so that they can choose that which is most convenient for them.
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2. Choose a venue suitable for both in-person and virtual attendees

This can be tricky. Most team or company retreats are usually held at holiday locations, away from the city so that employees can relax and have fun at the beach or mountains. You can still do so, provided you find a venue at the location with the capability and technology to host a hybrid event. 

Remember that you’ll need a space that can accommodate your in-person attendees, and can support a high-quality event production, such as audiovisual equipment, streaming capabilities, reliable Wi-Fi, and on-site experts. Virtual and in-person attendees need to be able to see each other, and talk to each other in real-time. You want to create an experience that is interactive, engaging, and free of buffering issues. The last thing you want is for your virtual attendees to feel like second-class citizens at an event that is all about making everyone feel valued and supported.

Click here to read more about what to look for in a hybrid event venue.

3. Keep things interactive

Central to your hybrid or virtual team retreat is creating spaces and facilitating discussions that are lively, inclusive, and fun - which you can do by leveraging the features of your virtual event platform. Here’s how:

• Host small group sessions and team-building activities (click here to read some ideas you can steal) by using virtual Breakaway Rooms. You can use these rooms to let virtual and in-person attendees go simply socialize and just chat, or for brainstorming sessions, inter-team roundtable discussions, etc.
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• Boost team and company camaraderie and cohesion through Networking sessions. If you use a virtual event platform like Zuddl, you’ll be able to employ Smart Networking, which matches attendees based on mutual interests (Click here to read more about Smart Networking in detail). This is a simple way to create authentic 1:1 connections.
  

• Make  every attendee feel seen and heard through the use of in-platform attendee engagement tools.  Chat, Polls, Q&A are all simple but powerful ways for everyone to feel  like they are in the same space, ‘seen’, and connected. 
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• Gamify activities to make engagement more fun! Setting points to tasks can nudge your team members into participating more, especially if there’s a reward to those who score the most. Gamifying actions or activities like networking or team challenges is a clever way to motivate your team and make the event experience more productive and fun for everyone. 
  

4. Give everyone company swag

If you do plan to host your team retreat at a fancy hotel or exotic location, find ways to make virtual attendees feel pampered as well. This could be as simple as sending them meals and gifts that in-person attendees receive such as personalized gift hampers and goodie bags. 

5. Choose the right technology 

For a hybrid or virtual retreat that effectively brings your team together, you first need a virtual platform that can facilitate this. Look for solutions like Zuddl that has a range of features and tools you can use to bridge the gap between in-person and virtual attendees such as Networking or Chat, and that makes the retreat a fun experience for everyone, like Gamification. 

To sum up...

Energized employees, tight-knit teams, fun workplaces - all are essential components of a successful organization. Done right, your hybrid or virtual team retreat can help nurture all three. With the right planning, platform and tools, you will be able to curate a remarkable experience that drives long-lasting value.

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

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If you’re an event organizer or a marketer for your business, you’ll already know that networking is one of the most integral parts of virtual events.

In fact, a survey by Markletic  points to networking being the second most popular reason people choose to attend events, with educational reasons being the first. And it’s easy to understand why.Networking gives you the opportunity to build business relationships and learn more about different industries, and new job prospects. It opens up new doors for your career and business.

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However, facilitating this at an event is also one of the trickiest to get right. 

At in-person events, a multitude of factors can result in a networking session proving ineffective. The challenge for organizers has always been to create a space where attendees feel comfortable and confident, and are able to meet the right people. Now, thanks to virtual event platforms like Zuddl, organizers can do exactly that.

But finding a conducive virtual networking platform is just one part of the equation. Organizers need to be creative in coming up with ways to effectively leverage the features of the platform.  Lucky for you, we’ve done the hard work already and come up with 6 ways you can boost networking at your next virtual event.

Virtual networking ideas for external events (virtual conferences, trade shows, summits, etc.)

1. Pre-event/Pre-session chat

There’s no rule stating that networking needs to occur at a specific time at your virtual event, so why not start even before your event begins? Create a private space for attendees to connect and chat with each other ahead of the event kickoff. This makes socializing at the virtual event less awkward for attendees.

Creating a pre-event chat can help to take the stress away from having to find someone to talk to at the virtual conference. Connecting with even one other person ahead of time can make attendees feel more comfortable and confident in attending the event and meeting others, and can even embolden them to participate more during the event.

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Setting up a pre-session chat is another way to create a low-pressure, fun space where like-minded attendees can make connections.

2. Birds of a feather sessions‍

Organizing birds of a feather sessions is one of the most effective virtual networking event ideas you could implement. It’s basically hosting a breakout activity that is based on a shared interest during the event.

Similar to the pre-session chat, the birds of a feather session act as an informal and relaxed town hall-like space where like-minded attendees can chat about their interests, leading to potential collaboration. You can choose to invite a speaker to the session to facilitate group discussions, or you can make it more informal and simply encourage attendees to have unconstrained conversations about the topic. 

An important factor to be considered while organizing a BoF session is limiting attendance. This should be an intimate gathering so that every participant is comfortable and can talk easily.

3. Speed Networking

Speed networking, which works in a similar fashion to speed dating but with the advantage of AI-matchmaking, helps attendees connect with the right people at your virtual event.  For this activity, you will need a virtual event platform like Zuddl that has this feature capability (Click here to read more about our Zuddl’s Smart Networking platform feature in detail). 

Prior to entering Speed Networking, attendees will need to fill out profiles on the virtual event platform, that include their interests. When they enter the Speed Networking session, they will then be matched with attendees who share those interests for 1:1 video calls. It’s a great way for attendees to network with those in the same industry, or who are trying to solve the same problems. When matched attendees connect for their meeting, they can skip the small talk and get right down to business.

Speed Networking is great for use at internal events as well as it’s a simple yet effective way to bring together a remote workforce, and build connection and camaraderie. Zuddl, for instance, organizes a Speed Networking session every Friday so that colleagues from different teams who may not have much opportunity to connect and speak throughout the day, can meet and learn about each other. 

4. Pre-event photo competition

This simple activity can be a great way to interject more energy and fun into your online networking events. All you need to do is to ask your attendees to share a photo ahead of time - but keep in mind that this should be in line with your event. For example, if you are organizing a virtual wellness summit, you could ask attendees to share a photo of how they unwind after a long day. 

You can set up an Expo Booth at your virtual event venue (check that your virtual event platform has this feature), at which you can display the photos, and promote a visit to the Booth via social media or email to registered attendees. This way, attendees will be able to learn the names, businesses, and personalities of other attendees before the event begins - and can seek them out for 1:1’s if they spot a potential business collaboration.

Virtual networking ideas for internal events (company offsites, company meetings, team building, etc.)

5. Gamify your event

Gamification is one of the most effective and fun networking ideas on our list because of the way it encourages attendees to get to know each other. Through gamification, you can assign points to specific activities to be carried out by attendees, such as taking part in a group conversation in a Breakaway Room, or connecting with an attendee for a 1:1 video call. And you can award prizes to attendees with the most points!

