In this article, I want to talk about the main mistakes event organizers make and how to avoid ruining your event.
Since all the mass events we will be attending in the near future will be held online, it is high time for organizers to improve the quality of their remote events. First and foremost, they need to correct common mistakes that are often made by both novice and experienced online event organizers.
Mistake #1. Allocating too few resources to promoting the event
There is a stereotype that organizing and attracting an audience to an online event is much easier than its offline counterpart. Because of this, many allocate less time than necessary to preparation and promotion, which results in technical problems and insufficient registrations.
To avoid this mistake, it is necessary to develop a strategy in advance, paying special attention to planning the advertising campaign and the points that traditionally take up more time than the organizers anticipate:
- preparing visuals and announcements for various platforms,
- collecting and coordinating comments from speakers/
Mistake #2. Not following up with those who are interested in the event
If you are hosting a free event, obtaining registration from a potential participant is only half the battle. Many individuals register for online conferences just in case, as it does not require much effort. Therefore, organizers need to “push” the audience to ensure that people do not forget about the event.
If the event is paid, this advice will help you get your target audience to buy a ticket, as landing pages and banners don’t always do the trick. A couple of reminder emails won’t help in either case.
In your posts, you can talk about preparations for the conference, the speakers and their achievements, and you can also use interesting insights from the speakers’ presentations as teasers. You will most likely start promoting the event long before the final version of the program is finalized, so the group will be the perfect way to inform your audience that you have new additions to the lineup.
Mistake #3. Not developing a clear plan for working with speakers
One of the main mistakes organizers make is hoping that the speakers will prepare for their presentations themselves, leaving the technical team with only the task of connecting them to the conference.
This approach causes a lot of screw-ups at the event itself and deprives you of the opportunity to get content that is useful for promoting the event.
Here is a checklist of what to include in your plan for working with speakers:
- Agree on the topics and theses of the presentations. The organizers’ task is to ensure that the presentations contain a minimum of advertising and fit within the time frame.
- Approve the format and requirements for presentations. The final versions of all presentations must be submitted to the organizers a few days before the event.
- Involve speakers in promoting the event. This can be done in one of the following formats: a video invitation or a post on a personal account, a comment for a press release, or a quote about the relevance of the presentation for the event group. You can go even further and discuss with information partners the publication of an interview with one of the top speakers on a friendly publication’s platform.
- Make sure that the speakers are familiar with the technical requirements. First and foremost, the quality of the internet connection, the availability of a headset, and software.
- Explain the format of interaction with conference attendees: in particular, how and when to answer questions from the audience.
- Agree on a dress code. We will discuss the options below.
- Approve deadlines for submitting the necessary materials (photos, short biographies, quotes).
- Set dates for technical rehearsals.
- Agree on follow-up for the event. It is better to find out in advance whether presentations and recordings of reports can be shared after the event.
Mistake #4. Not checking the background behind the speakers
The wrong background may seem like a minor detail compared to other mistakes, but in reality it distracts viewers and greatly spoils the overall impression of the event. Therefore, if you have the budget, you can send banners or press walls to the speakers in advance: this will make the conference name more memorable, plus the space on the banner will be an additional point in the agreement with information partners and sponsors.
If you are using a platform with the ability to upload a digital background (e.g., Zoom) for your conference, you can also make a banner and ask the speakers to display it. Believe me, it’s worth it.
If you don’t have the budget or time, it’s better to ask the speakers in advance to show you different locations for going on air so that you can choose the most suitable option together. A refrigerator with photos of your favorite family members is wonderful, but it is unlikely that conference participants will be willing to spend 20 minutes admiring the youngest family member’s first trip to the potty.
Mistake #5. Chasing after a large number of information partners
Another big mistake when promoting an event is thinking that a large number of info partners will ensure good attendance.
As practice shows, it is not worth relying heavily on the publication of releases in friendly media; it is better to immediately allocate resources to promote announcements in relevant groups on social networks and Telegram channels. If your promotion resources are limited, you can select “leaders” in your categories and place announcements only with them, but if possible, more than once..
Mistake #6. Trusting unverified email services
If you are collecting contacts from your target audience and plan to send invitations with a link to the broadcast only to registered participants, use verified email services. By entrusting your mailing list to an untested platform, you risk ending up with a situation where the link is in the mailing list, but the mailing list is in spam. Your emails will be blocked, and dissatisfied participants who did not receive an invitation will start knocking on your door.
There are several ways to avoid this situation. First, publish instructions for those who did not receive an invitation on social media and on the event website. Appoint a responsible employee who will process requests by sending the link manually.
The second option is only suitable for free events whose purpose is to increase brand awareness rather than generate leads: make the broadcast publicly available, posting it immediately on YouTube and social media. To obtain contact information, consider a creative approach, such as offering participants a special offer or additional materials (e.g., recordings or presentations by speakers) in exchange for their contact information.
Mistake #7. Collecting feedback only after the event
Everyone is used to collecting feedback after an event, but why not increase your chances of success by gathering audience requests in advance? This will allow you to engage interested participants in communication, plus you will be able to create a program that is as relevant as possible to the interests of your target audience.
When collecting feedback before the event, you can find out:
- What topics would participants like to discuss at the event?
- Which speakers would be interesting to listen to?
- What questions do participants hope to have answered? What skills do they hope to acquire?
- What are their expectations for the event?
If you manage to collect a lot of questions, discuss them with the speakers and moderators. The speakers may reveal some of the answers during their presentations, but it may be worth setting aside additional time for discussion.
Conclusions
Many organizers view online events as a temporary and necessary alternative to traditional offline conferences, which is actually a mistake. Remote events have many advantages, for example, they can be used to attract audiences from other regions and thus significantly increase reach. However, it is not so easy to take advantage of these benefits: it is not enough to simply apply your experience in organizing offline events; you need to gain experience and master all the nuances of the online format.