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Survey Recommends Regional Events, Safe Designs and Better Hybrid Plans

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“Respondents are using more than two dozen event technology platforms—a large portion are using Zoom as one of the components. Some reported deliberately keeping it simple by using a familiar webinar platform, while others reported using as many as five platforms.”
That’s from the business event planners group PCMA’s recently issued COVID-19 Recovery Dashboard Survey. It shows how there’s still no one solution for virtual events yet. So while 61% of the event planner respondents have been satisfied with the platforms they’ve used, most also said that there’s lots of room for improvement.
Finding one platform with the ability to perform all of the functions that planners are looking for was one of the most common reasons given by the 39% who said they were not satisfied with event technology. “There needs to be a virtual event platform that integrates—not links out—to other platforms besides Zoom,” one respondent wrote.
Here are some more conclusions from the survey:
Digital events are okay but… While designing digital experiences still matters, more respondents cited as more important the need to know how to design live experiences for the post-COVID era. One supplier said the new cleaning protocols need to be shouted out more.
More thought needs to be done for hybrid events. While everyone says that hybrid is the future, only one-third of the respondents said that they are seeking broadcasting facilities in their site-selection process.
More customizable platforms. “There’s not enough customizability in the off-the-shelf platform we have,” one planner wrote. “We need better functionality to host multi-session, half-day events with many speakers and panelists. It’s time for a more seamless experience and higher quality. We are now all past the newness and need better solutions.”
Connecting event participants is still a work in progress. “The networking option in tools today is very basic,” wrote one respondent. “We haven’t been able to replace the social aspect of our in-person events in a virtual format. We want match-making technology on a budget.” Rafat Ali, CEO of Skift, is more optimistic on this front. “There is so much left to do on online matchmaking, the biggest aspect of conventions and exhibitions, but it will happen,” he wrote this week. “Much like online/mobile dating was unthinkable until the 2000s and then the matchmaking aspect of it moved completely to digital channels, so could the matchmaking part of the events industry, in fact it would necessarily be lot more efficient that way.” We’ll see.
Think regional. “I think smaller and regional events will make a comeback before larger/national/international events,” wrote one respondent. “We fully expect most of our events to carry a hybrid solution going forward.” SIPA’s virtual chapter meetings have actually been made more interesting by the ability of people outside the region to “attend.” Will be interesting to see how we can capture the energy injection moving forward.
Pricing, pricing, pricing. The cost of virtual platforms “is still driving what is possible,” wrote one respondent. “Good ones are too expensive for my clients so, as such, they agree to accept a poorer virtual event. There are plenty of apps that have web platforms, but streaming isn’t integrated yet… There’s a hole in the market for $6K to $10k solutions.” What’s interesting is that pricing to attend virtual events is also all over the place. ASAE—after starting with a fee to attend—and The Atlantic both made their major annual events free. I saw a big 25% off sale for one publisher’s annual event this week. (It started at around $495.)
Will there be pent-up demand to meet in person post-pandemic? Opinions vary. “Planners are less inclined to think that there will be a pent-up demand for all groups to meet face-to-face, while suppliers are more optimistic.” A new GES survey says that 88% of respondents are open to attending trade shows in person, with 65% demanding some form of mitigation to attend and 23% preferring no mitigation tactics. That sounds a bit overly optimistic. GES’s research… underscores how critical it is to understand the attendee base and their risk perceptions to plan event design and mitigation strategies to attendee needs,” said Wendy Gibson, GES Global CMO.
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Coffee Mugs for Speakers, Year-Round Platforms Highlight New Ideas