Using a virtual event platform like Zuddl which has a Gamification feature can make this entire process even easier. Simply create your point distribution list, set up a displayed leaderboard, and you’re ready to go! (Click here to read more about how Zuddl’s gamification takes engagement to the highest level.)

6. Virtual watch parties or karaoke

If you’re looking for a lighthearted and fun way to get colleagues together as your virtual company meeting winds down or during the day when people need a breather from sessions, a virtual watch party or karaoke session might be just the ticket. There’s nothing like singing a terrible rendition of ‘We are the champions’ to bond a group of people together.

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While you can run this activity in any virtual meeting space, you might find using a virtual event platform that has Breakout Rooms (like Zuddl) advantageous. In a Room, a small group of people can chat with each other via a video call - but that’s not all. You can also at the same time watch a presentation or video being played on Stage. So, just like a virtual watch party, you can take in a movie and react to it and discuss it in real-time. 

In conclusion...

One of the most integral parts of organizing a virtual event is providing your attendees with an opportunity to network with each other. This can be in different shapes and forms as you can see.  With the virtual networking ideas, we’ve shared, you should be able to create a delightful experience that your attendees will value and remember. 

If you need any help setting up networking at your next event, or want to know more about how to make all aspects of your event more value-driven and effective, just let us know. Talk to our team!

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

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The COVID-19 pandemic put virtual events front and center, but as things are slowly opening up again, in-person events are making a comeback. In this phase of transition, hybrid events — a combination of live and online events — are becoming popular, and for a good reason. 

They give your audience the flexibility to choose the format that best suits them. And like virtual events, they also allow you to reach a wider audience and at reduced costs because you don’t have to make arrangements for hundreds of people on-site. 

The technology used for virtual events also helps you track valuable information on your attendees and gauge their level of engagement with your brand and event. Moreover, they open doors to numerous sponsorship opportunities—making it a win for both you and the audience, who get access to expert speakers while sitting comfortably at home.

All these benefits combined can massively boost your ROI from the event. But don’t just take our word for it: 86% of B2B organizations say they’ve experienced a positive ROI on hybrid events within months of hosting them. 

But as lucrative as they seem, hybrid events can only be profitable if you follow some strategies before, during, and after the event. This article will explore seven such strategies that can help you capitalize on ROI in a hybrid format. Let’s dive in!

Before you start: Define your goals 

Calculating an event’s ROI can be challenging, given how many of its benefits are intangible and don’t always show immediately. 

However, you can still measure its ROI to an extent. The first step is to determine why you’re hosting the event, as well as the metrics or Key Performance Indicators (KPI) you need to track for the same. Now, your goal behind hosting a hybrid event could be:

• Brand awareness: for which you will need to track metrics like event registrations, social media engagement, and website traffic. 
  

• Lead generation or sales: so track product/service inquiries and leads and customers acquired.
  

• Audience education: look at KPIs like sessions attended, and attendee engagement levels
  

• Earning revenue: track the number of event tickets sold and the revenue earned through sponsorships and new customers.
  

Determining event ROI becomes much simpler once you have a clear idea about your goals and the KPIs you have to track to measure them. 

Then, all you have to do is compare the expenses incurred to the gains (quantitative and qualitative), and you can assess the success of your event.

7 strategies to capitalize on ROI in a hybrid format

We’ve talked about calculating ROI, and the prerequisites for measuring event success. Now, let’s explore what you can do to boost your return on investment from hybrid events. 

1. Plan and market the event in advance 

One of the most significant benefits of hybrid events is the massive reach they bring. You’re not restricted by your audience’s location, ability to travel or the venue capacity and can get many people to attend the event. And the more attendees you get, the greater your ROI will be.

So the key to increasing registrations is to start marketing your event in advance. Ideally, all your marketing campaigns should include a call to action (CTA) to register for the event 6-8 weeks before it’s set to happen. Some ways to promote the event are: 

• Build a dedicated website that provides all vital information.
  

• Promote the event on your company website, social media channels, and newsletter.
  

• Reach out to industry influencers and market the event through their channels.
  

• Create value-driven content (like blogs, social media posts, YouTube videos) that positions you as an expert and builds trust with your audience. 
  

Although it was entirely virtual, content marketplace Pepper Content implemented many of these strategies and started marketing their Elevate Summit more than six weeks before the event—the result was 10,000+ global attendees. 

2. Choose an interactive virtual event platform 

Hybrid events have both live and virtual audiences, so to deliver a successful event it’s essential to keep both engaged. For your on-site audience, you can use tools like surveys, Q&A, and networking sessions. But for your virtual audience, it’s the event platform you choose that will play a significant role in determining their engagement and experience at your event. 

Choose a platform that offers interactive features, like live streaming, polling, chat, and breakout rooms to keep your attendees interested and involved throughout the event. Zuddl, for instance, offers matchmaking features, discussion rooms, and 1:1 meetings to help attendees interact with each other, the speakers, and sponsors. 

This helps attendees derive more value from your event and create positive experiences, which ultimately boosts returns for you.

3. Charge for your event 

A straightforward way to maximize ROI and generate more revenue from your event is to host a paid event.

The idea is to price your event in a way that covers your costs and justifies the value your audience will receive from it. This will be much easier if you’re bringing well-known speakers to your event and have an established audience that will be ready to buy from you. 
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But regardless of that, there are many ways you can increase ticket sales. The first is to create ticketing tiers—offering different access levels at different prices. This will give your audience the flexibility to choose as per their needs and budget and can thus increase registrations for you.

Another strategy to get more attendees is to offer an early bird or group discount—this will encourage more people to sign up fast and even build hype around your event. 

4. Create sponsorship deals

Finding sponsors can reduce the costs you personally incur on organizing events and help you invest in better tools and arrangements for attendees. 

But the question is, how can you convince people to sponsor your event? The best way is to educate them about the increased exposure and visibility they’ll get through it. Sponsorships are beneficial for both you as the event organizer and for the brand that is providing you resources. You can add their logos to event banners, landing pages and Stage backgrounds, create virtual sponsor booths, and encourage them to offer attendees giveaways or digital swag bags.

Moreover, you can give sponsors access to the attendee data you collect during the event and give them in-depth insight about their target audience, so they're further motivated to collaborate with you. See how AdWorld has clearly stated the benefits of being a sponsor on their website.

5. Leverage attendee data 

The good thing about hybrid events is they allow you to collect a vast amount of data on your attendees, including:

• Registrations and attendance 
  

• Demographic information 
  

• The sessions they attended
  

• The topics they were interested in 
  

• How long they participated in a session for
  

• The sponsor booths they visited
  

This information can help you understand what your target audience likes and doesn’t, create detailed buyer personas, and thus, more targeted marketing campaigns. You can also use real-time feedback and polling features to assess your event’s performance and make improvements on the go—this can further enhance attendees’ experience and customer sentiment. 

