How do your virtual attendees learn and how do they want to learn? theplanner.guru offers insights into some strategies that are applicable even beyond the virtual experience.
As planners and organisers, we are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of understanding just what makes our audiences tick. With most events now happening in the virtual space, the rules of engagement have suddenly and significantly changed, making it that much more challenging to ensure our approach hits all the right notes.
When it comes to the knowledge component of events and sharing of information, what works best for our virtual attendees? Taking the time to understand their learning experience may be the differentiator between this being roaring success or a floundering flop.
Sweet spot
In its recently published Virtual Attendee Learning Report, Bizzabo surveyed 400 virtual event attendees and reviewed data from almost 10 000 delegates to discover how they engage with virtual events and what seek from these experiences. They found that:
- The majority want to learn more about industry insights best practices;
- Nearly half (44%) of attendees feel they gained as much knowledge as they hoped;
- 80% of attendees felt their notes did not cover everything from the content.
Attendee engagement is “ever-changing”, which is why Bizzabo says that “it’s more important than ever to keep a continuous pulse on how attendees are engaging with events”.
Creating the right environment
One of the key aspects of virtual events and the attendee experience is the technology and platform that is used to support it.
“Our latest research shows that 80% of event professionals have improved their proficiency in event technology over the past 15 months, yet only 18% consider themselves to be savvy event technologists,” says Miguel Neves, CMP, DES and editor-in-chief at EventMB.
EventMB recently published its Virtual Event Tech Guide 2021 which is based on research that was carried out between May and June 2021. The guide provides insights across the 102 platforms and 3 368 survey data points analysed by EventMB to provide trends, insights and advice on how to make your virtual event successful.
Further resources
* On 08 September 2021, EventMB will be hosting the Experience Design Summit to help event planners and organisers design event experiences for their audiences who are currently starved of face-to-face interaction.
* To further support event planners and organisers, Bizzabo recently put together a toolkit for virtual event planners. The kit is accessible at no cost here.
* Create the ultimate checklist for virtual and hybrid events with Hopin’s list of handy tips and tools.
