How to Accomplish a Great Multimedia Event
There are numerous applications and solutions for multimedia events; however, some core considerations will help ensure that you accomplish a great multimedia event, no matter what your objective may be.
Whether you’re planning your first event and need to identify a service provider, or have already conducted some events and want to continue to improve upcoming ones, these how-to steps will help you plan for your next event – from origination to post-event activities. For a quick outline of multimedia events, check out our recent post: Multimedia Event Overview (video).
The first step in accomplishing a great multimedia event is to identify objectives and event needs. What is your overall objective? Are you looking to inform, educate, announce, pitch, or train? Keep this in mind as you read. If you aren’t sure yet – keep reading; it may become more apparent as you get ideas.
To start, think about what will make your event successful and what you will need to measure in order to determine success. Knowing what is important will ensure that you pick solutions appropriate to your needs. Some information commonly gathered includes: number of attendees, lead profiles, attendance verification, participant feedback or level of engagement, and subsequent revenue (ROI). If you need to know who is in attendance or would like to follow up with registrants, select a solution with registration and reporting capabilities. If feedback or enhanced profiles are needed, survey features will be of interest. Once you have determined what information you want to collect, it’ll be much easier to choose a package or solution that meets your needs.
Next, pinpoint your target audience so you can match your event solution to their size and needs. Consider what types of events will be economically viable. Do you have a targeted cost per attendee? Think about your ROI model, the value of leads, type of audience and the content you wish to share. Are you delivering a straightforward training or detailed seminar?
Webcasts are great for larger events where one to three hosts are communicating to a large audience. Web conferencing applications with a conference call are great for smaller groups where desktop sharing and collaboration will be important event pieces. Not sure how to distinguish between the different types of multimedia events? Check out our previous post: Webcast…Webinar…Web Meeting – Which is Which?
While you are considering your audience, think about how you can achieve good attendance and elicit the best audience response. Make your event accessible by picking a time that will work best for your audience. Is a live event needed, or would an on-demand presentation suit your audiences’ schedules better? Think about what their schedules might be like and what time zone(s) they are in. The time of your event as well as the features you select, will help set the tone of your event.
Don’t be afraid to introduce people to multimedia features but select a format that will be well-received. It’s okay to push the envelope, as long as you don’t detract from you message. If the overall objective is to formally educate or train, make sure your solution can handle your material, and properly display test questions, results and intelligence factors. If you will be presenting a sensitive topic, explore secure audio stream, passcode, participant restriction, and other security options.
Now that you have a better idea of the core event structure, you can decide what components you will use to build an engaging presentation. Are you going to use slides, video, audio or a combination? Do you want to simply broadcast your message or do you want to encourage audience participation and interaction? Consider a blend of high-level bullet ideas, visual aids, video and interactive features if you want to encourage your audience to be active listeners. Surveys and polls allow your audience to give input and generate more information for you. Many solutions make it possible for you to ask your attendees questions before, during or after the event.
Once your event components are in place, we recommend that you communicate event details with your internal support team and service provider. Know who will be responsible for managing specific elements such as surveys/polls, content progression, lighting, audio visual, and other technical considerations such as signal acquisition for webcasts. This will help ensure that all the aspects of your event come together smoothly. You should be focused on the execution of your presentation, not the technology.
After your event has ended, review your original objectives so you can utilize the information you collected. Evaluate reports and take advantage of the options that are available to you. Your service provider can help you access all the data that was collected and, in many cases, import data directly into your CRM database. Provide your audience with access to the presentation and the option to download content, if appropriate.
If you consider the full scope of your multimedia event and then planning accordingly, you can avoid unwanted surprises. For more ideas on what might not go over so well, take a look at this post from The Webinar Blog: Does Your Webinar Audience Hate You?
Planning your first multimedia event soon? Here’s a re-cap of the steps you may want to take:
• Identify objectives and event needs
• Determine what will make your event successful and what you information you will need to measure success or communicate with your audience post-event
• Pinpoint your target audience so you can match your event solution to their size and needs
• Decide when you will hold your event and how you will best reach your audience
• Build your presentation with components best suited to your needs
• Rally a background support team
• Rehearse your event, if possible
• Carry out post event actions