The bottom line: Such insights into your audience can help you optimize your marketing efforts and current and future events. 

6. Focus on lead retrieval 

A Marketing Charts survey revealed that events generate qualified top-of-funnel leads. And hybrid events make tracking and retrieving information on leads even easier—since all your attendees (in-person and online) register through a single platform. 

Collecting and storing information on potential leads is also where your event platform plays a crucial role. Zuddl, for instance, helps you track attendee data, engagement, and buyer intent and prepares solid lead sheets for you. You can immediately start following up with these leads after the event ends. 

Now, some ways you can enhance your follow-up efforts are:

• Sending out thank-you emails with a feedback form.
  

• Sharing keynote speakers’ clips or relevant articles through your company newsletter.
  

• Connecting with participants and prospects on social media platforms like LinkedIn.
  

• Sending targeted ads to their IP address.
  

• Creating exclusive post-event communities.
  

The idea is to integrate these leads into your marketing campaigns and keep your brand on the top of their minds. This can not only help you convert leads but also build meaningful relationships and retain them.

7. Repurpose event content 

If re-used intelligently, your event content can bring you returns for months after it ends. Here’s how you can go about this: 

• Share event recordings with attendees so they can revisit sessions. This will further improve their experience with you. 
  

• Turn sessions into gated content on your website—ask for email addresses to access it so you can build a list of leads. 

Click here to watch a recording of Zuddl and ETP’s hybrid event about hybrid events, SHIFT 2021.

• Create a paid content library to let people watch sessions on-demand, like HubSpot’s Inbound does.

• Turn video content into a webinar series or online course. 
  

• Use event materials to market your next event, like ONECelibre does here. 

With these strategies, you can generate leads and customers from your event content and turn it into a recurring revenue source for yourself. 

Conclusion

By reducing operational costs, expanding reach, and providing valuable data, the hybrid format can considerably boost your event ROI and provide benefits long after the event ends. 

Follow the seven strategies highlighted in this article and focus on improving attendees’ experience—whether it’s through the speakers you bring onboard, the content shared, or your event platform—and you’ll optimize your quantitative and qualitative results from the event. 

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

Data has become so central to every part of every business, that none can run efficiently without it. That’s indisputable. 

More controversial: not every business knows how to leverage the data they collect- and it’s no different in the events industry. 

Event data that you collect at virtual or hybrid events can help you understand if it is helping to achieve your overall business goals. Event analytics can gauge if your attendees are enjoying the event, and what kind of content is resonating with them the best. It can tell you the kinds of products or services your attendees are interested in, and whether or not they are performing critical actions and completing the tasks that lead them along the customer journey. 

There’s a wealth of information available. You just need to know what you can do with it.  Read on to learn how to start.

Data to be collected at every stage of your event 

Before we move on to how to use your event data, let’s take a moment to highlight what data you should already be capturing at every stage of your virtual or hybrid event. 

Pre Event

• Registration - Virtual event registration data that you can collect via ticketing or landing pages is a great way to get as much information about your attendees as possible, such as their demographics, and interests about your industry and product/service. So don’t forget to collect the following:
  

• Data of the attendee (Name, Job title, Name of the company they work at, Email address, Industry they work in, etc.)

• Data of their plus one

• Secondary data (Personal information, Preferences - eg. their favourite product)

• Data of people who declined to RSVP
  

• Promotion - Collecting details from your pre-event campaign promotions can help you get more information about awareness, reach, interest, and potential footfall at the event. 
  

• Source (how they found out about the event)

• Engagement (clicks, opens, etc.)

• Event website (views, bounce rate, conversion rate, etc.)
  

Day of the event

The primary data you need to collect during the virtual or hybrid event is event engagement data. And the best way to do this is through the use of a virtual event platform like Zuddl which has the ability to track attendee traffic, engagement, and buyer intent across the event, all in real-time. Things you can measure include:

• Traffic (at which sessions or event zones are your attendees spending the most time)
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• Engagement (which content drove the most interest and participation)
• Buyer intent (see which Expo Booths had the most traffic and the most interest (see how many attendees clicked ‘Register Interest’, what questions they asked at the booth, what marketing material was downloaded the most
  

Post-event

The event doesn’t end when the last visitors leave the venue. You can send out surveys (click here to learn what questions will get you exactly the information you need to collect) and solicit feedback via email or on social media to learn if they liked the event, what was the best part, and what was a big no-no. 

• Feedback (favourite speakers, favourite sessions, etc.)
• Promotion - Engagement (clicks, opens, etc.)
  

How to use this event data to drive leads and sales

1. Import your data - Now that you’ve collected the data, the next step is to use a tech tool or integration that can take the data and import it into workflows that you can use to follow up with your attendees. (Click here to read about the most important integrations your virtual event platform should be able to accommodate) It’s important to look for integrations and a virtual event platform that enables the following:
   

• Captures event data easily and consistently.
• Syncs data in real-time to the existing system.
• Sync bi-directionally with all systems for easy collaboration.
• Ability to scan cards and import data automatically to the system in real-time.
• Add new registrants easily to ensure data is collected from late participants.
  

2. Automate and segment your attendee list - With the help of software that can automate communication and segmentation of event data, you’ll be able to group attendees in different buckets in a way that helps you better understand their background, pain points and business needs. For example, if you hosted an event on medical technology and had medical professionals as your attendees, the software should be able to segment them on the basis of the department they work for, their designation, the city they live in, etc. You can then look at your engagement data to determine which attendees are high, medium or low intent. 
   

3. Send out personalized follow-up post-event emails - Marketers will already know that regular communication with attendees via email is critical to nurture leads from the event.  This can be as simple as a three email sequence, starting with a simple ‘Thank you for attending the event’ email that reminds them of the event’s highlights. Don’t forget to add a link to the post-event web page that has more resources and information for your participants to access such as video recordings of sessions. In this email, you can add a link to a post-event survey to learn even more about the attendee’s opinion of the speakers, session, event content and platform. You can also email people who RSVPd for the event but didn’t turn up, albeit with a ‘Here’s what you missed’ angle to it. Let them know they were missed and highlight the resources that they can still access. It’s a great way to build goodwill and can motivate them to register for your next event. Follow-up emails can share more personalized and targeted content based on an attendees behaviour at the event - which we’ll cover in the following points.
   

4. Share relevant content - Based on your insights on attendee behaviour - the questions they answered via Polls, the Expo Booths they expressed an interest in, the sessions that were the most attended, you should be able to get an idea of what matters most to them in reaching their goals. (This is information your sales teams should have too). In your follow-up emails, you should therefore share content that shows them how your product or service can help them. This can be in the form of videos, ebooks, case studies etc, which will be especially effective with medium intent leads. Prompt high-intent attendees to sample your product by signing up for a demo, or make a direct purchase in your emails. To sweeten the deal, you can offer attendees exclusive discounts or premium offers on your services, gift cards, and even a VIP invitation to your next event. 
   

