Mainstream | Live Video Agency

In-House or Agency? How to Choose the Right AV Partners For Your Next Event

Alex Onion — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 16:19:37 +0000

As we gear up for a busy fall season of conferences, trade shows, and other big events, event planners are asking one major question: should we stick with venue-provided AV support, or hire an outside agency?

It’s a conundrum that’s only grown in significance over the past few years as we’ve gained experience in virtual and hybrid events. We have a stronger understanding of why it’s so important to engage remote audiences now, and we’ve developed the skills and technical knowledge to reach those folks in a stronger way.

But as we head back to in-person events at hotels and other large venues, we’re wondering: who’s responsible for making sure on-site content is reaching virtual live streams? Who’s doing the camera work? Who’s managing the audience chat?

In most scenarios, you’ll have three options: add AV services to your venue rental contract, bring in your own AV agency team, or use a combination of both. But which of these options is the right choice to make sure your event goes off without a hitch, comes in under budget, and leaves audiences wanting more?

Inside, you’ll find:

Expert opinions on which type of event production support is better: in-house or agency?
Fresh insights from a recent LinkedIn Live with event producer Anca Trifan
8 actionable tips for how agencies and in-house AV teams can work well together

How to Produce a Next-Level Internal Corporate Event

Alex Onion — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 21:14:21 +0000

We’ve all been to our fair share of company meetings and other corporate events. And chances are, there are some that stick out in your mind…and some that don’t.

Can you recall an especially memorable company event that you’ve attended? What made it so special? How did it make you feel? What results came from it?

The truth is, internal corporate events can make or break your organization. A great one can build momentum for the future, energize employees, connect your team to a shared mission, and set your company apart as an employer. A bad one can leave your team bored, confused, or indifferent.

We can’t forget how expensive corporate meetings are, either. For an average U.S. company, an hour-long meeting with 1,000 attendees costs $29,810. So you better make sure it’s worth it!

If you think your company events aren’t living up to their cost, we have you covered. In this guide, we’re sharing our best tips to improve any type of corporate meeting you have coming up.

Inside, you’ll find:

Step-by-step tools and tactics to produce your next corporate event
A breakdown by event type, including annual meetings, town halls, sales kickoffs, and more
Insights from the experts about how to improve your company meetings

The 4 Steps You Should Take Before You Start Planning a Conference

Alex Onion — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 20:13:38 +0000

So you’re ready to plan your next conference. Congrats! But before you start daydreaming about keynote presentations that crush, interactive brand experiences that surprise and delight, and a closing party that leaves everyone wanting more…we have to hit pause. (*Cue record scratch.*)

We know, we know. It’s easy to get caught up in all the excitement, and jump right to the fun stuff. But the truth of the matter is that planning a conference can be a daunting task that comes with huge business objectives (and budgets). So it’s important to start with a solid foundation, investing a good amount of time in preparation and strategy upfront.

Before you dive into the logistics and details of planning, there are a few steps that will help you ensure you’re setting yourself up for success. In this blog post, we’ll cover the key steps you should take before planning a conference or convention.

1. Set clear goals

The first step in planning any event is to determine your goals. What do you hope to achieve by hosting this conference or convention? Are you looking to educate, inspire, or network with attendees? Is there a specific theme or topic you want to focus on? Defining your goals will help you make decisions about everything from the content of the conference to the marketing and promotion strategies you use to attract attendees.

When setting goals, it’s important to be specific and measurable. For example, instead of saying, “We want to educate attendees,” dive deeper. A more quantitative goal might be, “We want to provide attendees with 10 hours of professional development content.” By setting goals that have concrete numbers attached to them, you can track your progress and evaluate the success of your event.

2. Align on your conference brand

Once you’ve established your goals, it’s time to think about your brand. Your conference or convention should have a cohesive visual identity and tone that reflects the goals and values of your organization. This includes everything from the design of your website and promotional materials to the way you communicate with attendees.

To create a strong visual identity, consider working with a graphic designer or branding expert who can help you develop a logo, color scheme, and overall look and feel that will resonate with your target audience. Additionally, make sure to consider the tone of your messaging. Are you aiming for a formal, professional tone, or a more casual, approachable one? Consistency in tone across all messaging is key.

To get your creativity flowing, here are a couple of great event branding examples that delighted event attendees and made for a memorable conference:

The Allied Media Conference is a community-designed event that explores two overarching themes: media for liberation and visionary organizing. From workshops, networking opportunities and educational sessions, the multi-day event brings together creatives and social justice advocates from all walks of life. Every year, their conference features a strong visual identity that carries through in-person and virtual experiences. Their brand makes audience members feel like they’re a part of something bigger than themselves, whether they’re tuning in from home or in-person.

Similarly, we partnered with Avant Communications earlier this year to produce their Special Forces Summit. With this conference, Avant’s goal is to help its channel partners stay ahead of technological evolution. That vision drives their conference brand forward, incorporating the theme into everything from the design of the event down to the subjects of their breakout sessions.

3. Decide the who/what/where

Next, it’s time to decide on the logistics of your conference or convention. This includes who will be speaking or presenting, what types of sessions or activities will be offered, and where the event will take place.

When considering these factors, keep your goals and brand in mind. You want to make sure that the content and format of your event aligns with your overall vision. How can your speakers, event content and location reflect your brand? If you’re looking for inspiration, check out our 2023 Event Trends Report to see what leading event managers have planned for the year ahead.

When selecting speakers or presenters, consider not only their expertise and knowledge but also their ability to engage and inspire attendees. Be sure to also build a diverse speaker panel that can offer a variety of different perspectives and backgrounds. Attendees will be more engaged when they can see themselves in your event content!

When selecting the venue for your conference or convention, consider factors like capacity, location, and amenities. You want to choose a venue that can comfortably accommodate your expected attendance and that is convenient and accessible for attendees. Additionally, consider any special requirements, such as AV equipment or accessibility features, that you may need for the event.

4. Factor in accessibility

Finally, it’s important to think about accessibility when planning your conference or convention. Accessibility should be considered throughout the planning process, from the selection of the venue to the design of promotional materials and the content of presentations. This includes everything from physical accessibility, like ensuring your venue offers wheelchair ramps and accessible restrooms, to providing closed captioning or sign language interpreters for presentations.

Adding a virtual component is also crucial in making sure your event content is accessible to all possible audience members. Live streaming your event means folks who couldn’t afford a ticket, didn’t have time to travel, or have unique physical or learning needs can fully participate.

And it’s not just about filming your event content and streaming it to folks at home, either. It’s important to make sure virtual audience members feel just as much a part of the fun, with opportunities to ask questions, chat with each other, and participate in activities.

