Virtual Event Guide: How to Roadmap Your Online Event
Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2021), 59 pp.
"The aim of this guidebook is to walk you through – step by step – how to best organize digital events from the concept phase to planning to going live. It includes processes to help you learn from your experiences and improve your future events. This manual will not only assist you in organizing online events that work towards your goals, but in creating digital experiences that attract the right audience and help you connect with them. Connections like these can develop even under difficult conditions like if your audience only has limited internet access, for example, or can only participate via a mobile phone. The guidebook offers a roadmap for success and is based on the practical experience that DW Akademie and its partner organizations have gained through staging online events during the pandemic. It is the sum of our insights gathered during this unusual period in world history. We hope this practical guide – and the case studies included – will provide you and your organization with the strategy and information needed for creating meaningful interaction with your audience through successful online events." (Introduction)
CONCEPT AND DESIGN
Overall strategy and objectives, 11
Step 1 - Reach and target audience, 11
Step 2 - Content and program, 12
Step 3 - Type of event, 12
Step 4 - Platforms and formats, 12
Step 5 - Social interaction, 12
Step 6 - Event branding, 14
Step 7 - Building your team, 15
Checklist: Concept and design, 20
PLANNING
Step 1 - Date, time and language, 25
Step 2 - Location, 26
Step 3 - Content design, 26
Step 4 - Technical set-up, 26
Step 5 - Digital security, 28
Step 6 - The script - your basis for implementation, 28
Step 7 - Key performance indicators, 29
Step 8 - Budget plan, 29
Checklist: Planning, 32
COMMUNICATION
Step 1 - Finding your audience, 37
Step 2 - Targeting your audience, 37
Step 3 - Publicizing your event, 37
Step 4 - The Event Director, 38
Checklist: Communication, 40
GOING LIVE!
Step 1 - Venue setup and virtual settings, 45
Step 2 - Technical tests and rehearsals, 45
Step 3 - The speakers, 46
Step 4 - Communications plan, 46
Step 5 - Technical troubleshooting, 47
Checklist: Going live! 50
EVALUATION
Step 1 - Develop a feedback strategy, 55
Step 2 - Metrics, 56
Step 3 - Internal debrief, 56
Step 4 - The event report, 56
Step 5 - Final budget check, 56
Checklist: Evaluation, 58
Overall strategy and objectives, 11
Step 1 - Reach and target audience, 11
Step 2 - Content and program, 12
Step 3 - Type of event, 12
Step 4 - Platforms and formats, 12
Step 5 - Social interaction, 12
Step 6 - Event branding, 14
Step 7 - Building your team, 15
Checklist: Concept and design, 20
PLANNING
Step 1 - Date, time and language, 25
Step 2 - Location, 26
Step 3 - Content design, 26
Step 4 - Technical set-up, 26
Step 5 - Digital security, 28
Step 6 - The script - your basis for implementation, 28
Step 7 - Key performance indicators, 29
Step 8 - Budget plan, 29
Checklist: Planning, 32
COMMUNICATION
Step 1 - Finding your audience, 37
Step 2 - Targeting your audience, 37
Step 3 - Publicizing your event, 37
Step 4 - The Event Director, 38
Checklist: Communication, 40
GOING LIVE!
Step 1 - Venue setup and virtual settings, 45
Step 2 - Technical tests and rehearsals, 45
Step 3 - The speakers, 46
Step 4 - Communications plan, 46
Step 5 - Technical troubleshooting, 47
Checklist: Going live! 50
EVALUATION
Step 1 - Develop a feedback strategy, 55
Step 2 - Metrics, 56
Step 3 - Internal debrief, 56
Step 4 - The event report, 56
Step 5 - Final budget check, 56
Checklist: Evaluation, 58