5. Engage attendees on social media - Thanks to integrations like Taggbox which lets you display a social media feed populated by attendees’ posts and tweets, you’ll have a goldmine of user-generated content (click here to read more about Zuddl x Taggbox’s social media display integration). You can reshare this content to highlight attendees’ favourite moments of the event, follow up with attendees post-event to keep conversations around the event going. It’s a simple but effective way to raise more awareness about your event, brand and partners, and stoke FOMO for your next event.
   

6. Invite attendees to your next event - Use the feedback data you collected to improve your strategy for the next event you plan to hold. If you are able to finetune everything based on attendees’ suggestions and recommendations (and communicate that too), they’ll be more likely to join in. Think of your virtual events as a funnel to find out which of your attendees are the most invested and engaged. Using events data from each concurrent virtual event will help you discover this. 
   

To sum up...

Your virtual event metrics and event-based analytics will only be helpful to you if you are able to gather the right data, analyze it thoroughly, and use it effectively.

Yes, it will take a lot of careful planning to ensure that your data is not lost in a sea of spreadsheets. But keep in mind that you’ve made a significant investment in organizing your event and you need to use event analytics data properly to make the most out of this investment. Those who are able to do so will have a considerable advantage over the competition‍

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

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Did you know that introverts make up nearly half the world's population (a recent MBTI® global sample puts it at 56.8%), and therefore form half of an event’s attendees? We’re not surprised if you don’t. It’s a quiet detail that event organizers often overlook; after all, most activities at events are typically high-energy formats and activities that lean towards extroverts.

But when it comes to virtual events, putting the experience of introverts at the core of event planning is important for organizers, in more ways than one. 

Besides the obvious reason that virtual events should be exciting, engaging, and impactful experiences for all attendees, paying a little attention to introverted needs and behaviorisms when building your event design can help to make your event ROI more profitable too.

To this end, there are three statements that organizers need to keep in mind:

1. The crux of success for a virtual event lies in how engaging it is for attendees.
   

2. While extroverts inherently look to form social connections, a trait that lends itself well to virtual events, introverts are known to prefer one-on-one experiences and intimate interactions, according to Psychology Today.
   

3. Introverts are truly empowered by digital and virtual platforms. The internet, writes Susan Cain, the author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, offers introverts “the chance to connect — but in measured doses and from behind a screen.”

Therefore, as a virtual event organizer, understanding how to leverage the features and capabilities of a virtual event platform to better connect and engage with introverts is key to driving better results from the event. Here are a couple of suggestions.

Tools that encourage communication are critical

Think back to the last in-person event you attended. Chances are that when the floor was opened up to audience participation, attendees who wanted to ask a question or offer their commentary were handed a mic and asked to speak up in front of the audience. Not an ideal situation for introverts who usually hate being put on the spot.

Introverts can be critical of their social performance, as per Dr. Elias Aboujaoude, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, and may even “second-guess what they have said in social settings.” With virtual event platforms, organisers can give introverts tools that make it easy, comfortable and fun for them to share their thoughts and opinions. With the right tools, an introvert will use technology as a way to participate more fully.

Polls, Emoji reactions and text-based Chat help to remove inhibitions to participation that stem from fear of social judgment and self-consciousness. These tools make it far easier for introverts to take part in a discussion and join in on a conversation when they want and choose to; typing a question in a box on a screen, expressing support and enthusiasm via a 😃 , and answering a Poll, may seem like small actions, but they can make introverted attendees feel seen, heard, and most importantly, included.

By ensuring that all your attendees feel comfortable and empowered enough to speak up, you can derive more insight about your event - for instance, you can ask which topics they enjoyed the most, and which they wish had been covered. This can help direct your strategy for future events as well as your content marketing efforts.

Furthermore, attendees whether introverted or extroverted who take the time to respond to Polls or interact in a Chat, are usually engaged and invested. They’re more likely to convert into leads. If attendees use your app or platform tool to express interest or register for sessions, you can capture their data. This in turn contributes to more targeted marketing campaigns, and more effective lead nurturing.

Safe ways and spaces for interaction = more ROI

While extroverts inherently look to form social connections, a trait that lends itself well to virtual events, introverts are known to prefer one-on-one experiences and intimate interactions, according to Psychology Today. If organizers can build their event with this in mind, they can make their introverted attendees feel more confident and empowered to meet and connect with new people. Here are a couple of ways to do this:

Searchable attendee list - Introverts are natural planners, reveals research by Dr. Laurie Helgoe, which helps them ease into social interactions. Contrary to popular belief, they aren’t really antisocial; in fact, they can be extremely social — with people they know or want to interact with. That’s why a searchable attendee list, a feature provided by some virtual event platforms, can be such a great way to get them to engage right at the onset. 

‍Interest-based social Rooms - When attendees walk into an event, they tend to sit with the people they know. So in-person events can make joining cliquey groups and socializing challenging for introverts. Virtual event platforms give organizers a way to make group socializing easier for introverts via Rooms. Interest-based rooms facilitate small group conversations within a larger 10,000+ audience.

These are spaces where introverts can relax and connect with other attendees who share their interests, whether that’s Mutual Stocks or TikTok Trends. Introverts can really open up when they’re truly interested in a topic. With only a limited number of interested people attending, everyone can bring in their experience and knowledge. Furthermore, some platforms like Zuddl even allow attendees to create their own private rooms, invite other attendees, watch sessions together, have discussions and more. All this makes for quality attendee engagement!

Anxiety-free networking - Think of an on-ground event, and it is not surprising to see that most attendees are naturally anxious about going up to someone and striking up a conversation, especially if that person is already conversing with a group. The easier you can make this for introverts at virtual events, the better. Smart Networking is a gamechanger for virtual events in this regard, and one that serves introverts as well as their more gregarious counterparts. It takes the guesswork out of the network-building process and allows attendees to book 1:1 video calls with top matches. (Click here to read more about ature).

This AI-driven feature aids the process of fostering deep and thoughtful interactions, something that is cherished by introverts. Other tools like those that allow attendees to share contact information easily or those that offer the convenience of pre-booking meetings, for instance, can facilitate easier connection and better conversations as well.

Why does this matter for your ROI? 

Firstly, research shows that if a conference attendee can make 10 good connections in the first3 hours, that person is 92% more likely to return to the conference. So, helping your attendees make valuable connections is a no-brainer. 

Second, you can measure which networking activities and/or areas were most popular, as well as specific attendee feedback. 

And third, helping your introverted attendees connect with others is a way for them to feel a part of your community. Community management efforts work to create positive references about the business, drives organic leads and referrals.

Interactive Expo Booths elevates brand awareness and gets you leads

Introverts hate being put on the spot, whether that’s taking part in a conversation or making a decision about a purchase. This is where interactive Expo Booths come in. Unlike in-person events where you have to jostle with a crowd and compete for attention with a salesperson or a company representative, virtual Expo Booths make life much easier for an introverted attendee. 

