A whole lot of planners have a new gig this year: project managing a virtual event. Unfortunately, many aren’t sure where to start. Nearly 60 percent of virtual meeting organizers have no formal, documented strategy for virtual conferences, and 19 percent say they aren’t sure whether they have a strategy at all, according to a May survey by continuing education consultancy Tagoras.
A new resource to help planners through the maze is out from One10. Its guide to virtual meetings takes a workbook approach, leading readers through the basics and providing space for users to write down their thoughts as they define their audience, goals, objectives, and budget parameters. These initial steps will be familiar to planners, but that is the point: Just like a face-to-face meeting, virtual meeting planners need to begin with the fundamentals.
The downloadable 29-page guide then moves into more logistical and strategic planning layers, maintaining the workbook format with questions for readers to answer as they move through the planning process. The topics include developing content, adding experiential and interactive elements, delivering value to sponsors, finding the right delivery technology, and making the most of data captured through a virtual platform.