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Necessity is proving to be the mother of invention once again, when it comes to events.
At the recent ASAE Virtual Annual Meeting, a big takeaway was to keep putting members/subscribers first. BIO (Biotechnology Innovation Organization) Digital took place in June with more than 7,000 participants from 64 countries and 28 time zones—“no small feat,” writes Associations Now.
“To foster a spirit of connectedness, BIO changed the meeting’s tagline from ‘Beyond’ to ‘Nothing stops innovation.’ Then, in advance of the conference, the group mailed all speakers a custom mug with the new tagline.”
What a great idea! Then speakers could have that mug visible when speaking at that event—and maybe other events. It was an added expense, but worth it because it gave speakers brand recognition onscreen that reflected togetherness, said Erin Lee, VP of marketing operations and customer experience at BIO. I’d also look at getting a sponsor.
She added that engagement has become “more about building loyalty, the power of the brand, and giving members access to resources and connectivity in a time of need.” BIO surveyed members—always like to hear that—to find out what would be most helpful for them. “We focused on being a service to the industry.”
Here are two more innovative ideas.
Drive-in meetings with voting by horn. Yes, drive-in movies have indeed made a comeback during the pandemic. (I just wish they showed newer films in addition to Jurassic Park and Ferris Bueller.) On the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association site, there’s an article headlined, “Wisconsin Co-op Holds Drive-In Meeting to Keep Members Safe During Pandemic.”
“Instead of the usual high school auditorium, the co-op staged the meeting in the spacious parking lot of its service center, where equipment and vehicles are typically stored. Members were invited to park and stay in their cars or trucks for the entire meeting. CEO Shannon Clark and Board President Calvin Sebranek led the meeting in separate 6-foot-high bucket trucks.
“About 130 registered members came to the April 25 meeting, staying in their vehicles with their windows closed while listening to the proceedings on their car radios. Voting was done by horn honks—short and quick for ‘Aye’; long and loud for ‘Nay.’”
Make your virtual platform year-round. In June, the United Fresh Produce Association transitioned their popular annual conference into United Fresh 2020 LIVE! With 50% more attendees, they decided to create United Fresh LIVE! 365, a year-round online platform featuring a permanent expo, social gatherings, on-demand education, webinars, conference programming, and networking opportunities for the global produce industry.
“We basically built a year-round convention center,” John Toner, VP of convention and industry collaboration, of the United Fresh LIVE! 365 platform, told Convene. “[The platform] serves as the connection point,” adding that exhibitors whose engagement strategy went beyond the show floor reaped the best results.
“For example, many scheduled offline Zoom meetings or mailed out physical product samples and other materials to prospective buyers. ‘Folks were just so happy to engage and interact,’ said Amanda Griffin, VP of education and program management for United Fresh.
The LIVE! 365 expo will offer exhibitors a year-round opportunity to highlight their companies and connect with buyers and attendees on the platform. Sponsorship branding, hosted events and advertising will be available to drive higher recognition for exhibiting companies.
“[The industry] will continue to be disrupted,” Susan Cato, senior director of digital communications at the Association of American Medical Colleges, told ASAE attendes. “And we need to be prepared to ride this roller coaster together.” The thinking has shifted to a more participatory process where organizations are partners with their members to create value. “We are co-creating the future together.”
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Custom Content, Webcasts and Video Can Be Prime Areas for Sponsors

