Virtual Events: Speaker & Organizer Guide, Part 3
Published: 2021-03-06 02:13:32

## Part 3: And the Award Goes To…


This is the third post in a series about participating in and organizing virtual events. The [first post](https://dev.to/caito_200_ok/virtual-events-speaker-organizer-guide-2c44) covered accessibility and inclusivity, and the [second post](https://dev.to/caito_200_ok/virtual-events-speaker-organizer-guide-part-2-137n) covered the speaker experience. The [last post](https://dev.to/caito_200_ok/virtual-events-speaker-organizer-guide-part-4-48ah) includes the conclusion and a consolidated list of the tools and resources listed in this series.

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There were SO many great, innovative, and thoughtful things I’ve seen at the 30+ virtual events I’ve participated in since pandemic started. Recognition and knowledge share for what goes into these sorts fo events often gets lost nowadays so I wanted to share some of the most impressive tactics, workarounds, and innovations I’ve seen since March 2020.

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### 2020 Awards

![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*52JmtyGfo363COovNDTZVQ.png)

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[Kafka Summit](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fevents.kafka-summit.org%2F2020) took the award for **Most Likely to Post on Twitter**. They had several social\-media\-worthy activities, including a fun points system based on the amount of engagement with the talks and speakers, which could earn you swag. My favorite though, was the Virtual Photobooth. Although I’d seen and used [#streamingSelfie](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fhashtag%2Fstreamingselfie%3Fsrc%3Dhashtag_click) for other virtual conferences, Kafka Summit absolutely dominated the hashtag — it was clear attendees really enjoyed this fun and easy\-to\-use tool. The conference organizers also kept things going by challenging attendees in their Slack space to post with pets, kids, a beverage, etc.

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![a fake award with images of virtual bars](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*4o8u6_ngMeFVnhAJ2PaHtQ.png)

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[Berlin Buzzwords](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fberlinbuzzwords.de%2F) wins **Best Happy Hour**. A multi\-day conference co\-hosted by [MICES](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmices.co%2F) and [Haystack](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhaystackconf.com%2F), they tested out a different virtual happy hour platform each day, picking the most popular one for the final happy hour. I had SO much fun in each one, and through this festive experimentation, I gained contacts and friends with whom I now chat regularly, almost a year later. I enjoyed them so much, I now have a subscription to one of these platforms that I use for monthly (or more) for virtual parties with friends.

This conference used Finnish company, [Digibaari](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdigibaari.com%2F), which includes different bar backgrounds and fun sound effects, and several proximity\-based apps like [Gather.town](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgather.town%2F) and [Spatial.chat](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fspatial.chat%2F) which allow attendees to roam around.

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![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*A-zUTH-QQ8abTop9MTXI5Q.png)

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I don’t think anyone will ever beat [Deserted Island DevOps](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdesertedisland.club%2F) (DIDevOps) for **Cutest Conference**. DIDevOps hosted their conference entirely inside of [Animal Crossing](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fanimal-crossing.com%2F), a video game with a reputation for being adorable. Additionally, the organizers and attendees fully embraced this endearing backdrop, and included Animal Crossing\-themed analogies in their talks. They also created a fully functional, incredibly well\-organized conference hall, with podium, guest laptop, slides, and vendor booths (with branded t\-shirts and other swag for your avatar).

I was also very impressed with whoever did the “filming”, as they were able to catch “audience” reactions. The cutting from the wide angle of the speaker and their slides to just the slides was seamless. If you want the speaker’s perspective for this conference (and more great tips for virtual conferences), check out Noçnica Fee’s [writeup](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthenewstack.io%2Fdeserted-island-devops-wrap-up%2F).

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![fake medal saying ‘best style’ with an image of the marketing banner provided by the conference of the speaker, talk title](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*9-rFkMyi9zVnHhS6M5Nw7A.png)

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[ACT\-W](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fact-w.org%2F) (Advancing Careers in Tech for Women) wins **Best Style** (every year, honestly) with their bold and energetic marketing. This conference is known for having a different [logo](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FACT_WConf%2Fstatus%2F1006929188144549888) each year by well\-known designer [Karlie Kirkaldie](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fkarliek%2F), always featuring a Woman of Color and her laptop (or other tech device), often with references to retro space\- or futuristic\-themed movies.

In addition, this year, they set up separate marketing packages for speakers, sponsors and attendees, which helped spread out and maximize advocacy throughout their community (a valuable move for a non\-profit event). As a speaker, I was given a very user\-friendly [Canva](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.canva.com%2F) template that could easily be uploaded to social media with my headshot, talk title, and conference information (seen above, in the award graphic).

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![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*v3v4bN1QexwEHmGp6pUtaQ.png)

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[DataEng Bytes AU](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdataengconf.com.au%2F) wins **Most Likely to Reapply**. I say this, not because I would hesitate to reapply to speak at any of these other amazing conferences, but I really want to give DataEng Bytes AU a particular shoutout for their speaker experience. This was one of the conferences where talks were pre\-recorded. The organizers went above and beyond in editing the talks and reviewing the content, and were able to come up with very thoughtful questions in advance for *each talk*.