Here are our best tips to drive audience engagement at your next virtual event >

In conclusion, planning a successful conference or convention requires careful preparation and strategy. By setting clear goals, aligning on your brand, choosing compelling content, and considering accessibility, you’ll create an event that’s not only enjoyable and engaging for attendees but also achieves your business objectives. Keep these key steps in mind as you plan your next conference or convention, and you’ll be well on your way to a successful event.

Need help producing your next virtual conference? The Mainstream Team is here to help.

Get in touch >

How to Host a Virtual Conference: A Beginner’s Guide

Alex Onion — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 22:07:04 +0000

Is there any feeling quite like stepping onto a trade show floor as a multi-day conference begins? The fluorescent lights, the flashy booths, the industry professionals cheerfully waiting to greet you…ahhhh. Especially after being home for three years, our 2023 Event Trends Report revealed that event pros are jumping at the bit to host in-person conferences and events again.

And as valid as that desire is, we’ve also learned in the last few years that including a virtual component in any conference isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s mandatory. Offering a compelling experience for attendees at home expands your audience, improves accessibility, and is more inclusive to folks who couldn’t travel due to family or financial obligations.

But simply live-streaming your conference isn’t enough. The virtual experience should be just as exciting and engaging as in-person, and your team should spend about half of event planning time focused on building a powerful digital platform.

Let’s dive into how to host a virtual conference from start to finish.

How is a virtual conference different from other virtual events?

Before we jump into the step-by-step, it’s important to note that hosting a virtual conference is a lot different than other virtual events. Here are a few basics to keep in mind before you start planning:

Conferences are longer than other virtual events. While a virtual event could be as short as 30 minutes to an hour, conferences can be anywhere from a full day to a week long. For your team, that means a higher budget, greater administrative burden, more staffing needs, and a lot more programming. But the payoff is huge: attendees walk away with a much deeper connection to your brand, greater knowledge about your industry, and a broader network.

The risk of audience fatigue is higher. A conference involves long days, multiple sessions, and lots of moving parts. That means it’s a lot harder to keep your audience tuned in and energized. Especially with a virtual conference, attendees are more susceptible to checking their phone, half-listening, or taking a break in the middle of the conference. So you’ll need to be very intentional about baking in moments of virtual audience engagement throughout (more on that later).

You’ll need to repeat your brand messaging often. Your conference schedule may involve several different types of sessions, and virtual attendees may choose to tune in and out depending on how relevant each session is to them. That means your entire audience may not be in the same place at the same time. So be sure to repeat your most important brand messages often throughout your conference. Remind your audience who you are, why you’re here, and what you want them to take away from your event.

Conferences offer greater revenue-driving opportunities. Because conferences offer a greater educational and networking value than a shorter event would, brands can name a higher ticket price. But as inflation and budget cuts arise, be sure to find a good balance. An uber-expensive ticket could deter attendees from joining, especially if you’re only offering a virtual experience.

One way to increase conference revenue without placing a burden on your attendees? Think about corporate sponsorships. Offer advertising opportunities before, during, and after your event—through mentions in your marketing materials, sponsored speaking slots, and more.

How to host a virtual conference

1. Define goals and align with KPIs

First things first: start by outlining your goals and budget. What are you hoping to accomplish with your conference, and what metrics will you measure to define your success? Are you hoping to meet new customers or strengthen current relationships? Are you more concerned with driving high-level awareness, or increasing revenue for the year? Is there a certain action you want attendees to take, like making a donation or signing up for a demo of your product?

Once you have an idea of goals, assign the KPIs (key performance indicators) to match. Here are some of the most popular event metrics right now, according to our 2023 Event Trends Report:

Ticket sales
Subscription and renewals
Repeat visitors to site
Dwell time on site

2. Align on brand & messaging

What are the key messages you’d like to communicate during your conference? What will be the general tone? How will your conference look visually?

Aligning on a cohesive brand is one of the most crucial steps in ensuring a successful event. It communicates who you are, how you want attendees to feel, and forges a strong connection between you and your target audience.

And with a virtual conference, there’s a huge opportunity to have fun when it comes to your brand voice and visuals. From your email invites to your streaming platform to your speakers’ Zoom backgrounds, think about how you can weave in attention-grabbing and unexpected branded moments.

Learn more about how to build a strong visual brand at your next conference.

Read now >

3. Build a creative conference schedule

Now that you know what messages you’d like to communicate, let’s build out your conference schedule.

Variation is the name of the game here, especially when it comes to a virtual conference. Don’t give your attendees an opportunity to get bored! Mix it up with different types of sessions, from keynotes and breakout discussions to virtual networking opportunities and bathroom breaks.

Be sure to book a diverse set of speakers, as well. Not only should they help you effectively communicate your brand messages, but they should also offer a good mix of content: from motivational speakers to celebrities to industry experts to customers who can share real-life stories about how your brand has impacted them.

4. Bake in moments of fun

Why so serious? A virtual conference should be just as fun as an in-person experience, and a few “surprise and delight” moments will make your event memorable for years to come.

Think about how you can take your conference to the next level, with unexpected ideas that will leave attendees wanting more. Maybe it’s sending attendees a small on-theme gift before the conference starts, or perhaps you hire a DJ to spin a few tunes in between sessions. Or if you’re looking to go big, follow in the footsteps of the SBC Digital Summit and offer a fully immersive virtual reality experience:

Need a bit of inspiration to surprise and delight your virtual conference attendees?

Check these out >

5. Set up your technology

At a virtual conference, technology isn’t just an afterthought—it’s the whole shebang. So spend a good portion of your planning time thinking about how you’ll provide a seamless digital experience for your audience.

Pick a platform.

For a fully immersive experience, consider licensing a virtual events platform like Hubilo, Hopin or cvent. While costly, these all-in-one platforms support virtual networking, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) integration, and built-in interactions that drive engagement through the roof.

Other platforms like Zoom or Vimeo offer a bit more privacy if you’re looking to make your event feel exclusive, or if you’d prefer to pre-record all of your content beforehand. Here, attendees might be able to interact with each other in the chat, or click on links for more information about your brand. These platforms also offer accessibility features like closed captioning or alternative languages, making your event more approachable to more people.

Choose a live-streaming partner.

Learning how to run a new technology platform can be a huge burden for your team, especially if you’ve never hosted a virtual conference before. So consider investing in a live-streaming partner like Mainstream. From start to finish, our seasoned event professionals will help you produce a seamless conference that engages a global audience.

Give attendees an opportunity to engage remotely.

Nothing is more snooze-worthy than a multi-day event where you’re being talked at the entire time. At a virtual conference, your attendees should participate just as much as your speakers. Think about how you can encourage participation virtually with features like live chat, Q&A sessions, polls, virtual networking platforms and more.

Here’s a great resource with more ideas for encouraging audience engagement virtually.

Don’t forget social media.