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Sponsorships can come in many ways, from events and coffee mugs to podcasts and custom content. With event registration revenue dropping so significantly this year, the importance of attaining sponsorships only amplifies—not just for events but for all those other areas as well.
Here are six successful examples of sponsorships in other areas of the publishing business.
The Skimm – in-content mentions. “Feeling stuck in a rut?” today’s Daily Skimm asks at the bottom. “Same. So we partnered with Mentos Pure Fresh Gum to bring you some ways to shake things up. Because Mentos is all about fresh ideas, fresh breath, and fresh perspectives. This week, we’re talking about refreshing your WFH video calls.” They go on to list three bullets: Check your lighting; reserve your space; and take breaks. “Science says breaks improve productivity. So actively schedule time to refresh between video calls. Then make the most of it by popping in some Mentos Pure Fresh Gum, taking a walk, and giving your brain a reset. Ahhh.”
Modern Distribution Management – sponsored webcasts. MDM has been having success with sponsored webcasts for many years. It’s impressive that the webcasts are relatively frequent—at least twice a month—and can go five or six episodes with a different sponsor each time. Particularly impressive is a webcast from a few weeks ago titled MDM’s Top Distributors of 2020. It featured five members of the MDM team including CEO Tom Gale and editor in chief Elizabeth Galentine, and was sponsored by infor.
Harvard Business Review – banner ads and report/webinar partners. Banner ads get their share of grief, but you still see them fairly frequently everywhere—so they must still be working to some extent. HBR uses them—“See how RMS helps customers outperform” tops the Technology page. A Salesforce-sponsored content ad tops the Diversity section. For their popular Podcast section, there’s a banner ad and then an array of unsponsored podcasts. But at the bottom there’s a Partner Center that lists four HBR happenings that are sponsored—a workplace report sponsored by Facebook; a radiology AI report sponsored by Siemens Healthineers; a webinar sponsored by Verizon; and a live Q&A Ask HBR sponsored by Meltwater, a SaaS company.
The Atlantic – sponsored multimedia. At the top of a story from a couple years ago titled, The Rise of the Connected Family, these words stare out: “CRAFTED BY THE ATLANTIC’S MARKETING TEAM AND PAID FOR BY NEST.” The article is about how technology in the home is changing family dynamics. It features expert interviews, research, images, graphics, and product recommendations—showing off Nest’s advanced tech without too much selling. Including other brand names gives it a more balanced read. At the bottom of the story are Nest products, a personal video, testimonials and an infographic.
Meister Media – custom content and video. “Our dedicated, award-winning team of marketing strategists, designers, writers, web developers, and project management specialists will make your DREAM custom project a REALITY,” says the Meister Custom Team page. For example, a company called Brandt asked Meister Media Worldwide to produce a marketing video featuring a grower who just had a record soybean harvest. BRANDT used the polished video for their sales meeting. KeyPlex wanted website content and design. BASF asked for educational content. It’s a staff commitment but for the right niches—can pay off.
Industry Dive – lead campaigns. “In the broadest sense, we are 99.9% advertising-based but that doesn’t mean Web ads,” Industry Dive CEO Sean Griffey said earlier this year. “Pure digital display is probably less than 10% of revenue. The rest of it comes from the brand studio which is approaching 20% of our growth revenue, and newsletters and lead campaigns. When we say lead campaigns, very few of our products are priced as guaranteed leads, it’s more of a sponsorship basis. But at the end of the day, most of our advertisers are evaluating their success based on the leads that they generate from us.”
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Replay ‘Live’ Again or Chop Into Pieces – the Art of Repurposing

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Daniel Pink, one of my favorite authors and lecturers, recently spoke on a video for Inc.com. To make audience engagement easier, Inc. wrote a short article with three big takeaways from the video. (They are: Start with small wins; Infuse your goals with purpose and; Lead by example.)
In an article on repurposing, Blue Sky Blog advises following Inc’s lead and creating blog posts from your videos, podcasts and sessions: “While you listen to the recordings (or read a transcript), you’ll want to pick out topics that you think would be interesting for you to expand on [or summarize] for your audience… Also ask your speakers if they’d be willing to write these articles in addition to presenting the sessions. [And amplify them on their social media.] They may be willing to for the additional exposure.”
Repurposing your content any time is a good thing, but especially now, where your audience may not be catching everything you’re doing. And now that you’re virtual, it’s even easier to record your sessions—in fact, many organizations are having speakers pre-record their sessions for the virtual event and then hosting a live Q&A after!
Here are more repurposing ideas from Blue Sky and other sources:
Replay the event. Some people may go back to listen to a webinar after the fact, but many don’t. But here’s something that might help. Schedule another specific time to play the recording and have the speaker(s) available for a live Q&A. “By replaying the recordings as a live event, you’ll be able to have the subject matter expert there as well as all of the other interactivity that can take place,” writes Blue Sky. You can do the same with the most popular sessions from a virtual conference.

Create microlearning. This involves some editing but it could be worthwhile. “…if you’re able to chop up session recordings into multiple, smaller micro-presentations, which could potentially attract a larger audience with a shorter attention span,” this could prove valuable. “If you’re selling these, you can also get creative with how you sell them—separately for one price, bundled for a discount, and so on.”

Use content from your online Q&A discussion or forum group—or your webinar Q&As. This has become one of The Washington Post’s biggest repurposing strategies. They will have one of their travel or restaurant or relationships experts do an online chat and then you’ll see some of that dialogue in the print newspaper. It actually makes for good, easy-to-read copy.

