Why you should keep streaming events online (even when you don’t have to)
Cast your mind back 12 months ago. “Zoom drinks” wasn’t a thing. Networking didn’t involve staring into a stranger’s living room. And online event streaming was somewhat rare – only run when they were planned and budgeted for in advance.
2020 changed business events significantly. We went from hosting colleagues and industry peers in a venue with some catering (or at least a free mint and pen) to sitting in front of a screen, wearing a blazer and slippers, trying to stop the cat climbing on the keyboard.
It got old, fast. Most people got sick of attending online events, and business quickly realised that hosting them was not as simple as sending a link and turning on a webcam. But even after all that, online events shouldn’t be discarded when we can get back to meeting up in-person again.
Even when we’re free to roam again, people will be all over the place – at home, in the office, in another city. Online events are going to play an important role in the business landscape going forward and, in the right circumstances, they have the potential to be more successful, beneficial and affordable than their in-person counterparts.
Why are online events often a last resort?
Online event streaming is not a new concept. While online meeting tools and webinar software got a huge boost in 2020, they’ve been around and operating for years. Until recently, though, there hasn’t been a reason to use them on a mass scale. Now they’re everywhere we look.
This means that when virtual events suddenly became the only kind of event possible to host, many businesses were experiencing them for the first time. And for most, it wasn’t a positive experience.
Reality didn’t meet expectations, and the holes in online event streaming and hosting capabilities immediately began to show. A lot of businesses soon realised:
Live and virtual events are very different
An online event isn’t the same as an in-person event streamed online. They require different tools, equipment and planning. Many businesses tried to keep their original plans and move it to a virtual platform – and got less than desirable results.
Putting on a great event is hard
Many were surprised that running an online event wasn’t quite as simple as it sounded. The tools required were plentiful, and bringing all the moving parts together was time-consuming and difficult (especially for those without experience).
Making event organisation easy is expensive
When it all gets too hard, there are plenty of professionals that can be hired to do the hard work. Except they’re not cheap, so using experts for every single event is going to blow the budget pretty quickly.
Not only did these issues make it incredibly hard for those trying to host the event, but they resulted in very average experiences for those attending them. As time wore on, many businesses preferred to cancel and postpone planned events rather than try to host them online.
Online events hold an important part in the future of events
At this point, you might be keen to get back to “normal” and relegate online events to being a Plan B or saved for rare occasions. But anywhere you turn, you’ll be told “normal” is gone. It’s all about the new normal now.
The way we work and interact has changed for good – and that means the way we hold our business events has too.
There’s no doubt that in-person events will return, and the first few will be exciting. We will definitely gain back something we have lost. But we will also start demanding more that live get-togethers can’t always offer. Our events will need to:
1. Bring people together
We don’t know when unrestricted travel will return. And even when it does, you can’t expect all your guests will be willing or able to travel. Future events need to be able to include and reach everyone, offering remote and hybrid hosting options.
2. Be cost-effective
While hiring a professional to run your online event can get pricey, running an in-person event isn’t always cheap either. Flying in guests or speakers, accommodation, catering, venue hire, promo material… the list goes on. When planned and organised properly, online events can provide you with a much more cost-effective (but still as valuable) event.
3. Match your event type
Some events, like networking, don’t make sense online – you just can’t replicate the same level of human interaction virtually. But other types of events can thrive in an online environment– webinars, workshops, business reviews or updates. Give yourself options (and the right features) to make your event as good as it possibly can be.
Host more events more often – and have more impact
As sick as we are of being forced to host online, when you regain the power to choose how you hold your event, it will become clear that online event streaming can be incredibly beneficial and affordable – and that we actually need online events in this new way of working.
In our new flexible working, highly digital, global market world, online events open up opportunities in-person events just can’t. They allow you to:
Increase customer and employee communication and engagement
Be more inclusive and host more attendees
Have more choice when it comes to event type, budget, and audience
Simply, online event streaming gives you the ability to do more events, more often, at a higher quality – without having to find extra budget to pay for them. Instead of flying people in for an annual three-day event, you can host six half-day events – or plan two-hourly events every month. It’s all about choice.
So, how do you make it happen (without breaking the bank or becoming an overnight online streaming tech wizard)?
The answer is: Simplify and automate the most painful parts.
Keep registration to one platform that can clearly show you registrations, attendees and analytics
Make sure you can display consistent branding across all event collateral and screens
Ensure you’re using a virtual streaming platform with high-quality video production and streaming, so you don’t have to worry about how it will look
Stick to the one platform for all events, so you don’t have to switch between them and learn new tools every time
There are plenty of online event streaming platforms that can help you with one or two of these tasks, but not many that will do it all. (Not to mention some are more expensive or tricky to use than others, so it’s best to do your research).
Joinin is a platform that’s a bit different to what you might find out there. It’s the latest platform to enter the space and combines and automates all the features you need that other options usually keep separate. It was created specifically to make online events easy enough so that anyone can organise and host them again and again. Simple, customisable and affordable.
You can sign up and try out the Joinin platform for free here.
