Virtual Events

For several years I've been researching and discussing best practices related to working remotely and virtually, as I lead a team in my department focused on improving engagement within our geographically diverse organization. Now others are trying to catch up and figure out the best way to work and keep a sense of community while physically divided.

Last week I participated in an annual event that is usually held in person, but this year was done virtually. Instead of converting the format of the event to better utilize the virtual environment, it seemed like they kept their original schedule of seminars and events, and just did them in online meeting software instead of a hotel conference room. I have some ideas about all this, so thought I'd publish them here in case you are organizing a virtual event as well.

Schedule: While your in-person event may have been an intense 2-3 days of in-person seminars and workshops, that's a long day of sitting in front of your computer, when you don't get breaks you would usually have in between to meet and network with your fellow attendees, or just take a rest and recharge. Also, watching a screen for long periods just takes a different kind of energy than being in a physical environment. I recommend stretching your event across more days - maybe change it from 2 days to a week - with shorter meetings each day. Remember you won't need to allow for travel time, though you may need to consider multiple time zones.

Networking: One of the biggest benefits of attending conferences and events like this is the opportunity to network with people, make new connections, and catch up with old friends. While you won't be able to hold an opening night mixer or welcome dinner, definitely try to facilitate more natural gatherings like this:

• Kick off events with an icebreaker activity or question when feasible. I put together a whole list of ideas a while ago, but there's lots of options, or ways to convert your favorite in-person icebreaker to a virtual format.
• Consider holding a virtual live "mixer" or "speed dating" event, where people get sorted into smaller groups or pairs, to have short discussions before moving on to the next group.
• Set up a channel for asynchronous casual conversation. This particular event used Microsoft Teams, and a Teams channel could have been created for fun side conversations. Or you could create a message board, GroupMe or WhatsApp chat, Slack channel, Facebook group, etc. (Even at the physical event last year, many of the participants joined a Snapchat conversation together to keep up with each other during and after the meeting.)
• Breakout sessions and team projects can break participants into different groupings to give them an opportunity to meet and interact with different people throughout the event.

Public Events and Interactivity: The event that I attended last week advertised that since it was virtual, several of their workshops would be livestreamed to give the public the opportunity to participate this year. However, none of the workshops actually lent themselves to that format. Instead, there was a brief introduction from the presenter, then the actual participants moved to private online breakout rooms to do some activity that was never explained to the rest of the audience, who listened to background music and waited, and then the participants rejoined the public livestream to read out their discussion outcomes. If you're going to share parts of the event with the public - which I think is a great idea that could build interest for future events - I recommend a schedule more like this: the small groups can meet privately in advance for an introduction to the topic and their discussion; then the presenter can speak more broadly later on the public livestream, and the small groups can share their discussion results publicly immediately afterward, with no awkward breaks in the middle. (This split schedule can also help alleviate some of those issues with long hours in front of the computer.)

Have Fun: Take advantage of the fact that people are at home - have fun dress-up days, silly hats, encourage people to show off their pets or their home workspaces, etc. Having to pack special outfits or bring a bunch of items for an activity could be annoying for travelers, but convenient if you're already at home. Sharing your workspace helps people build rapport by being able to envision someone's environment. And of course everyone loves showing off their pets! If you usually close with a dance party, try to hold a virtual party where you play music and share photos while people chat. (I've been part of a few virtual concerts and dance parties now, and they're surprisingly fun!