While you likely won’t want to offer up your entire conference free of charge via social media, it’s still a powerful engagement tool throughout your event.

Think about offering sneak peek photos or video clips, or live-streaming a limited number of sessions. Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and LinkedIn all offer live streaming options, giving audiences the ability to react and comment on the content they’re viewing.

6. Do a dry run

Don’t go in blind! A dry run is perhaps the most important step in preparing for your virtual conference.

With a packed conference schedule, a large staff and a huge list of speakers, it’s crucial to make sure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities for the day, what time they’re expected to show up, and how to use your technology. As a first step, send out a documented run of show to both your internal team and external speakers, outlining key dates, times and instructions for how to join.

The Mainstream team always recommends scheduling a tech check call with speakers before the event (or pre-recording). This ensures they are comfortable with the recording software, have adequate internet speeds and proper lighting. It will also give you a chance to control the background of the speaker to avoid distracting images or bad patterns.

“Honestly, the hardest part about planning a virtual event is scheduling your speakers, internal stakeholders and your production team for all the calls that it takes to pull the event together.

Our goal was to have 3 calls with each speaker: first the kick-off call to introduce the event and discuss a topic, next a dry run to walk through the entire presentation and make content suggestions, and then the final session call as if they were presenting live.”

— Shannon Pierce

Events Marketing Manager, Smashfly Technologies

7. Ready, set, conference!

It’s go time! You’ve produced some exciting content with world-renowned subject matter experts, and now it’s time to press “Start” on your conference.

Throughout your event, be sure to monitor how things are going in real time. Are event attendees participating in the chat and Q&A? Is your brand receiving mentions on social media? Are speakers confident and comfortable before their session begins? Are your team members drinking water? (No, really — we add “Remind people to drink water” to our event production schedules. It’s important!)

As often as you can, take notes about what’s going well and what audience questions went unanswered so that you can follow up on them after the conference is over.

8. Do a post-conference retro

Don’t forget to look in the rearview mirror! Once your conference is over, gather your team to celebrate wins and review what could improve for next time.

To guide your discussion, collect data by sending out a survey to your internal team, speakers, and audience members. Find out what sessions and topics were most popular, which speakers resonated most, and how easy it was for audiences to access your digital platforms.

Review the event metrics and goals you set at the beginning of your planning process, and make note of how you did. Did you blow your KPIs out of the water? Great! Maybe it’s time to set higher goals for next year. Did you come in lower than expected? Talk through ideas for how to boost numbers at your next conference.

Need help producing your virtual conference? The Mainstream Team is here to help.

Get in touch >

The Only 2023 Event Trends Report You Actually Need

Alex Onion — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 21:00:36 +0000

It’s about that time, isn’t it? End-of-year benchmark report season. You know them, you love them—research firms and event production companies release their latest findings and trend predictions for the year ahead, driving our industry into its next phase.

And as helpful as those reports are, they can also get overwhelming. What’s really worth paying attention to, and what should we actually remember as we start planning for 2023?

That’s why we did the work for you. We thumbed through alllll those reports, weeding through endless stats and insights to bring you only what’s most valuable.

Inside, you’ll find:

A look back at the events industry in 2022
The 7 hottest trends that events leaders are predicting for the year ahead
Real stories and ideas from event pros just like you

How to Improve Your Virtual Events: Tips To Drive Audience Engagement

Nick Bacon — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 13:02:32 +0000

This post was originally published on 8/6/19, and was updated on 11/10/22.

“DE-FENCE!” “DE-FENCE!” “Na na na na na na naaaahh!” “Encore!!!”

Whether you’re cheering on your favorite sports team, singing along at a concert or clapping at the end of a presentation, you don’t just experience the events you attend. You’re an active participant. In doing so, you elevate the experience not just for yourself, but for everyone around you. Participation can even alter the outcome of an event. So why is audience interaction such an afterthought when it comes to virtual events?

Making your webcasts interactive is one of our most important tips when it comes to improving your virtual events. Encouraging audience participation creates a more engaged community and a better viewing experience. So let’s take a look at some tips and tools that allow you to do that.

How to improve your virtual events

The basics: chat

One of the most basic ways to improve virtual events is a chat feature. Chat threads connect the audience to other viewers, creating community around your brand’s messages. Connecting viewers demonstrates that they are not in a vacuum: there are others, scattered around the world, who share common interests.

It also gives audience members a chance to engage with your brand directly, by giving them a chance to ask questions, click on any links you share, and more.

While a chat feature is one of the easiest ways to give your virtual events a boost, it does take some time investment on your part. An unmonitored chat feed can easily go awry, and too much chat clutter can overshadow the broadcast itself. Moderation is critical: it’s important to keep discussion healthy, but focused. Through thoughtful input, event producers can guide the conversation. Help steer conversation by establishing clear guidelines upfront about what types of communication will not be allowed.

Pinning a comment to your Facebook Live event keeps the audience focused.

If your webcast is running through social media, then chat is likely already endemic. But if you’re running an event through your website, you might need to leverage a third-party chat app. One embeddable solution we’ve used is Chatroll. Offering both free and paid models, it also includes branding and customization features that enable a live event producer (with some front-end web development chops) to create a chat application that matches brand style guidelines. Also important, audiences can log in with either social credentials, SSO, or a semi-anonymous “Guest” account.

More advanced: Q&A, polling, and real-time feedback

Audience feedback can influence an event’s outcome. Just like when the crowd’s chants drive a baseball player to hit a home run, a skillful event producer can take feedback from the audience and incorporate it into a webcast, making the event work better for everyone watching.

One easy way to gather that feedback? A Q&A feature. Giving attendees a chance to ask questions during your keynote or panel discussions means your event content will be even more tailored to their interests and needs. And it’s an easy add—most of the time, including a Q&A means simply adding 10-15 minutes at the end of your run of show.

If your live stream has natural breaks, like ad rolls or live video playback, then a Floor Director can relay one or two comments to your talent.

What is often overlooked is the best way to send the best questions to your presenters. If your webcast has an in-person component to it, then your digital audience’s questions can integrate seamlessly. Appoint a Q&A moderator who is physically at the event, and when the time comes, pass them the microphone to communicate any questions from your online community.

But if there’s no physical component to your event, it might feel stilted for presenters to scroll through a feed of questions or have an offscreen voice projecting questions. Mainstream normally solves this issue by monitoring questions that come in throughout the event and dropping them in a shared Google Doc. Then, we’ll display the Doc on a reference monitor just offset. An added benefit for this method is that Q&A moderators can be remote, allowing clients to participate from an offsite location.

Polls, another interactive webcast tool, serve a similar purpose to Q&A: they provide a limited set of data back to the presenters, who can analyze and interpret that information during the event. Like Q&A, polls have two components: the question, and the (collective) answer. When incorporating polls into a webcast, be sure to include plenty of time for your audience to respond to the initial survey. At minimum, you’ll want to give attendees 5 minutes to respond to each poll question.

