It goes without saying, 2020 turned out nothing as we had hoped. Coming off such a tremendous first year in business the abrupt halt of the world was certainly a lot to take in. We, unfortunately had to have uncomfortable cancellation conversations with clients and vendors, saw talented friends suddenly looking for work, and even had internal changes within the company.
That being said, we wanted to reach out and thank all of those that have put the trust in us to turn their events ideas into reality. We are excited to put the tumultuous chapter that was 2020 behind us and we are looking forward to all the possibilities that await us, now that things are opening up again.
We have a lot of good things in the works and can't wait to share them with you all. We have certainly missed live events, so please feel free to reach out if there is anything that we could do to help. Cheers to moving forward and an “event-full” rest of 2021!
Hosting Events in a New World
There is nothing better than a good, old fashioned, in-person meeting, or event. Nothing compares to the personal connections, face to face conversations, networking, and camaraderie that an in-person event brings. Obviously, the coronavirus pandemic has changed the way we meet and gather for the foreseeable future. Things WILL get back to normal eventually, but in the meantime how do we continue to make meaningful connections and interactions?
By now we’ve all participated in countless Zoom calls, webinars, and online chats. While these tools have been great to bring us together during this time of separation, I’m sure we all can agree that we’re getting burned out on webcam style calls. Over the past several weeks, I’ve attended many virtual events ranging from small meetings to conferences to fundraising events – in fact, I have another one on the calendar this morning. Each of these was great events that provided abundant information, but I found it hard to keep my brain from tuning out largely to “webinar overload.”
So how do we continue to engage with virtual event attendees? It’s all about turning that in-person event into a compelling virtual experience! Here are a few things to consider when making the difficult decision to transform large-scale events from in-person to online:
1. Establish your goals and assemble your team
Just like planning an in-person event, define your goals, and determine if they can be met with an online event. Once goals have been set its time to build your team. Bring in those staff members, stakeholders, and partners that can help you achieve those goals.
2. Keep it short
While in-person events often last hours or even days, virtual events may need to be kept short to keep attendee’s attention. Plan your scripting accordingly. It’s more important than ever to have a strategy behind your content.
3. Keep your audience engaged
Depending on the type of event, engagement may vastly vary, but finding those ways to keep the audience plugged in is essential. Creating an upbeat television-style experience with both live and recorded content is a great way to maintain your audience’s attention. Building in two- way engagement via chat features, dedicated Slack channels, smaller Zoom style breakouts, and live social media interaction will help create networking opportunities.
4. Prep for live AV
Being on camera on a set is very different from being in front of a live audience. Speakers must project confidence to engage the audience. Show speakers what the set and overall experience will look like for viewers. Encourage presenters to rehearse in front of a camera as early as possible. Then give them the opportunity to see what they look like while presenting. This will help them empathize with the viewer's experience and change their delivery if necessary.
Executing a strong game plan can allow you to shift your in-person event strategy to a virtual one. The best virtual events mirror in-person ones in many ways. Do your best to provide engaging content, networking opportunities for attendees, and personalize the attendee experience.
You don’t need to plan, market, and host your virtual event all by yourself. RIPCORD Events is here to be your partner through the process. Let’s hop on a call today to see how we can help make your virtual event a reality!
RIPCORD Turns One!
#RIPCORDgivesback
If you follow RIPCORD Events on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn, you may have seen our posts containing #RIPCORDgivesback. “What is this?” you may ask. This simple hashtag has become a mantra for our team.
When we launched RIPCORD back in February of 2019 we all decided that volunteering and giving back to our community was something that was important to us all for a couple of reasons.
First off, as anyone in the event industry can attest to, many large events wouldn’t be able to happen without the assistance of numerous volunteers. We’ve been assisted on site at events many times by volunteers so we want to return the favor.
Secondly - and the most obvious reason - we love our city and want to do everything we can to make it a better place to live, work and play!
We agreed to make giving back a pillar to our overall business model and to schedule at least one volunteer session monthly. Thus far we’ve given our time to Second Helpings, Habitat for Humanity, Indy Pride, Wheeler Mission, Gleaner’s Food Bank, Crooked Creek Food Pantry, NEAR Indy, Mozel Sanders Foundation, Make-A-Wish Foundation and The Salvation Army - and we’re just getting started! We’d love your suggestions on where we should volunteer in 2020.
If you’ve never had the opportunity to volunteer your time it’s something that I would urge you to make time for. Each time that we leave a shift, I can’t wait for the next one. The rewarding feeling of helping someone in need is something that can’t be replicated. Our volunteer shifts have also been a great time for networking and making new friends. We’ve met so many wonderful people with some of the biggest hearts that we know.
We’re always looking to expand our #RIPCORDgivesback crew. The more people that we have on our team, the bigger impact we can make! If you are interested in joining us for a volunteer shift in 2020 please email jkuhn@ripcordevents.com!
Give. Love. Be kind. Together we can make a difference!
