Business Conference Contingency : What's your plan B during COVID ?
Channel: Loghic Connect
Date: 2020-08-04

Discover why you need a plan B for your conference. In this webinar you will get tips and best practices to switch your physical conference to a digital conference. This webinar is presented by Sara Drury from Redback Connect and Michael Bunker, our webinar expert.

If you want to know more about our contingency plans you can follow this link:
https://www.redbackconnect.com.au/contingency-planning-and-risk-mitigation-solutions/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=conference_contingency

If you want to know more about Redback Connect you can follow the link below:
https://www.redbackconnect.com.au/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=conference_contingency

This webinar aims at giving you hard facts and action items to make sure you can take concrete actions after the webinar. In this webinar we will be looking at options businesses have, what they need to do before the event, how to get budget for it, how to make the live event work, how to maximise after the event and your action play.

With the current restrictions you may be faced with two different scenarios to react. Your physical conference may be going ahead but with travel restrictions you need to plan for less attendees and less presenters able to physically attend. Video conferencing can be used in order to get presenters attend your conference but online. The second scenario is that your physical event is cancelled due to these restrictions. For this, you can use webinar, or studio webinars to keep the professional look and feel of your conference. The best is to get to providers that enable to use all types of technology to get your conference online. 

Look at your content that was planned for your physical event and see what can be adapted and what can’t. When considering switching to an online conference, think about interactivity. The interactivity you want may decide what type of technology you need to have. With online conferences you can only use some recorded sessions which saves time. In terms of marketing, you can promote your hybrid event in a very positive way since you propose something adapted to your audience. 

No matter what scenario you are in, it’s important to be careful about internet connectivity. Make sure at physical venue that you have a dedicated internet connection to enable your video conference. You need the permission from your presenters to share their content online.

You need a dedicated budget for this online event. You can go to your sponsors to secure additional budget for the online event. You don’t need to think in terms of days for your conference but in terms of years, since your content can live a long time online. Your sponsors can be interested in this additional online exposure. With online conferences, you will be able to share actionable data with your sponsors. You need to look at the cost per individual attendee. When considering this metric, the cost can be lower with online conferences since you don’t need to plan catering, you don’t need the same time and you can attract more people. 

When choosing a platform for your online conference, you need to be aware of the different functions your providers gives you. In order to make your conference more interactive, you would advise you to get a platform that has dedicated features: chat, live Q&A, poll and survey. 

Try to map out what you want to achieve and see what type of technology you can use to achieve your goals. 

The action plan for your online conference is a 7 step plan. Look at the policy for your conference to check your current landscape. Contact sponsors of your online conference. You want to look at your options and how you can achieve the switch between physical and online event. It’s important to communicate with your attendees about the future of your event. Tracking your current budget and what budget you need to get your event online is important as an action item. Finally, don’t panic, communicate about your plan so that attendees are informed about your plans.