You’ll want to avoid using polls if your poll data has a clear “correct” answer: due to heightened anonymity, polls tend to elicit more mischievous responses. Put simply: expect trolls.

As a webcast production company specializing in interactive content, we have leveraged (or built) many tools for polling, Q&A, and other real-time dynamic data displays. The best tool we’ve used is Sli.do. Importantly, it functions very well on mobile: real-time interactivity works best when it’s coming from a second screen. As with Chatroll, Slido easily embeds on your website. While pricier at $200 – $1,000 per event, Slido’s ease of use makes it worth the price.

The unexpected: unique ideas to improve virtual event engagement

While chat and Q&A are important for any virtual event, we’ve all attended enough events to expect these features at a bare minimum. So how else can we capture our audiences’ attention and get them to interact with us in new ways?

We recently collected unique virtual event ideas from event experts and Mainstream customers around the country, and they did not disappoint. From at-home dance parties to virtual competitions featuring audience voting, leading event planners are finding creative ways to drive audience participation and elevate what virtual events look like.

Check out the full list of ideas here >

Counterpoint: is simple better?

Interactivity creates engagement, but is it worth dividing your audience’s attention? Given too many distractions, your audience can lose focus. An even greater risk is asking your audience to participate by using a second device or looking at a different screen: when they look elsewhere, it can be a challenge to bring them back.

Amazon simplifies the interactive webcast into one screen, combining a live feed with a chat overlay.

Our recommendation is to leverage one activity at a time. Asking too much of your audience will drive them away. Also, focus their attention! For example: when you’re looking for messages in the chat, pin a moderated comment to the top of the chatroom. Afterward, remove the pinned comment. Last, stay away from duplicate tools. Q&A and Chat operate similarly, so only choose one.

Our recommendation is to leverage one activity at a time. Asking too much of your audience will drive them away. And focus their attention! For example: when you’re looking for messages in the chat, pin a moderated comment to the top of the chatroom. Afterward, remove the pinned comment. Last, stay away from duplicate tools. Q&A and chat platforms operate similarly, so only choose one.

What have we learned?

Adding interactivity to your webcasts can help bridge the gap between virtual and physical events. Tools like chat, Q&A, and polling create a more compelling live event experience for your global audience. When producing a webcast, try to leverage the built-in tools available on your platform: comments, live chat, and Reactions are all endemic to a live social experience. Drive optimal engagement through focused interactivity, and your audience will continue to grow.

Mainstream produces professional virtual events that engage, enrich and entertain.

Learn more >

9 Unexpected Virtual Event Ideas from Leading Companies

Alex Onion — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 19:42:07 +0000

How many virtual events have you attended in the last few years? 100? 500?

In this post-COVID world we’re living in, we’ve all attended our fair share of events from behind the glow of our computer screens. And boy, can they get old after a while. Keynotes with no audience participation, panel discussions that all feel the same, and less-than-pretty Powerpoints make us never want to attend a virtual event again.

But the truth is, there’s no escaping them. Even though we’ve returned to in-person events in many ways, virtual events are here to stay. They help us bring together coworkers who live all across the world, expand our audiences to those who can’t make it in person, and increase accessibility with closed captioning, ASL translators and more.

So rather than writing them off completely, let’s talk about how we can take virtual events to the next level. How can we turn a new corner, leveraging virtual events to drive just as much excitement, engagement, and connection as we would in-person?

Here are nine unexpected virtual event ideas, from event experts and Mainstream customers around the country.

1. A battle of the chefs

During a recent discussion, Mainstream customer Hannah Grisham shared one of her favorite virtual team events from her time at Marriott. She collaborated with Mainstream to take Marriott’s annual chef and mixologist competition to the next level. Their goals:

Engage thousands of Marriott employees around the world who couldn’t be there in person, giving them a chance to cheer on competitors from their own Marriott locations
Appeal to external talent, attracting top chefs and mixologists to become Marriott employees

They wanted people to leave feeling engaged and inspired. But they also knew that attention span was a factor, and they only had a short window to grab audience members’ attention. So they created captivating video clips that were short, to-the-point, and unusual:

“We pre-recorded clips of our competitors. Instead of introducing them with their name and where they were from, we visually represented that on the screen so that we could spend more time telling their stories on-screen. We had them do interesting tricks with their knives or cocktail shakers, so it was a more visual and compelling way to represent the event content.”

— Hannah Grisham, Marketing Manager, Employer Brand at Amazon

The Marriott team could’ve simply live streamed their event, or asked a speaker to give virtual attendees a recap. But by offering snappy, personality-filled content that was specifically created with a virtual audience in mind, they were able to set their event apart from the rest.

2. A contest for a cause

Similarly, Mainstream friend Patrick Clore shared how he took virtual bartending a step further—by turning it into a fundraiser.

At an event he planned recently in partnership with a non-profit organization, participants could create their own cocktail recipe and share it with their own communities. Then, attendees could vote for their favorite cocktails by making a donation. Each dollar counted as a vote, and the non-profit organization raised over $20,000.

By turning event attendees into content creators themselves, Patrick’s strategy drove higher engagement and participation. Because they had a stake in the game, audience members were more likely to stay tuned in and offer a donation.

3. A low-budget dance party

Mainstream Managing Director Nick Bacon shared an early-pandemic virtual event idea from Creative Mornings, a professional organization that offers speaker series and community building for local creatives.

When the pandemic hit, the organization’s meet-ups went virtual. Because community was such an important component of the group, they didn’t want to host an event where audiences watched a speaker the whole time without any interaction. So every 15 minutes, they’d turn on a Spotify playlist and ask everyone to keep their cameras on and dance with each other.

It was a great moment of levity during a time when everyone was uncertain about the future and worried about their health, and a good reminder that strong connections can be low-production and low-budget.

4. A window for wellness

Dancing not your thing? Think about blocking off a 10-15 minute window during your virtual event for yoga or meditation instead. Long networking events can be tiring and stressful, and a moment of relaxation can make all the difference. It can also help attendees get into the right headspace to fully pay attention and soak in all of the important messages you share with them during your event.

“Breathing is a great start when you’re stressed. Anchoring your attention to watching your breath gives your mind a job to do as it calms your nervous system.”

— Ariadne Ducas, Founder and Chief Mindfulness Officer, Kairos

There are lots of great yoga and mindfulness coaches out there (like Ariadne or Let’s Roam) who can help you lead these moments of wellness. Or, for a more budget-friendly option, check out Calm or Headspace for virtual guided meditation.

5. A scream stream

Here at our own event production studio, Mainstage Chicago, we recently hosted an in-person and virtual event to get in the Halloween spirit. Our “Scream Stream” featured spooky stories as told by local Chicagoans, hosted by Count Dracula himself!

