This past year has been challenging for a lot of people as the whole format of “live entertainment” switched to a “virtual entertainment” in no time!
Obviously, that affected us too.
Not to mention, being performers who travel all over the country and the world, out of sudden, having to stay home was a change of a routine.
As a matter of fact, the idea of providing a virtual entertainment sounded somewhat crazy first and sort of unreal. However, the demand for virtual events got higher as the months were passing by, and we knew we did a right thing by creating our virtual mind reading show.
Up to the present time, we had provided a successful virtual entertainment for over 30 clients ( corporate, colleges and private events) .
Check out our website to see more about our virtual show.
Given that, we are happy to share some tips to help you create a successful virtual event.
Platform or Software
Of course, first thing to keep in mind when it comes to hosting an event is choosing a right platform/ software.
The difference between a virtual platform and a software :
- Virtual software is used for a smaller group events and has a face-to-face feel of meeting.
- Virtual platform gives ability to an administrator to engage with a group through different elements ( waiting rooms, Q&A, chat, polls).
Nowadays there are so many types of virtual platforms and softwares to choose from. Usually, most of the time clients use the same programs they work on as they are familiar with it and know all ins and outs, that certainly makes a perfect sense.
We have done virtual shows on YouTube, Zoom, Cisco Webex and Google Hangouts, they all worked out great.
Most important things to keep in mind when choosing a right software/ platform for your event are: format of your event , amount of guests, your virtual entertainment.
Scheduling
Also another crucial point of a successful event is choosing a right day/ time. Of course, it’s impossible to ask everyone what works for them better, but knowing your employees’ general schedule and picking the “prime time” would most certainly result in a good attendance.
Virtual Entertainment
Virtual entertainment is an equally important component of a successful event. People are more likely to attend an event knowing that there would be some sort of entertainment.
When it comes to a virtual entertainment, there are few things to consider.
- The duration of entertainment
Are you planning an hour event and need only few minutes of the entertainment, or is it more like a several hour event and you would like to have a whole show.
- Type on entertainment
There are a lot of possibilities for virtual entertainment: mentalists, magicians, singers, jugglers, tarot readers, comedians, caricature artists and many more.
Definitely, one of the most important tips to choose an entertainment is to analyze your group. Are they into magic or maybe comedy or they most likely would enjoy listening to live music? Or maybe you have a specific theme of your event and you know for sure that certain type of entertainment would work better? Or maybe you would like to try a new type of entertainment your group haven’t experienced before? All of these factors should be taken into consideration.
Tech Rehearsal
As a matter of fact, that might be the most important thing to pay attention to. It is extremely crucial that you do a tech rehearsal before the event.
No matter how great your event is planned to be or a variety of fantastic entertainment you have lined up, if something is not working in technical department, the whole experience of the event is noticeably ruined.
It is known to be a good practice to arrange a call with everyone involved in putting an event together and discussing timeline, practicing transitions ( verbal and technical), foreseeing and preventing possible issues.
We recommend doing test calls at least a day before the event (ideally on the week of) and going over every single detail that might be important. Also, not a bad thing to consider is having some tech back-ups (extra charger, extra batteries nearby – anything you can think of that might possibly save your event).
Virtual Entertainment – Promotion
Another key factor for a successful event is making sure you promote it. Whether it comes to sending out emails with pdf flyers, verbally announcing it or creating a small promo video and posting it on social media for your group to see – possibilities are endless. The earlier you start to promote event (ideally, 2 weeks before), the higher turnout it will result in, as people will be able to block their schedule ahead of time.
Another great way to perk up an interest of a group is to announce a virtual entertainment or possibly a giveaway in the end of the event, whatever makes the crowd excited always results in a great attendance and “spirit” of the event.
We hope these tips were helpful for you, we know there are a lot of components when it comes to planning a virtual event!
So we wish you a best of luck! with planning your event!
Antonina & David
