#CanDoCommunity Live Q&A: Event Management
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LIVE QUESTION #15: Do you see a shift to virtual reality at all? Like with VR goggles. I've been to some concerts there during this time. Do you think that would be the next thing to give people a seminar feel while being remote, or do you think zoom-type of meetings will be it?
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LIVE QUESTION #16: Is Rey willing to share the "Critical Path Sheet" he creates for each of his events? Is that a template that is already on Smartsheet? I love the portal idea as well!
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Are you looking to attract home buyers, brokers, mortgage lenders? I think many of the same event marketing rules apply for inperson vs virtual. You could do virtual 3D tours, provide photos/renderings to help paint the picture of what the home will look like once it's built. Think about what tactics have been successful pre-COVID and adapt them to a virtual experience. I've heard people love the smell of fresh baked cookies at an open house - you could send a kit to your audience in advance and have a quick tutorial to bake the cookies together virtually. While the cookies are in the oven, you can do your sales pitch.
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Set clear objectives, and ensure all elements of your event ladder-up to those goals. Develop your plan as a digital-first experience - short and snappy segments (TV vs theater.) Set a 2-week window prior to your event to have everything locked (presentations, speakers, etc) and then do a dry run. Test everything in advance prior to your go-live; test on mobile phone, tablet, laptop, and SmartTVs if applicable.
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This is one of the harder aspects to replicate virtually. But facilitating Zoom-type, smaller "Birds of a Feather" groups have been successful. Avoid networking that is only text/chat based. It's important to have cameras on to make those personal connections. Braindates, Hopin, Zoom breakout rooms, Hubb, RunTheWorld are all great options.
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For free events, Smartsheet Forms is a great way to collect RSVPs. But it ultimately comes down to which virtual event platform you're using. On24 requires a unique login link for each attendee, so using their reg form is more streamlined. For our Smartsheet ENGAGE conference, we're using a Marketo form, which has an API link to Salesforce for tracking internally, and an API to Evia to authenticate access to our breakout sessions. For previous ENGAGE in-person conferences, we used Cvent as there isn't currently a way to collect badge fee payments within a Smartsheet Form.
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It comes down to which type of event you're delivering. A 1hr webinar can be successfully delivered in On24, Zoom, Microsoft Teams. If you're trying to replicate more of a tradeshow conference environment online, I would recommend Intrado or Hubb. For our Smartsheet ENGAGE conference we're using YouTube livestream for Keynotes and General Sessions, Evia for breakouts, and Braindates for peer-to-peer networking.
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At Smartsheet, we're using On24 and Zoom Webinar for our smaller scale programs. For our ENGAGE conference, we're using Youtube livestream, Evia and Braindates.
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Our in-person and virtual KPIs are similar. # of registered vs # attended. Overall event satisfaction. Likelihood to recommend as a result of attending the event. Sales pipeline - # of net new contacts, # of new opportunities, closed/won business. We track at 30/60/90 days post-event and while sales pipeline attribution can't 100% be tied to the event, there is a correlation and influence.
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We're still figuring this out ourselves. But post-event, we'll be doing a series of virtual User Groups and roundtables to bring people together based on role and industry, providing "Best of ENGAGE" content and smaller group breakouts where folks can share and learn from each other. Just doing an email nurture or drip campaign, expecting your attendees to choose their own adventure, typically has a low conversion rate. It's important to facilitate more of a structured networking experience vs posting a bunch of on-demand content on your website and hoping people find the time to watch it.
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I predict that VR/AR will gain traction in consumer experiences faster than B2B. Think about the VR experience watching a NFL game - you could be at home and feel like you're on the 50-yard line... without paying the premium ticket price. The production costs of creating virtual and augmented reality are pretty steep, so in the near term, I think Zoom-type platforms will be the norm.
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