From chilling accounts of the most haunted cemetery in Illinois to stories of seeing ghosts in the flesh, the event was a great way to bring together both our Chicago community and viewers around the country for a bit of unexpectedly spooky fun.

6. A kid-friendly competition

During a recent conversation, Michael Tiu reflected on his experiences with a local museum that hosted a “Dopest Dad” contest, where kids sent in recorded videos about why their dad is the best. Like Patrick Clore’s bartending example, donors voted on their favorite videos through their donations.

Michael’s example goes to show that your concept doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective. For smaller organizations without much budget to execute an event, a virtual fundraiser with a fun, interactive element can be the perfect solution. And as Michael shared, you can even lean on event attendees to produce most of the event content for you.

7. An above-and-beyond virtual reality experience

Hosting an industry conference? SBC Digital Summit blew it out of the water this year, by designing a virtual event platform that looked like a physical conference center. For example, the Networking Lounge looked like an actual lounge, with chairs, couches and chat windows that attendees could interact with.

This platform allowed attendees to feel like they were back at an in-person event, instead of just clicking through screens and videos that all look the same. Prioritizing your visual communication and branding will give your event a unique feel and offer an added level of hospitality to your guests at home, setting a new bar for what a virtual event can be.

8. A game show from home

One of the best ways to drive engagement during your event? Gamify it.

If your event includes keynote speakers or panel discussions, think about using a tool like Slido to quiz or poll audience members during the session. Slido also offers the option for attendees to submit questions and upvote the ones they like the most, creating a game out of your Q&A sessions.

If you’re hosting a virtual team-building event, think about hiring a company like Game Show Nite or Game Night Out to lead you and your coworkers through a fully immersive bonding experience.

9. A Minecraft moment

Another Mainstream friend, Eric Boyer, shared a favorite memory from a virtual Minecraft event his friend hosts on Twitch. The game includes virtual currency, so audience members can spend bits to influence what’s happening in the game and have a say in the outcome. Even from afar, Twitch users can build community with each other when everyone is working together virtually towards a common goal.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again—virtual events aren’t going anywhere. But they don’t have to be the same ole, same ole, either. Let’s set the bar higher, and finally host virtual events that are unusual, unexpected, and memorable. Then, maybe (just maybe!) we’ll be able to reach more people, get our message across in more effective ways, and surprise and delight our guests along the way.

Ready to get started? Let’s talk about how we can partner on your next virtual event. Get in touch >

How to Host a Virtual Event: A Step-by-Step Guide

Alex Onion — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 15:00:00 +0000

At this point in our post-pandemic world, none of us are strangers to virtual events. From all-company meetings to virtual fundraisers to livestreams of in-person concerts, galas and more, we’ve all gotten pretty comfortable with watching events from the comfort of our own couches.

But when it comes to producing your own virtual event, lots of folks are still in the dark. And that’s okay — we’re here to help! Even if you’re planning a return to in-person events, the truth is that a virtual component is no longer optional. Allowing attendees to engage remotely expands your reach, makes your event more accessible, and helps you spread your message to those who may not have otherwise received it.

So after partnering with SmashFly Technologies to stream their event, Transform Virtual, we caught up with their Event Marketing Manager, Shannon Pierce, for her expert insights on how to plan a virtual event successfully. Here’s what she had to say.

How to Host a Virtual Event in 7 Easy Steps

1. Getting started

The first step in hosting a successful virtual event is to determine its theme and content. Branding and visual communication is one of the most important factors to consider as you start planning, and will determine all of your event messaging, speakers, marketing strategy, and more.

So start by outlining your goals and budget. What are you hoping to accomplish with your event, and what metrics will you measure to define your success? From there, outline the main talking points and tone you want your event to take.

For SmashFly, they wanted to leverage the success of a recent in-person event in an effort to continue to engage their audience.

“We hosted a super successful in-person conference – SmashFly Transform – and it created so much buzz we knew we had to do it again. The only problem was cost. In-person events can be incredibly expensive. We wanted to keep the momentum of Transform going and continue growing this community, but can we get everyone together virtually and still have a great event? Turns out you can!

Transform Virtual was branded the same, the virtual experience was just like our livestream experience from the Transform event and the content was presented by practitioners so it’s all peer-to-peer learning (same concept that was so well received at our in-person event).”

2. Outline your content

Once you have a general sense of what you’d like your event to look like, it’s time to get down to brass tacks. What kinds of content will you include in your event?

Just as with any event, your content should include a mixture of different presentation formats. This can include keynote presentations, breakout sessions, and panel discussions. And as Charlie Kennedy reminded us in another recent panel discussion, virtual events come with their own sets of challenges when it comes to programming. He says:

“We have to think of this like we’re producing a TV show. We have a much shorter amount of time to keep the viewer’s attention. Whereas in a ballroom, we always knew where people were, if they were paying attention or not — it’s a whole new challenge when we can’t see our audience.”

— Charlie Kennedy, Founder & Creative Director, Show Up Event Consulting

So it’s not enough to prepare a Powerpoint presentation and call it a day. We have to work a lot harder now to keep audiences engaged while they’re distracted with everything going on behind their computer screen. So think about how you might educate your audiences with interesting speakers, while also keeping them entertained and present. Here are just a few ideas to get you started:

Offer a panel discussion with a diverse range of voices, with the option for attendees to submit their own questions
Host a DJ set between speakers to drive energy
Run polls or quizzes during or between speakers
Organize a contest that attendees can vote on during the event (like this chef and mixologist competition at a Marriott-hosted event a few years ago)
Get people out of their seats with a virtual dance party

3. Choose your format

Next, it’s time to choose a format (or “container”). Where will your virtual event live? How will your audience engage with your content?

These days, there’s no shortage of options for hosting an event remotely. Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and LinkedIn all offer live streaming options, giving audiences the ability to react and comment on the content they’re viewing.

Whatever platform you choose, make sure you do plenty of research to understand how the tech works before the big day. (We know this piece of the puzzle can feel like a lot — so we’re always here to support you with the right technology and help you produce a seamless event! Get in touch to learn more.)

4. Secure (and prep) your speakers

Once you’ve outlined your content and platform(s), do some research to determine who the best speakers would be for your event. Perhaps it’s a client, or someone who works for your company. Or maybe it’s a highly-regarded expert who can speak to your event topics. Going big? Maybe you book a big-name celebrity as your keynote speaker!

When your outreach is complete and you have commitments from your speakers that they’re willing to participate, the Mainstream team always recommends scheduling a “dry run” tech check call with speakers before the event (or pre-recording). This ensures they are comfortable with the recording software, have adequate internet speeds and proper lighting. It will also give you a chance to control the background of the speaker to avoid distracting images or bad patterns.