Organizers were *very* attentive in the #speakers\-lounge Slack channel, ready for speaker’s last\-minute troubleshooting questions. They were also active in each speaker’s individual channel, and in giving speakers kudos, which encouraged other audience members to add their compliments as well. They also provided a QR code at the end of each talk that linked to a feedback form for that specific speaker.

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![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*RrNgIr5lNEc27YCei4vTMQ.png)

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[Failover Conf](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffailover-conf.heysummit.com%2F) wins **Most Likely to Stay in Touch.** One component of this was a particularly energetic and well\-moderated Slack space — with channels that each had a specific and clear purpose and a good balance between technical and social/fun. Each of these included frequent, thoughtful prompts from the organizers. Although they archived the conference Slack a couple weeks after the conference, they encouraged attendees to join their main Slack, where I’ve stayed in contact with several fellow attendees.

Additionally, [Failover Conf](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffailover-conf.heysummit.com%2F) used [Icebreaker video](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ficebreaker.video%2F), which I’ve found to be a superior… well, icebreaker tool. They also made sure to introduce this tool in a way that felt natural with the flow of the conference. They acknowledged the inherent awkwardness of virtual social interaction, while still reassuring us that there would be enough structure to mitigate some of that awkwardness. The attentiveness to community in their Slack and in the icebreaker opportunities enabled me to make lasting connections.

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![a fake medal for ‘most on brand’ with a pic of the speaker in a frame in the shape of a bee’s face, and the Beam bee logo](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*G-q6ickgwQg-fLttpjZckg.png)

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[Beam Summit](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbeamsummit.org%2F), debuting their new logo this year, wins **Most On\-Brand**. And I’m not even that jealous that this icon gives my [company’s logo](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fflink.apache.org%2Fmaterial.html) some major competition in the “cutest logo” category. For real though, they did a fantastic job of leveraging this debut to further engage their community. Beam Summit had logo\-themed trivia, and most noticeable of course was the fact that each speaker was framed in the shape of the bee logo’s face during their talks.

### 2021 Awards

![A fake award banner that says “Timezone-Inclusive Connection” with a stamp that says “DDD EU.” Inside the banner is also a screenshot of the event’s logo which says Domain Driven Design Europe in block letters.](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*a2u1xjSwGWxX3oLgQluFwQ.png)

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[Domain\-Driven Design EU](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdddeurope.com%2F2021%2F) — wins **Best Timezone\-Inclusive Connection**. In addition to being a spectacular speaker experience, DDD EU went above and beyond with providing inclusive opportunities to connect with people regardless of where you live. They provided an [“Open Space”](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2Fg0KOjzoogtU) with attendee\-created “Birds of a Feather” type chat rooms. The best part — the Open Space was *really* open — 24/7. During the several days of the conference, I showed up late at night, midday, and early in the morning my time and there was always at least 30 people in a room, ranging all different continents. I also appreciated the thought that went into encouraging (in a friendly and pragmatic way) people to truly take time off and engage fully in the conference with suggestions for how to convince your boss to let you really fully enjoy the hands\-on nature of this conference.

![A fake award banner that says “Most supportive environment” with a stamp that says “PyCascades.” Inside the banner is also a screenshot of a photo collage of attendees sent from the PyCascades’ Twitter account.](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*zINEPIBiWd0EeZ-deqQqVw.png)

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[PyCascades](https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2F2021.pycascades.com%2F) wins **Most Supportive Environment**. I was on the planning committee for this and got to see firsthand the incredible amount of work and compassion that went into considering the impact on attendees of that every detail and decision that went into putting this event together. We used multiple expert vendors for accessibility tools like captioning. The Code of Conduct was thorough and easy to find, and there were resources and trained individuals ready to enforce it.

If you are involved in planning a virtual event, know that these considerations really pay off: we had an extremely diverse group of attendees. And, we had a lot of positive feedback from attendees who identified as being part of various different marginalized groups. Many of these people mentioned in one way or another that this was the most comfortable and safe they felt at a conference, and that they participated much more heavily in Q&A and other activities because of it. I would love to see many of these elements become the new baseline, like accessibility tools/captioning, Code of Conduct training, normalizing pronouns in bios, explicit safe spaces/chat rooms for various marginalized groups. A lot of this was possible through paid tickets (with generous grants for those who applied) and through sponsor\-covered accessibility vendors.

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### In This Series

*   Post 1: [Accessibility + Inclusivity](https://dev.to/caito_200_ok/virtual-events-speaker-organizer-guide-2c44)

*   Post 2: [The Speaker Experience](https://dev.to/caito_200_ok/virtual-events-speaker-organizer-guide-part-2-137n)

*   Post 3: [And the Award Goes To…](https://dev.to/caito_200_ok/virtual-events-speaker-organizer-guide-part-3-1kj)

*   Post 4: [Conclusion + Resources](https://dev.to/caito_200_ok/virtual-events-speaker-organizer-guide-part-4-48ah)