How to make a virtual event that doesn't suck
For any of you (almost a thousand!) freelancers who attended Reignite, you might have thought,
“Wow, I can’t believe this is Freelancing Females’ first time hosting a full day virtual event! It was so professional!”
Thank you so much for thinking that, but before you go off assuming that we deserve all the credit, I need to introduce you to our behind-the-scenes production partner, Modern Rebel. Modern Rebel got their start planning and coordinating alternative weddings (they call them love parties to truly buck the traditional jargon) in Brooklyn, then started scaling up to larger events, and even conferences. Modern Rebel founder Amy Shack Egan immediately pivoted to virtual production this March, and with multiple events of all sizes under her team’s belt, we decided to rely on them to take the guesswork (and hairpulling) out of producing our virtual event.
Afterward, as we caught our breath and reviewed what we learned, and got your reviews of the day, we realized that we had a lot that we could share with you all about the surprises, challenges, and the keys to what we think made our event a success.
Five Secrets to Hosting a Truly Remarkable Virtual Event
Make it YOURS. Anyone can host a zoom meeting. And lord knows, most of us have. We realized as we built out our concept that we needed to do more than just send y’all a link to a Zoom room (or worse, just a universal password to a squarespace page) and hope that it made an impact. Modern Rebel helped us elevate the attendee experience by comparing and contrasting dozens of different more robust platforms that they had experience using, helping us select Mighty Networks to give a branded, secure, and malleable hub for all our attendees to chat, tune in, and connect one on one with other freelancers. And, they can go even farther than what they did for us: they have helped other clients do branded backdrops and screens, and create other unified touchpoints throughout the experience.
Your screen is a STAGE. It wasn’t until we started running tech rehearsals for all the presenters (yes, our Modern Rebel producer Cait ran every single presenter through a tech tutorial in advance!) that we realized the value of having a behind the scenes wizard to run transitions between speakers. Even though there is no “stage” like at a traditional conference, you still need that backstage confident organizer with the clipboard, walkie talkie, and headset. That person was Cait, and she ensured we didn’t just virtually shove any speakers into the spotlight without the right cue. Those seamless transitions really helped us feel more professional, and let our speakers trust us to make them look great. And we got to record each session for evergreen use!
Many hands make light work. Hey, we are a pretty DIY group over here at Freelancing Females, but having access to the expertise of not only our assigned producer Cait, but the whole collective experience of the Modern Rebel team, meant that we never came across a challenge or technical difficulty that we couldn’t quickly surpass. In fact, many times throughout the process, Cait actually asked us questions that we didn’t even know were things we had to decide on. She was a step ahead of us throughout the planning process, and helped us be able to get way more done overall so things were less likely to fall through the proverbial cracks.
The IRL experience is still important, even in the Matrix. We knew that we really wanted to make this day special, so we created optional Jet Packs for U.S.-based attendees to have delivered in time for Reignite. We really wanted to bond over the enjoyment of awesome products from woman-owned companies, useful tools, and of course, our own adorably branded swag. Modern Rebel knew that was an important element too, even with the extra effort involved. They’ve actually done printed invites, branded mailers, VIP gift boxes and speaker gifts, and prizes mailed to conference attendees. And, if you want to make that effort even easier so you don’t have to mail 200 boxes out the week before your event like Tia did, they have partners like Canary to do it for you.
There are actual positives to virtual over in-person events. Honestly, when we decided to host Reignite, we thought “hey, virtual is better than nothing at all.” But by the time we finished our dance-fueled after party with DJ Jasmin Solano, with hundreds of conversations with women around the world, and access to billionaire entrepreneurs and revolutionaries, and celebrity speakers, we realized that going virtual had opened up a world of opportunity we’d not have been able to tap into otherwise. Chatting with Amy about it after the event, she said something that really hit home. “On the host side, the great thing about virtual is that you will save money. You’ll be able to provide more value to guests with a smaller budget than IRL. But at the same time, you have access to more talent, wider audiences, and less hindering you in terms of safety and accessibility. On the attendee side, especially for folks who are introverted and usually avoid conferences or corporate events, virtual gatherings provide an opportunity to connect and network in a way that is manageable, safe, and not overwhelming in any way. You can actually have better participation, and higher satisfaction, overall.” Genius.
In a nutshell, we couldn’t be happier with our first foray into the world of virtual event hosting. And when we do our next event (think first week of January 2021…) Modern Rebel will definitely be by our side (metaphorically) again. Till then, if you are wondering if hosting a virtual event is right for you or your client, drop Modern Rebel a note at hello@modernrebelco.com. If you want full hands on planning for a large group like we had, the investment will start at around 10k. But if you just need to smooth out production and coordination, you can partner with Modern Rebel to a tune of just 3,000. And honestly, when it comes to experimenting with deeper connections with your team, community, clients, and collaborators, there is no better time than right now.