Shannon offers this helpful advice:

“Honestly, the hardest part about planning a virtual event is scheduling your speakers, internal stakeholders and your production team for all the calls that it takes to pull the event together.

Our goal was to have 3 calls with each speaker: first the kick-off call to introduce the event and discuss a topic, next a dry run to walk through the entire presentation and make content suggestions, and then the final session call as if they were presenting live.”

Set expectations with your internal stakeholders that they will need to be flexible to accommodate your speaker’s schedules during the weeks leading up to the event.

5. Promote your event

What’s an event with no attendees?

Before your big day, be sure to include marketing in your overall event strategy. It starts with a strong landing page where audience members can find more information and register.

From there, schedule promotional email blasts and social media posts. For larger events, maybe you’ll even reach out to local media to promote and help cover the event. Here’s what SmashFly did:

“In order to get the word out about Transform Virtual we used email marketing, mobilized our internal sales reps and customer success team to send personal invites to their accounts, social media including Twitter and announcements to our Transform Community Facebook Group, retargeting ads and partner marketing. Our content team was constantly writing tweets and sending them out internally and to our speakers to activate as many people as we could on social and make is super easy for them to spread the word.

One of the biggest differences between an in-person event and a virtual event is that the bulk of your registrations for a virtual event come the week prior to your go-live date. We heavily exceeded our registration goals, but over 50% registered in the last 4-5 days (including the day of!). It’s always a little stressful waiting for your pre-promotion campaigns to convert into registrants.”

Even though you may get a slew of registrations the week before the event, it’s still important to keep audience members engaged before you hit the “Go live” button. Send regular reminders to registrants with a sneak peek at what they can expect, and instructions for how to join on the day of the event.

6. Run your show

Congratulations! You’ve produced some exciting content with world-renowned subject matter experts. Whether you’re live or streaming pre-recorded content, the last step is to push “Start” on your event and engage with your audience in real time—by monitoring your social media outlets and responding to chats and Q&A during the event.

Think about what hashtags you might use to drive community conversation on social, and understand where your audience is spending the most time so that you can maximize their event experience and meet them where they are.

And if there are any questions that can’t be answered during your event, make sure you flag those too so that you can follow up with event attendees after the fact. No one likes to be left hanging!

7. Analyze, analyze, analyze!

Now that your event is over, it’s time to look at the data and see how it went. For SmashFly, they wanted to keep their audience watching the content as long as possible. Their average viewing time was about an hour, nearly twice the industry standard. Other points of data may include:

Email open rate
Total ticket sales (if paid), total registrations (if unpaid)
Conversion rate
Total audience size
Average view time per audience member
Engagement during broadcast (tweets, shares, comments, etc.)

With data in hand, you can understand how to make your next event even more successful.

Final Thoughts

With proper planning, SmashFly knocked their first virtual event out of the park. SmashFly leaves us with this wisdom:

“Besides the obvious need to deliver great content and work with your speakers very closely on their presentation development, make sure you have an awesome production partner if you plan to host a virtual event. You content could be awesome, but your production partner can help make the viewing experience more dynamic and interesting.”

If you have any further questions or would like Mainstream to produce your virtual event, feel free to get in contact with us! We’d love to share our expertise with you or even handle your entire virtual event from start to finish.

A previous version of this post was originally published on 7/28/17 by Brian Ciaccio.

What is a Virtual Event? A Beginner’s Guide

Alex Onion — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 14:11:59 +0000

Virtual events have become a buzzword in recent years. But if you’ve never done one, they can feel intimidating. What is a virtual event, and how are they different from in-person events? How do you keep audiences engaged when they’re behind a computer screen? And how do you handle virtual event production and live streaming if you don’t have a tech wizard on your team?

With a little support, planning your next virtual event doesn’t have to be a headache. We’re sharing all of the basics to help you understand why virtual events are important, and why they’ve risen in popularity. Let’s jump in.

What is a virtual event?

Virtual events come in many shapes and sizes. From simple Zoom meetings to complex interactive productions, virtual events create a digital experience so that audiences can enjoy events from the comfort of their own home (or wherever they have access to wifi).

For us here at Mainstream, virtual events take lots of different forms depending on the client and their goals. We’ve helped corporate meeting planners produce virtual all-company meetings, supported non-profit organizations with online fundraising events, silent auctions and sponsorships, and live streamed events of all kinds.

It’s important to note that going virtual doesn’t just mean taking your in-person event program and putting it online. Engaging audiences looks a lot different when they’re at home, camera-off and likely distracted with everything else that’s happening around them. So we also spend a lot of time working with our customers to find new and exciting ways to keep our online audiences attentive. DJ sets, photo booths, chatrooms, and trivia questions are just a few of the ways that we’ve driven excitement and energy during recent virtual events.

“I believe there are three reasons people make the decision to attend events. The first is INFORMATION. The second is CONNECTION. The third is the EXPERIENCE.”

— Andrew Roby, virtual event producer and motivational speaker

Virtual events have become more popular recently…

Thanks to a global pandemic, virtual events have become the norm in recent years. From in-person galas and fundraisers to annual company meetings, we’ve taken events online in the name of keeping our audience members and production crew safe.

At first, many were intimidated by the idea of producing an event remotely. Especially if you’ve never done one before, planning a virtual event may feel like throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. But as our customers can attest, a little help can go a long way:

“Going from live to virtual, we spent a few months being scared of the whole thing. Then we were lucky enough to start working with Mainstream. Now, we’re feeling more confident and calm as we’ve gone through the process of pivoting, and we’re able to keep people engaged and fundraising goals high.”

— Bunny Flanders, Director of Marketing and Communications, The Valerie Fund

If you’re planning more virtual events than you used to and you’re struggling to manage it all, we’ve got your back! Reach out for a free consultation to share your goals and challenges with us.

…but they aren’t all that new

While it may feel like virtual events are a COVID-era trend, they’ve actually been around for a lot longer than you might think. In fact, event expert Tim Kerbavaz argues we’ve been watching virtual events from our couches since the 1950s:

“Virtual events aren’t a new medium at all. We just used to call it ‘television.’ Live-streaming has been around for almost 30 years, and TV for almost 100, and the attributes that make compelling live TV are for the most part the same things that make a compelling online event.”

— Tim Kerbavaz, Technical Producer, Talon Audio Visual

Virtual events aren’t just a stop-gap solution while we’re waiting to return to in-person events. They’re a different medium completely, and a whole new way to engage audiences in ways we just can’t within the confines of a conference room. Of course, it’s always fun to travel to a cool location and hug old friends in person, but there are actually some upsides to hosting events online. We’ve been singing the praises of virtual events for years:

“If you’re not planning on doing a virtual component of your event because you’re worried about Zoom fatigue, you’re missing the point. The fact is, virtual events have been around for a long time — and they open up accessibility for your event.”