Introverts can visit Expo Booths to learn more about a company and its offerings. They can watch product demos. They can download marketing materials such as documents, audio/ video clips, website links, surveys, business cards, and more. And, features like the live chat manned by booth staff put introverts in the driver’s seat. Never has it been easier to access info and make a decision.

To sum up...

It is no surprise that virtual events can be a boon for introverts, allowing them to interact, listen, learn and participate at their pact tools in your virtual event platform arsenal, you can not only boost engagement for introverts, but drive more and better-qualified leads and create loyalists. 

While most attendees of your virtual event will fall along the introvert-extrovert spectrum rather than at the two ends of it, planning to maximize engagement with something for everyone isn’t just clever — it makes better business sense too.

Virtual event hosting platforms like Zuddl offer all the features you need to make introverts feel like they’re at home. Find out more with a demo.

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

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‘Thank You, Mario! But Our Princess Is In Another Castle!’

Sound familiar?

If reading that line conjured up memories of red overalls, and green pipes, it’s a safe bet to assume that you - just like tens of thousands of others - once fired up a Nintendo console and piloted a small man wearing a funny hat through a world full of gold coins and Goombas on a mission to save a princess.

And it’s no surprise that you remember this line from Super Mario so well; the game is a classic because it hooks you right from the moment you appear on the screen. As you make your way through the game, you experience the rush of collecting coins, jumping on turtle shells, and finally, jumping on the flagpole next to the castle to finish the level, complete with victorious music playing loudly in the background.  A satisfying experience!

The mechanics of the game - overcoming obstacles, killing bad guys, and earning rewards - make Super Mario exciting and fun to play; it keeps players glued to the screen and encourages and pushes them to go from one level to the next.

Virtual and hybrid events can also implement game mechanics to make virtual events more engaging and drive higher ROI.

But we’ll come back to this in a second.

Why bother? The importance of keeping attendees engaged at your virtual or hybrid event

When you host a virtual event or a hybrid event, one of the challenges you’ll be up against is retaining the attention of your attendees. 

There are a hundred and more things online that can distract attendees from your virtual event - Netflix, busy inboxes, social media platforms, and online shopping are just a click away. To cut through the noise, your event will have to be more interesting and engaging than a FRIENDS or Breaking Bad rerun; remember getting attendees to your event is only half the battle, keeping them hooked on the virtual event platform - ‘virtual event stickiness’ so to speak - is another thing completely.

So, how can you stop them from abandoning your event halfway? How do you keep attendees interested and enthusiastic about spending time at your event? 

Virtual event gamification is one of the most effective ways to get your attendees doing instead of simply watching. 

Indeed, a study by Gigya and its partners including Pepsi, Nike, and Dell, found that gamifying your website boosts engagement by the third. There was a boost in the number of comments by 13%, social sharing by 22%, and content discovery by 68%! There’s no reason why you can’t do the same at your virtual event.

But let’s backtrack for a second. What is virtual event gamification? And how does it work?

What is gamification?

One of the best definitions comes from Michael Wu, Chief AI Strategist at PROS, who defines it as: “the use of game elements to drive game-like player behavior in a non-game context with predictability”. Think of the coins and superpowers in Super Mario, which create a loop of progress and reward.

Simply put, just like with any point-based game or video game,  it’s the application of elements like the completion of tasks, earning badges, points, rankings, and leaderboards to visually encourage participants to achieve goals. For instance, consider how the language-learning app Duolingo operates. Users earn virtual currency when they complete lessons which can then be spent at a virtual shop. This is a great motivator to help participants keep learning, and it keeps engagement at high levels for the company.

Gamification taps into psychological motivators like competition, exploration, and curiosity - which form the basics of gaming dynamics. When participants achieve something related to these motivators, they get pulled into a powerful reward-compulsion loop that makes them want to keep playing. This is how it works:

How gamification works

1. Perform a desired action

 2. Receive a reward for performing it

3. Triggers a “feel-good” dopamine hit  

4. Incentivizes participants to repeat action

Now, let’s see how you can apply virtual gamification in events:

How gamification works at virtual events

1.  Attendees perform a desired action (eg. answering a Poll) 

2. They earn points, badges or coins for completing the action 

3.  They enjoy their success aka the ‘winner effect’ 

4. Attendees are thereby motivated to complete more actions 

What this means is that you, as the organizer, can use gamification in virtual events to nudge attendees towards a desired action or outcome. It’s a simple and fun way to drive value for all stakeholders - attendees, sponsors, partners, and your organization too.

How to use Zuddl’s virtual event gamification feature to drive the highest levels of engagement  

With Zuddl’s gamification feature, you can now make virtual events more engaging -  almost as much as your favorite game, whether that’s Super Mario or Candy Crush. Here’s how:

1. Digital Leaderboard:  Create a digital leaderboard to incentivize learning and engagement. The leaderboard is visible to everyone at the event, on the virtual event platform. It updates in real-time to show attendees how many points or coins they have earned.
   

Result: Boosts attendee participation

Attendees are motivated by the visual aspect of getting more coins and points, and reaching the top positions on the leaderboard. Plus, it just makes your event even more fun and interactive for virtual event audiences.

2. Reward Systems : Reinforce high-value behaviour, such as commenting, networking, setting a display photo, etc. with predefined reward points, to drive desired actions and interactions.
   

Some other examples of high incentive behavior could be :

• Asking a question during a session
• Answering a Poll
• Visiting an Expo Booth
• Connecting with another attendee during a Networking session
• Visiting a Breakaway Room
• Watching a product demo video
  

You can be as wildly creative as you want in blending gamification with the features available on your virtual event platform . For instance, you could set a riddle to which the answer (ideally your brand’s product or service) points to a specific Breakaway Room on the virtual event platform or even the name of a person attendees will need to find at a Networking session.

Result: Increases conversion rates

Rather than feeling marketed or sold to, using gamification at your virtual event lets you nudge attendees towards performing specific actions that contribute towards your event KPIs, like audience engagement, participation, loyalty, in an authentic way. It’s the ideal way for you to achieve larger event goals strategically  Here are some examples:

• Is the purpose of the event to highlight a new product at a virtual conference or summit? Tie this to actions that help an attendee learn more about it.
  

• Is it to drive networking opportunities for attendees at an internal company event? Connect this with actions that nudge attendees towards connecting with others on a 1:1 or group basis. 
  

• Do you want to increase your social media footprint? Give attendees points for sharing updates about the event with your event hashtag. (As a bonus, you’ll know how effective this tactic is thanks to our social media wall integration! With it, you and your attendees will be able to see their posts in real-time. This also provides positive reinforcement for the targeted behavior.)
  

• Or do you need to drive leads for sponsors? Set points for visiting the sponsor’s Expo Booth. Not only are you driving value for the sponsor by sending them traffic, but you’re also driving value for an attendee , and driving value for your own business. Win-win-win.
  

3. Set prizes for those who rack up the most points and reach the top of the leaderboard. While the dopamine rush will encourage attendees to keep participating, prizes and rewards will drive even more motivation and make virtual events more engaging for them.

