Top 6 Tips from “Calley’s Tips and Tricks”

Our webinar series has been a huge hit, and one of the firm favourites of the series is the 15-minute session on some tips and tricks to running successful and memorable virtual events, hosted by Calley Hayward.

At Flock, both Mike Lysko and Calley tend to be in the front line of what event planners request for their virtual events, ranging from smaller events to those with hundreds of participants, each with specific needs, so these tips and tricks come from experience of seeing what works, what could work better, and what should be skipped altogether.

Here’s a summary of 6 of our favourite tips from Calley. Get in touch to request the webinar recordings if you’d like to hear more.

1. Prepare speakers beforehand – ask them to place their cameras slightly above where they will be sitting, so that it’s a more flattering view for the audience. This will also help them with feeling confident in their presentation, especially if it’s a webinar filmed at their home or offices. Another great option for a clear recording and confident delivery is getting a professional AV team to record speakers at a studio which opens a whole new world of creativity for your virtual events.
2. Create a virtual event checklist that’s unique to your event (we’ve created one for you on page 15 of the virtual events playbook). There are a few categories to cover but we’ve outlined the basics to get you started on what to consider in your planning. Event organisers have so much on the go for their planning, that it helps to have a trustworthy event tech partner to assist with seamless delivery and troubleshooting any technical difficulties that may come up in your virtual event.
3. Extend the reach of the full live stream (or a small part of the event at least) to as many social platforms as possible, i.e. LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch and more, depending on your audience and if your event is for public consumption or not. These can also be live streamed on more private channels like corporate intranets or private Facebook pages, which could help to gain more official attendees to the event for the next round.
4. Deliver a goody bag, conference snack pack, wines for tasting, or fun gifts that can be unwrapped during the event to create a more memorable experience. Depending on the time of your event, these can be delivered ahead of time to attendees, or the morning of your event. Want to get a taste of what it feels like to get a virtual event snack pack for an event? Enter our competition to win a pack worth R535 from All About Food for our next Knowledge series in July.
5. Play music at the opening or during intermissions to make the event feel a bit more vibey. It also helps to let the audience know that they are in the right place and that they are waiting for the speaker (and that nothing has frozen on their side). Sometimes with a static screen and no audio, it gives audiences uncertain feelings that they may have needed to click somewhere and the event continues without them knowing they are missing it.
6. Have a physical game people can play in your interactive moments between sessions or at the start of a networking break. This is a great way to get people’s minds off of the conference or webinar topic, and if you have networking capabilities in your event, it helps to get the conversation flowing. Back to the virtual event packs – giving people something different or making a game out of something that has been delivered to them will get them talking.

Need help building your virtual event? Get in touch to chat about:

• RSVP management and emailers
• Event websites
• Networking events
• Virtual reality and 3D event exhibitions and training
• Attendee feedback and analytics
• Audience engagement

Have an event brief you need a quote on? Fill in this form and we’ll get in touch with you a.s.a.p.

How can Flock take your event to the next level? Book a demo to find out.