— Nick Bacon, Managing Director, Mainstream

Virtual events allow us to reach audiences who couldn’t afford an in-person ticket, or couldn’t make time to travel. It gives us a chance to spread our brand to a broader range of people, and make sure our messages are heard with closed captioning, ASL interpreters and other accessibility features that aren’t always possible at an in-person event.

What does the future of virtual events look like?

As you may have gathered by now, virtual events aren’t going anywhere. In fact, even now that we’re on the other side of a global pandemic, many brands say they’re continuing to prioritize online events:

The fact is, we’ve gotten really good at this whole virtual thing in the past few years, and we’re seeing event planners pay a lot more attention to the details, making their remote festivities more cohesive, engaging, and professional than ever before.

So as we re-enter the world, we’re recognizing a need for hybrid events that include both an in-person and virtual component: to celebrate the fact that we’re able to meet face-to-face again, and acknowledge that we still have a much broader audience to reach on the other side of a computer screen. We need to make sure we’re providing consistent experiences for all audience members no matter how they’re attending.

“Attendees coming to shows today aren’t the same ones that attended in 2019. Many are fatigued, stressed, and unaccustomed to crowds. Some may not yet be ready for large-scale social interaction. [Being] aware of this level of attendee fragility can help us shape spaces and experiences appropriately.”

— Dahlia El Gazzar, Owner, DAHLIA+Agency

We’ve all attended an event virtually where it feels like everyone in person is having way more fun than us. No one wants to be the odd man out, and it’s time for us to create equitable event experiences for all of our attendees.

Ready to start planning your next virtual event?

We’re here for you! Reach out to learn more about how Mainstream can support your virtual event goals from start to finish.

Get in touch >

The Top 6 Virtual Fundraising Ideas Event Planners Can’t Live Without

Alex Onion — Sat, 10 Sep 2022 17:41:37 +0000

Since the beginning of the pandemic, just about everything has moved online. Work, school, town hall meetings, you name it—technology has made it possible for us to connect with each other even if we’re remote. And virtual fundraisers are no different.

In a pre-Covid world, adding a virtual component to galas and other fundraising events was a nice-to-have. Perhaps Mainstream would show up at a live event, record content for social media or video recaps, and call it a day. But in early 2020, everything changed. Going virtual was no longer optional, it was required—and we noticed that our non-profit friends especially struggled with the shift. They were faced with big questions: how do we raise money online? How do we make genuine connections with our audience? What do we do when the virtual experience becomes the primary one, not the ancillary one?

We caught up with a few Mainstream customers and fundraising event experts to find out what’s changed since the beginning of the pandemic, how to create a virtual fundraising event, and what the future of hybrid fundraising looks like.

Meet the speakers:

Moderators:

Nick Bacon, Managing Director, Mainstream

Lauren Bettcher, Mainstream Alumna

Speakers:

Bunny Flanders, Director of Marketing and Communications, The Valerie Fund

Lori Abrams, Director of Development, The Valerie Fund

Charlie Kennedy, Founder & Creative Director, Show Up Event Consulting

Steve Johnson, Principal, SJConnects Strategic Consulting

Michael Tiu, Director of Sales, Community Brands

Patrick Clore, Director of Customer Marketing, Community Brands

Todd Wiener, CEO, Ibidmobile

What’s changed about fundraising events since we’ve gone virtual?

When we look back at the last two and a half years since Covid hit, our speakers all agreed: virtual fundraising events have gotten a lot better. At the beginning of the pandemic, we were all prone to simply recreate the in-person experience on a virtual platform. But there were a few problems with that: no one wants to be on Zoom for five hours like you might be at an in-person gala. And it was harder to collect donations when you couldn’t chase people down in person and hold them to their pledge.

“Going from live to virtual, we spent a few months being scared of the whole thing. Then we were lucky enough to start working with Mainstream. Now, we’re feeling more confident and calm as we’ve gone through the process of pivoting, and we’re able to keep people engaged and fundraising goals high.”

— Bunny Flanders, Director of Marketing and Communications, The Valerie Fund

Expanding our audiences (and our dollars raised)

And now that we’ve had some time to figure out what’s most engaging for virtual audiences, our mission-driven customers have come to realize that going remote gives them an opportunity to expand their events on a global stage. In-person events are great at drawing a regional crowd, but virtual events tap into a much wider community.

Because we’re able to reach more people now, the non-profit organizations we work with are also seeing an increase in micro-donations. Bigger audiences are making smaller donations, and those gifts tend to grow over time. It’s a much more grassroots style of fundraising, that doesn’t need to rely on major donors or corporate sponsorships.

Switching up our content

When it comes to the types of content that are successful in a virtual setting, we’re making things a lot shorter, snappier, and more interactive. It’s not about recreating the in-person experience, it’s about developing a whole new type of event that captures attention, drives action, and leaves attendees feeling energized and connected.

“One new thing we kept experiencing was the attention span of the viewer. We have to consider how we feel as we’re attending virtual events, and apply that to our production strategy. What keeps me engaged? What keeps me there? Chances are, attendees are just like us and have distractions at home, etc. — so we need to work even harder to capture them, probably for a shorter amount of time than before.”

— Charlie Kennedy, Founder & Creative Director, Show Up Event Consulting

Maximizing our budgets

The best part about going virtual? It’s a budget-saver, which means you’re spending less money on expensive dinners and event space rental, and are able to put more donation money back in your organization’s pocket. The Valerie Fund’s biggest gala of the year, with a $1 million fundraising goal, had lower overhead last year when they went virtual — and they were able to come in 10% below their typical event production budget.

What’s the most important thing event planners should know about producing a virtual fundraiser?

Keep it moving

When asked about their biggest takeaway when planning a virtual fundraiser, our speakers had one theme in common: keep it moving.

“We have to think about pacing. What does science tell us about how to keep people engaged? Don’t get stuck on one image for too long, don’t have anyone speaking for an hour on end. We included quizzes and Q&As [in our event] so that audiences could actively participate.”

— Steve Johnson, Principal, SJConnects Strategic Consulting

While live events have lots of down time (think cocktail hours, breaks between speakers, an hour of bidding on silent auction items), virtual events don’t have that luxury. Give people an opportunity to clock out, and they will. Charlie Kennedy likened it to audiences reaching for the remote to change the channel when they get bored:

“We have to think of this like we’re producing a TV show. We have a much shorter amount of time to keep the viewer’s attention. Whereas in a ballroom, we always knew where people were, if they were paying attention or not — it’s a whole new challenge when we can’t see our audience.”

— Charlie Kennedy, Founder & Creative Director, Show Up Event Consulting

Think about how you can encourage audience members to engage with each other, via breakout rooms or live chat. Consider how you might use dead space (like breaks between speakers) to drive continuous engagement with a video that communicates your organization’s mission, or a quick, energizing set from a DJ.