Result: Makes your event even more memorable

This one needs no explanation - everyone loves rewards! Giving attendees awards is just one more way for you to solidify that sense of achievement. Prizes can be tied to product education and lead generation efforts.

Hopefully, over time, you can use gamification to turn these actions into habits, resulting in sustainable engagement.

In conclusion...

Whether you’re looking to boost inter-company camaraderie at your next virtual company offsite, or looking to drive leads for a sponsor at your upcoming virtual conference, Zuddl’s gamification feature can help you achieve your event goals when you host a virtual event.

But keep in mind that just like in Super Mario, your ultimate goal is to make your virtual event more engaging and fun for your attendees, and make them eager to attend your next event.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to gamification in virtual events, but it takes the right tactics and the right virtual event platform to see measurable results. Talk to our team today to learn how to get it right!

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

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As remote working continues to be the norm, but with offices slowly reopening, every company leader faces a common question: How can Virtual and Hybrid Team Building Activities help me manage my remote or hybrid workforce effectively?

Virtual and hybrid engagement activities can be instrumental in keeping in-person and remote employees in sync, as it can be a challenging task. Managers and leaders not only need to ensure that daily tasks are accomplished but also need to focus on establishing connections, building trust, and fostering camaraderie. These aspects are crucial for team members to collaborate effectively, and virtual and hybrid engagement activities can play a significant role in achieving these objectives.

“The biggest dilemma for us in the current scenario of work from home model is…how to translate the same level of 'belongingness' in the virtual space”, says Anita Bhatia, HR Director for the Times Internet, the digital arm of the Times Group, the largest media conglomerate in India. “[This is important] to ensure seamless engagement, motivation, and retention of our key talent…”

The need of the hour is therefore for managers and leaders to work with purpose towards uniting their team, regardless of whether their colleagues are at the office or are half the world away. Technology can help — but only to an extent. But if you are deliberate about helping your team to bond and build relationships, it can yield great benefits in teams of communication and productivity.

One way to do this is through virtual team building activities. 

But let’s come back to this in a second, and cover the basics first.

Why team building is important for your bottom line

Yes, it’s true that suggesting team building activities for employees is often met with a roll of the eyes, but there’s no doubt that they’re effective.

According to a Gallup study, incorporating virtual and hybrid engagement activities can result in increased employee engagement and performance. The study found that such activities can lead to a 41% reduction in absenteeism and a 21% increase in profitability, highlighting the importance of incorporating virtual and hybrid engagement activities in the workplace.

These findings are buttressed by a new research from Better Up which show that workplace belonging leads to a 56% increase in job performance.

Team building is central to this. According to the Gensler US Workplace Survey, people see team building as the most important aspect of great workplaces, with 43% choosing ‘promotes team building and collaborate’ as a key attribute, 20% choosing ‘foster camaraderie and fun’ and 18% choosing ‘build social connections and community.’

Now that this is clear, here are some simple but effective  virtual team building activities you can use to strengthen your team.
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Additional reading: Here's a sneak peek of event trends in 2023 as per our latest report.

Here are 9 virtual engagement activities that can add some fun to your hybrid workforce

1. Virtual scavenger hunt

As you’re running this activity for a virtual or hybrid team, keep in mind that you’ll need to try to find items for your list that can be found by colleagues in the office or at home, such as books or keyboards. To up the ante, you set riddles as scavenger hunt clues, for instance “I have a spine, but no bones” (answer: books).

To make it even more creative, your list doesn't have to comprise physical objects - they could be people at the company instead. So your participants will first need to figure out who the person is and then take a picture with them either on-screen or at the office. 

This is one of the best virtual team building games that can also help build inter-company camaraderie.

2. Cultural celebration parties

When you have a diverse workforce, with employees from different parts of the world, it’s important to recognize and celebrate the cultural environment and location where each person works. Cultural celebration parties are a great way to do this. On the day of the celebration, you can decorate the office. 

Your team members whose culture you are celebrating can attend wearing cultural clothing, while others can dress up too in support. They can hold virtual cooking classes to teach others how to cook a national dish, and you can order delivery of the dish to the houses of remote colleagues.

Though these are small activities, they’ll go a long way in making each person feel like they’re part of your company community.

3. Online adventure games

Online games are a fun way for virtual team members to work together to solve puzzles and riddles, usually against a clock. They are great exercises in creative problem solving and collaboration. Some popular options for your to consider:

• Heist

Your team will have to solve a series of challenges to find the jewels before time runs out. Or, you can take this up a notch and make your team the bad guys who have to escape from the police with the jewels. 

https://try.outbackteambuilding.com/ap-virtual-escape-room/?utm_source=timedoctor 

• Murder Mystery

Assign a character to each of your team members. They will have to put on fancy costumes, learn about their characters, and solve the clues to identify the murderer. 

Psst... Teambuidling.com organizes some really enjoyable team building events, catering to both in-person and virtual settings. Their events are typically designed to last for 90 minutes, offering a unique combination of fun games and activities that are worth considering!

4. Virtual house tours

A virtual house tour is a fun way to let your team members show off their creativity and personality! Each week, ask a different team member to take the others on a virtual tour of their house. To make this even more entertaining, everyone can present their homes in the style of MTV Cribs or Architectural Digest just like celebrities do.  

This activity allows team members to learn about each other on a more personal level and see colleagues as parents and hobbyists too.  It deepens relationships and fosters greater understanding.

5. Virtual deserted island game

You’ve probably played this one before as it’s a classic team building activity for employees. Ask team members to pretend that they are stranded on a deserted island with an object that each possesses (distributed from a list or picked on their own). They will then need to work together to come up with creative ways to combine the various objects to improve their chances of survival. Working together in unfamiliar territory has a way of creating bonds that cannot be created in any other way.

6. 20 questions

This is another classic, although there are different variations. 

Ask each employee to choose an item and tell everyone what category it belongs to (for instance, if they choose ‘ball’ as an item, then the category will be sporting equipment). Everyone else must guess the item by asking 20 yes or no questions. You can award points based on how many questions it took for the team member to guess the item. It is a simple game that can be played during a tea time break. 

7. Two truths and a lie

This is another fun and light-hearted team building activity. To play this game, ask team members to write down three statements - two that are the truth and one that is a lie. Each team member will read their statements aloud in a random order, and the other participants will need to guess which one is the lie.  The winner of the game is the team member whose lie wasn’t caught. 

It’s a fun activity that’s a lot of laughs and helps your team learn more about each other too!

8. Idea workshops

The aim of organizing an idea workshop is to give your team a platform where they can brainstorm and work together to solve a problem. 

It could be something that solves a problem the team or the company is facing. Or it could be a more lighthearted workshop wherein your team discusses ideas to make the company more fun - perhaps debating the merits of a pool table or casual Fridays. 

9. Lunch and learn!

Eating lunch together is a simple way to strengthen the connections between hybrid team members. You can order a catered lunch for employees at the office, and food delivery for virtual teammates. As everyone eats their meal, they can relax and socialize. 