Look for evergreen content ideas. I was just checking to see what I had from last summer and found “a summer reading list” of business books, keys to bringing positive change to your company, and 12 tips for marketing your webinar. I always try to add new entries to these lists.
Create Q&A industry profiles or videos. Once you have a subject’s quotes written out, it’s easy to go back and use a quote when a relevant subject comes up. And if you use the same questions, you can then take 10 different answers to one of the questions and make that a stand-alone piece.
Turn your recordings into podcasts. Another option is to deliver your virtual event content as a podcast that your audience can listen to anytime anywhere. You can also take topics and questions that came up during your webinar and create spin-off podcasts or videos on those specific items.
Blue Sky also suggests that you “get creative with pricing—offering free or discounted on-demand access for virtual conference attendees, providing different registrations tiers that can include on-demand access, selling sponsorships, and more.” I agree that pricing these days is a total work in progress. Probably smart not to underprice at the start. Your content still has tremendous value—even if it is not being delivered in person.
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Thinking Out of the Box, Marketers Come Up With Event Boxes

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“Work fun swag into your [virtual event] plans. If you have the budget, you might be able to differentiate yourself and bring a little joy to attendees during a tough time by still including conference swag.”
That’s from Higher Logic. Back in May I happened on a new online show called The Present by magician Heider Guimaraes, where ticket holders are mailed a box with surprise contents that they are directed not to open until their Zoom show starts.
It’s been a hit.
“How do you reach out of the computer and into the audience?” asked Matt Shakman, artistic director of the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, where the show has sold out extensions through October. “The idea would be to hold something in your hand and be part of the process. That’s how you make Zoom as interesting as a black box theater.”
B2B and B2C have followed along. Donna Jefferson of Chesapeake Family told me that she is planning to mail out an “event box” to attendees to a virtual event they are holding in October—possibly with sponsorships on both the inside and outside of the box.
And then I saw this last week in Digiday: “Bustle Digital Group’s new commerce play is tied to its virtual events strategy, where it has started giving away product kits ahead of some of its sponsored events. These kits include items like yoga mats and lip glosses that are tied to the event in order to make for a more immersive experience, but also to get attendees more engaged with the sponsoring brands.
“So far, BDG has created these event kits for its virtual yoga retreat in May that was produced for advertiser Nature’s Way, and for its Self-Care Saturday event this past Saturday that was built with advertiser lip filler brand Restylane Kysse. The event kits were complementary for the first 150 attendees to RSVP.”
We know that vendors and exhibitors still very much need to connect with customers. “We work with sponsors and brand partners to acquire products, and we also go direct to factories to have specific products manufactured for every box,” says David Webb, editor-in-chief of Explore. “Our brand partners are a big part of the box—they appreciate that they can get their materials and products directly into the hands of active users and buyers through us.”
Explore now has a warehouse and factories on contract. They learned quickly that the boxes take a commitment to do, so now they do it for others. In the process of expanding their operations, they noticed a growing demand for more secure payment options, similar to those offered by Mastercard casinos UK, which provided the reliability and security their customers were looking for. “We had to learn everything from the ground up,” Webb said. “We packed the first test box in our office, and the next one at a warehouse space. We learned it all on the fly, and used these lessons to be better with the next one.”
“It’s important to get products into consumers’ hands,” said BDG president and CRO Jason Wagenheim, adding that this will enable them to promote via word of mouth and social media, turning attendees into micro-influencers for brand sponsors.
The Nature’s Way Yoga Retreat, for example, had a 53% higher Instagram Story video completion rate than its benchmark and a 250% higher Instagram post click through rate than expected.
The boxes can also be digital. “Many publishers now have a range of events, master classes, special talks and other digital goodies that they could package as part of a monthly ‘box,'” a FIPP report says. “Is it a money-can’t-buy 30-minute fireside interview with the publishers’ crossword-setter? Or a free ticket to a session” with your favorite writer? Digital “goodies” can also be personalized by seeing what the customer has shown the most interest in.
It’s about providing “subscribers with an experience they’re not getting elsewhere,” said Michell Panzer of Hearst Autos.