Find the right talent

At Mainstream, our most successful virtual fundraisers have featured a talented emcee who’s engaging, energetic, and knows how to fill time. A live stream is typically 10 – 30 seconds delayed, so watching the donation ticker increase is usually a bit behind. A good event moderator will know how to keep people engaged while waiting for fundraising updates, and will enthusiastically celebrate wins along the way.

Know who your donors are

At Mainstream, our most successful non-profit clients are the ones who know their audience — often by name! Fundraising is all about creating and nurturing relationships, and that doesn’t change when you go virtual. When you can’t shake hands or give hugs, it’s perhaps even more important to proactively recognize and make your event attendees feel seen and appreciated.

Streaming is not the Field of Dreams: just because you build it doesn’t mean they will come. Our best clients know exactly who’s attending their event, why they’re showing up, and how much they’ve donated in the past. (And the best part is that Mainstream will handle the technical burden of event production, so that you can focus on what matters most: maintaining those donor relationships.)

What are some examples of a successful virtual fundraiser?

Say goodbye to white tablecloths, floor-length ball gowns, and valet parking. Virtual fundraisers are giving us an opportunity to be a lot less stuffy, and a lot more fun.

Patrick Clore shared an example from a virtual bartender contest, where participants could create their own cocktail recipe and engage their own communities. They raised over $20,000 by asking event attendees to vote for their favorite bartenders with their dollars. Similarly, Michael Tiu reflected on his experiences with a local museum that hosted a “Dopest Dad” contest, where kids sent in recorded videos about why their dad is the dopest, and donors voted on their favorite videos through their donations.

In all of the examples we heard, one message stands out: it doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective. For smaller organizations without much budget to execute an event, a virtual fundraiser with a fun, interactive element can be the perfect solution. And as Patrick and Michael shared, you can even lean on event attendees to produce most of the event content for you.

Measuring your impact

When it comes to defining success, it’s all about the numbers. Of course, the most important one that we focus on with our clients is making sure we hit our fundraising goals. After that, we also look at engagement stats to help clients plan for future events. What did the audience like? What did they respond to? How long did they watch? These insights help us design better shows—and better shows raise more money!

How do you raise money virtually?

Fundraising at an in-person gala brings back memories of raising paddles, signing paper silent auction slips, and buying raffle tickets. So without the ability to see people face to face and swipe a credit card, how can event planners collect money virtually during an event? Todd offered one solution:

“We use a texting service to collect donations, and now that we’re virtual, 80-90% of collections happen within the first hour of the event. It reduces the amount of follow-up that event staff has to do afterwards, because they’re not chasing down the people who verbally promised a donation but never followed through.”

— Todd Wiener, CEO, Ibidmobile

Michael agreed, arguing that collecting money is actually easier in a virtual setting because the call-to-action is clearer, there’s only one way to donate, and people are more likely to give if the ask is simple.

“One of the trickiest pieces of fundraising is the collection piece. Technology makes that easier, and virtual events benefit from collecting donations through technology. It’s actually a more seamless experience.”

— Michael Tiu, Director of Sales, Community Brands

So think about how you can use texting, a landing page on your website, or built-in integrations with your event hosting platform to drive donations throughout the event. Lori Abrams also noted that pre-recording your content frees up more of your time to actually focus on fundraising during the actual event:

“The pro of having pre-recorded content is that when it comes time for the event, you have a lot more bandwidth to focus on actually fundraising and communicating with donors, rather than worrying about the next thing you’re going to say or show. Our first goal was to keep our programming under 30 minutes, because I promised donors that they would have a program so interesting and captivating and inspiring that they couldn’t look away — so when it came time to collect donations, people wouldn’t have logged off.”

— Lori Abrams, Director of Development, The Valerie Fund

And because you won’t have the added social pressure to donate like you might in-person, it’s important to provide regular fundraising updates throughout your virtual event. How much have you raised so far? Who have your biggest donors been? Give them a shout out to encourage others to follow suit.

Get more bang for your buck with Mainstream

Our producers have worked with dozens of fundraising platforms, so we are experts at optimizing these tools to achieve maximum impact. And we perform rigorous technical tests before each event to make sure there are no barriers preventing your donors from giving you money.

Learn more about the Mainstream difference: Get in touch >

How does data play into virtual fundraising?

Without being able to see audience members face to face, data is the way to know if they’re engaged. So beyond the usual data we collect (number of attendees, how much was raised, etc.) it’s also important to collect other stats to understand how successful your event was.

For example, if we see people falling off of the Zoom meeting, we know our content isn’t resonating with them. But if we see that people are watching our video to completion, we know that they’re engaged. Charlie Kennedy shared an example of just how important data was when determining if a recent event was successful:

“Everyone thinks about the 3PM start time for an event, but no one’s thinking about that window from 2:50-2:59PM when attendees are joining, having tech problems, engaging or disengaging. So we came up with entertaining snippets — like custom music from DJs, messages to the people watching, updates on when we’ll be starting, tech support, etc. Our click rates and attendee rates went up because we put these measures in place.”

— Charlie Kennedy, Founder & Creative Director, Show Up Event Consulting

Breaking down engagement numbers during each segment of your event helps you understand which types of content work best for your organization, and optimize your run of show for the next event. (Psst…the Stream Team accurately tracks metrics like Engagements per Audience Member, Average Time Watched, and more—so you don’t have to.)

What does the future of virtual fundraising look like?

As the pandemic has subsided somewhat and folks are reentering the world, it can be tempting to race back to in-person events. We want to see each other in real life, and the sound of one more Zoom meeting can be daunting. But our speakers highlighted why hybrid events are the future, and why we’ll never be in-person only again.

“For Meals on Wheels in particular, we are going to be hybrid as we look towards the future. There will be an in-person component to our fundraising events, but we have to stay virtual, too. Who do we serve? People who cannot leave their homes. So the fact that we can now produce events that are both live and in person means we can be a lot more inclusive.”

— Steve Johnson, Principal, SJConnects Strategic Consulting

Inclusivity was a common theme, and Todd Wiener highlighted how hybrid events can expand your audience to folks who may not have otherwise been able to attend:

“The price of a gala ticket is high. So especially for community-based organizations where everyone may not be able to afford a ticket, hybrid events enlarge your audience. It creates opportunities for all types of people, and offers different levels of engagement depending on your donor level. Plus, it expands your reach nationally and globally in ways that an in-person event just can’t.”

— Todd Wiener, CEO, Ibidmobile

So while we all may be racing to run outside and hug a friend, live events on their own will never be successful in this new world we’re living in. The good news is that the Stream Team is here to help you seamlessly produce hybrid and virtual events.