In conclusion...

Building effective communication and camaraderie among virtual and hybrid teams requires intentional effort, but incorporating virtual and hybrid engagement activities, like the ones discussed in this article, can help transform your distributed team into a cohesive and productive unit.

Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

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When you’re organizing a hybrid event for the first time, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. There are hundreds of moving parts that you need to keep track of, last minute changes, and plenty of challenges you need to deal with. 

These key challenges include: 

• Managing the increased cost, complexity, and risk associated with different technologies and platforms. 
  

• Offering attendees bespoke experiences specific to their interests and roles. 
  

• Creating inclusive, engaging, and memorable event experiences for both in-person and virtual audiences. 

Enter integrations.

From ticketing to registration, software integrations offer automated solutions that can help you more efficiently manage every stage of the event lifecycle. When used together, virtual event platforms and powerful integrations can help your business save money and time, and create a smoother and seamless experience for your attendees.

In this article, we take you through several integrations you can use to address the challenges faced during hybrid events so you can conduct them successfully. Let’s get started!

1.Ticketing 

With a hybrid or virtual event, you no longer need to worry about scanning tickets at the entrance or reducing long lines at the check-in tables.Incorporating ticketing integrations can smoothen the registration process for your audience.

With an integrated ticketing system, your event guests can purchase tickets online and download or print the ticket in real-time. Such streamlined one-stop event shopping can encourage event participants to buy one or multiple event tickets. Here are two tools that offer ticketing integration and which you can use for your events: 

• Cvent is an effective tool that streamlines registration through its Express Ticketing Event solution, allowing you to customize the registration process and fields per your event’s needs. 
  

• In addition, Eventbrite offers an integrated ticketing solution for your virtual events with an easy promo code creation for improved marketing and sales strategy. 

Pro tip: When your audience performs registration using these tools on a ticketing platform, the registration can be automatically imported into Zuddl.We also offer a webhook API for ticketing, so you can use that to integrate with any ticketing platform for registrations.

2.A social media wall integration 

When you host a virtual/hybrid event, a social media display integration can help you make your events more interactive, appealing, and engaging. 

How? You can use a display screen to integrate your social media feeds, brand or event hashtags, which means that you can broadcast User Generated Content (UGC) like visuals of users using your products, customer reviews or testimonials, and ratings at your event. Attendees can then browse through your social media or use your event hashtags when posting on their social media to contribute to your virtual/hybrid event. 

Taggbox Display is a popular display integration tool that allows you to integrate social media with your hybrid and virtual events for a unique and interactive user experience. 

For this very reason, we have proudly partnered with Taggbox to offer a Zuddl x Taggbox Display integration which allows you to: 

• Amplify your brand awareness and virtual event’s reach by putting up a social media wall for real-time user interaction and encouraging participation. 
  

• Build a sense of sociability and community by displaying specific event hashtags. 
  
  

3.Email marketing 

According to Markletic, 76% of virtual event organizers consider emails their most critical marketing medium. Email marketing is an efficient way to promote your virtual event, gain a good number of registrations, and send event reminders to ensure maximum participation. 

However, performing this process manually can get tedious and time-consuming, often resulting in human errors. Human errors are common during drafting an email and cost a lot to your business. For example, including the wrong name of your guest can not only seem unprofessional but lower the chances of them showing up to your virtual events. 

It’s a good thing then that you can use email marketing integrations to send and deliver highly personalized and branded emails. A ticketing integration can also help smooth your email marketing process and make it more efficient and accurate.

Here are two ticket integration tools that can help you automate your email marketing strategy for your virtual or hybrid event: 

• Marketo offers an automated and highly scalable email marketing tool that lets you interact with your customers through their unique online behavior and drive maximum results with personalized emails. 

• Mailchimp is another example that offers marketing automation applications and tools to let you reach your customers with smarter and faster marketing and drive sales. 

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Pro tip: When your guests register for an event on Zuddl, we push them into an existing mail campaign within your email marketing tool. This takes away the trouble to add recipients manually or scratch your head over coordinating ticketing and marketing efforts.

4.Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Integrating your virtual or hybrid event platform with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software can be the key to a successful event as CRM software facilitates the management and interactions with your event attendees. This is also why Gartner named CRM tools as the world’s biggest and largest software market. 

When a user registers for your virtual event, you can use the CRM to log their personal information (name, email, phone number, address), unique food or transport needs, and any other details. You can use this recorded data to interact with your guests on a personal level post-event for further promotion, marketing, or other campaigns. Instead of using outdated paper-based or email systems, you can leverage the CRM integration for event management.

Using CRM integration with your event management platform, you get a centralized view of all your attendee’s data, their engagement rate, and how long they attended your event for more operational accountability. 

You can use the following effective tools that offer CRM integration: 

• Salesforce offers a wide range of CRM categories that help you manage over 150,000 customers with a full range of functionalities and features at a scalable price per your business needs. 

• Hubspot offers a free and easy-to-use CRM software with features including pipeline management, reporting dashboard, deal tracking, and company insights. 

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By integrating these tools with your event management platform, you will be able to record and track your guest’s data with ease. 

Pro tip: One of the critical features of these tools is that all the attendee information like how much time they spent on your virtual/hybrid event, can be pushed back to augment CRM customer information. Through this information, you can lead better and personalized post-event campaigns with enhanced customer relationship building.

5.Accessibility

As an event organizer, you need to accommodate the needs of every abled and disabled event attendee.

Thanks to the ADA Act (Americans with Disabilities Act), organizers have options like closed captioning for hard of hearing and deaf people and audio recording for the visually impaired and blind people. Integrating these options or services with your virtual/hybrid events promotes a sense of inclusivity, making your events highly accessible to every present attendee. 

Here’s how you can create highly accessible virtual events: 

• Keeping 4:5:1 color contrast
  

• Including alt-text for all images 
  

• Providing audio description or transcript for all video content 
  

• Describing visual representations as crafts and charts
  

• Using clean and easily readable text fonts

Here are two effective integrations for accessible virtual/hybrid events:‍

1. Interprefy (multilingual audio capabilities)
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Thanks to Interprefy, clients can now turn on multilingual audio capabilities, which can be done at a stage level. Interprefy is a Zurich-based partner company that facilitates multilingual audio support by removing language barriers through cloud-based solutions which make real-time interpreting accessible from anywhere.The audio translation will be human-driven and not AI ( human translators will be translating the audio in real-time and not driven by an AI), and thus the lag will be approximately 5 seconds.

2. SyncWords (closed captioning capabilities)

Your attendees can now turn on closed captioning capabilities, which can be done at a stage level through the partner company, SyncWords, to facilitate closed captioning capabilities. 

SyncWords Live meets Section 508 Compliance, a primary tool to help hard-of-hearing and deaf attendees effectively engage in the events. Once turned on, the attendees can choose the preferable language in which they want to see the captions on stage.The closed captioning will be human-driven and not AI ( human captioners will be feeding in captions in real-time), and thus the lag will be only 2-3 seconds. 

