How to Make a Virtual Event Interactive and Engaging

How to Make a Virtual Event Interactive and Engaging

 

Engaging users at an event is one of the primary concerns of virtual event organizers. Unlike physical events, it is far easier for virtual event attendees to simply leave or start doing something else instead of sticking with the event. The solution to this is to create highly engaging events that keep users interested and interacting. 

 

How to make a virtual event more interactive

 

Here are several ways you can get more interaction out of your event. 

Facilitate networking

 

Making it easy to meet people is one of the primary ways to keep people interacting at an event. EventsX does this by using sophisticated artificial intelligence matchmaking algorithms to continually suggest people that might be mutually beneficial to network with. 

 

Add Q&A features

 

Allow attendees to ask questions during presentations and talks. Users can either type their questions into a chatbox and wait for them to be answered, or they can put up their hands and the presenter brings them up onto the virtual stage to state their question.  

 

Let attendees raise their hands during talks

 

This is a basic yet very workable way to keep people interacting at a virtual event. By clicking a “Raise Hand” button, the presenter is notified that the attendee has something to say and so can tag them to ask their question at the appropriate point. This keeps attendees involved in the talk and not merely spectating. 

 

Encourage 1-1 chats

 

EventsX lets users start separate 1-1 chats using video or audio. Coupled with the AI-powered matchmaking algorithms, this is the perfect way to bring value to people at the event and so keep them interacting with it and with other users. 

 

Facilitate breakout rooms

 

Virtual events have their main sessions and stages, but it is also possible to set it up so that people can break out into separate breakout rooms for more personalized conversations. In breakout rooms, more people are allowed to put on their camera and audio so that everyone can interact with everyone else. It is likely that some breakout rooms could last for hours as users get to know each other and start collaborating!

 

Hold workshops

 

What makes virtual events different from webinars is that users can interact and do things together. By holding workshops, you can get users to take hands-on action on anything you want to teach them. 

 

Give attendees a project

 

You could create a project for attendees to get involved in and collaborate to complete it. They might need some knowledge from upcoming presentations at the event to get the project finished, thereby incentivizing them to attend different talks to complete the project. 

 

You could also implement a leaderboard to show which projects are making the most progress, and thereby gamify the event. 

 

How to make a virtual event more engaging

 

Engagement is slightly different to interaction. Engagement is merely how involved the user is with the event or any part of it. 

 

Hold talks on a broad range of topics

 

By providing a wide array of topics, you are more likely to hit the interest points of all users. If your topic selection is too narrow, some attendees might only stay for one or two talks and then leave. 

 

Another choice is to add highly specialized talks that touch on information that users won’t be able to get anywhere else, such as new breakthroughs or new ways to do something. Their interest will be piqued and they will stay to hear the talk. Just make sure you deliver on what you promise and provide some really insightful information during that talk!

 

Hold more than one talk or session at once

 

If attendees have to wait a long time between presentations or panel discussions that interest them, they might leave. By offering multiple sessions at once, you can hit as many interest points as possible and so attendees are less likely to need to wait between sessions. 

 

Don’t worry about them missing a talk. The trick here is to offer everything on-demand after the event so they can catch up on anything they missed at the end. EventsX makes it possible to do this easily.

 

Implement games

 

For those periods when attendees don’t have any presentations they want to attend, you could add games to the event so they can stay entertained while waiting. One great option is to implement educational games, such as a game that covers topics related to the event or to a session they just attended. 

 

Add quizzes and polls

 

Users love quizzes and polls. Speckle these throughout the event so that they can stay engaged between sessions. 

 

Let users contribute photos

 

It is possible to let users take selfies at the virtual event itself, such as on one of the virtual stages. This is done through special software that can be integrated into the virtual event platform. 

 

At the end of the event, you can create a photo mosaic of the event with all of the photos the attendees took. 

 

Takeaway

 

There are many different ways to get users interacting and engaging during a virtual event. Each of these ways brings additional value to the attendee, and so they stay a little longer.

 

It is important to bring attendees value for attending. If you keep that in the forefront of your mind, coming up with ideas to get them more involved becomes easier.