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Conclusion 

From planning hybrid/virtual events to post-event lead retrieval, choosing the right event integration tools lets you efficiently connect, manage, and interact with your attendees from start to finish. 

It can be challenging to streamline the registration process without powerful integrations, keep your attendees engaged and involved, or effectively follow up with them through emails. Thus, making these tasks more tedious, time-consuming, and expensive. 

Integrations ensure that you can have an engaging and user-friendly registration process, deliver relevant marketing materials, and offer interactive and appealing experiences.

From creating a branded virtual event set up, tracking attendees to post-event recordings, Zuddl’s easy-to-use and highly customizable virtual event platform gives you complete control and flexibility to build your virtual event and deliver an immersive and engaging attendee experience. 

Book your demo today and leverage the benefits of the aforementioned powerful integrations to conduct memorable, interactive, and profitable virtual or hybrid events for your business. 

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

Planning hybrid events is a combination of keeping track of small details and taking some big decisions. The venue? It’s one of the most important decisions you’ll make as an organizer, because the smallest oversight when picking the venue can blow up, causing huge issues on the day of the event. And if you’ve never hosted a hybrid event before, it may feel a little overwhelming trying to figure out which is the right venue for your event.

There’s a lot to think about and a lot riding on your choice, but don’t stress. If you carefully evaluate the following factors, you’ll end up with a wishlist that you can use to start your search

1. Internet connectivity
2. Space and equipment
3. Power supply
4. In-house support
5. Dry runs
6. Safety measures

Now, let’s break each of these down.

1. Internet connectivity

This one’s a no-brainer. 

79% of event professionals feel that wifi performance and availability are a big issue in the event industry according to a study by EventMB. 44% of the participants also said that having poor wifi was one of the main frustrations they faced when dealing with venues. 

Internet connectivity will be central to hosting an integrated event experience for both your in-person and virtual attendees. You’ll need excellent connectivity and bandwidth so that live-streamed sessions and pre-recorded videos play without interruption for your virtual attendees. And your in-person attendees will need to be able to access your event app to access virtual content, post to social media, and connect and network with virtual attendees.

To this end, the venue should have an Internet Service Provider (ISP) that is capable of processing high bandwidth and can keep the connection secure, even in a high-density environment. It’s best if you confirm with the venue that you have dedicated bandwidth and not shared bandwidth, as this will guarantee that you have consistent internet connectivity throughout the event. A venue that doesn't offer dedicated bandwidth will most likely not have fiber optic cable either. 

Here are some other considerations related to internet connectivity that you should look for:

• A streaming speed of at least 10 Gigabytes (GB) with low latency
• Dual-band WiFi that offers a frequency of 2.4 GigaHertz (GHz) and 5 GHz for certain users
• A latency speed or ping of 30 milliseconds or less along with a rate of 2 MP per 100 users
• A networking engineering team that is available on-site to assist you during outages
  

Be sure to screen your venues with these requirements in mind, and vet their online streaming capabilities through the online event platform you are using so there are no issues later. When you’ve chosen a venue, work with them to finesse your requirements.  Even if you have to pay more for a larger streaming package, it will be worth it to avoid any stress and hassle on the day of the event.

2. Space & Equipment

When you’re organizing a hybrid event, the venue space is just as important as the right equipment.  Not only does your venue need to accommodate the number of attendees you’re expecting, but it also needs to have the space for any setup you’re considering - like a stage for instance, with lighting and cameras. 

Think about these questions when evaluating the space of a venue:

• How are people going to walk around the venue during your event?
• If you’re planning to showcase any products via booths or a special setup, is there adequate space to do this?
•  If a stage isn’t available, can one be set up? And is there space to accommodate your AV requirement?
• Does the venue have high-definition cameras for your live-streaming needs, including ones that can support a wide range of screen sizes? Do they provide high-quality microphones?
• Where will attendees register or check in?
• Is there space for your main stage as well as areas for smaller group discussions and for networking?
• Where should audio and video equipment be stationed?
  

From AV capabilities to dedicated studio space, the right venue can help you take advantage of the expertise and infrastructure they offer to ensure that your audience is able to have a good experience.

3. Power supply

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No one wants a power cut to bring everything to a halt, so check that your venue has the capability to support your power needs, including entertainment, lighting, decorations, video and audio equipment, photo booths, band, catering, etc. And don’t underestimate the value of a good power backup system.

4. In-house support

Hosting a hybrid event that caters to a live as well as remote audience at the same time can be challenging because  not all companies have a team that is large enough to take care of both your virtual attendees and your in-house attendees.

Having an in-house support team will make the job easier for you. 

Having a capable and friendly venue team to work with means that they can help address issues attendees face at the physical venue, allowing you to focus on other pressing issues of your hybrid event like attendees engagement, integrating sponsorships into your event. If you’re working with a studio partner to produce your hybrid event, keep in mind that you’ll be able to leverage the talent on their team as well.

Either way, ensure that you have the following professionals support the event, regardless of whether they are on your team,  or work for the studio partner or the venue: 

• A video operator who can ensure that the video is recorded at all times and who can work with your team to live-stream the sessions.
• An AV operator who can set up and operate equipment used to enhance hybrid events, such as microphones, video recorders, projectors, lighting and sound mixing equipment
• Technical support to help in case internet connectivity goes awry
  

If the venue does not have in-house support, you can negotiate your venue package pricing since you will be sourcing support yourself, and which - though necessary - can take up a significant amount of your budget. 

5. Dry runs

For ultimate peace of mind, choose a venue that lets you hold practice runs before the main day. There are 100 different things that can go wrong on the day of your event, so having the opportunity to hold a dry run, check all the essentials like the internet speed, audiovisual equipment etc, and fix any issues is invaluable. 

Protip: Keep in mind that many of your speakers may not be 100% comfortable with interacting with a live and virtual audience and other speakers simultaneously, so allowing them to practice at the venue will help them feel more comfortable and confident on the day of the event as well. 

Most venues should give you the time you need to set up and practice the day before your event. However, if you are getting access only on the day of your event, you’ll need to consider whether your team will be able to combat major problems on the spot or not. 

6. Safety measures

With variants of the pandemic emerging every other day, you’ll now have to deal with twice the safety issues as before. For in-person attendees, the venue will have to conform to the safety regulations of their respective local and national governments. 

Pro-tip:  Look for a venue that has well-documented and clear safety policies and protocols. When your attendees see that the venue is committed to keeping them safe, your on-site attendance will improve.

In conclusion…

Keep these factors in mind when evaluating potential venues, and you should end up with one that’s the perfect partner for your hybrid event. And if ever in doubt, just think about the venue from an attendee’s perspective. How would you feel if you were attending a hybrid event in the space? Does it have everything that would make an attendee feel delighted to attend the event, as well as looked after during it? Is there anything that would cause discomfort or stress?

Keep customer-centricity in mind when picking the venue, and you won’t go wrong.

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.