Recently, a sudden surge in the demand for virtual events has been witnessed in 2020. The unforeseen conditions caused due to the global pandemic resulted in the cancellation of various events across the globe. The disease is fatal and is communicable through a mass spread. With the restrictions imposed on travelling and public gatherings, organising physical events became entirely impossible. All thanks to technology, virtual video conferencing came as an aid. It helped businesses and organisations to keep going even in the time of the global health crisis. Virtual meetings enable organisations to connect with remote employees virtually without risking the health front in times like today. Organisations that were not in the favour of organising events online have leveraged virtual event solutions.
Virtual Meetings and Virtual Conferences
Today, organising virtual meetings and virtual conferences have become an integral part of every industry. Right from carrying out recurring meetings, conferences, product launches, trade shows, exhibitions, a virtual conference platform serves all.
As people started to move out after the uplift of lockdown implications, hybrid events came into play. They are a mix of virtual and in-person events that allow attendees to attend the event in-person as well as virtually.
The percentage of virtual hybrid conferences have spiked up suddenly in 2020 as they offer enormous opportunities. The benefits offered by virtual hybrid conferences are not possible to achieve with conventional on-ground conferences. It enables you to reach and network with a larger segment of audience globally. But with virtual conferences, the focus area is entirely different from physical conferences. With physical conferences, attendees are surrounded by other attendees. Whereas with virtual conferences attendees access the event online at a screen. Watching a screen is not as refreshing as going to a venue to attend a conference where you are surrounded by other attendees. Keeping this in mind, the length of virtual hybrid conferences has been trimmed by planners to keep virtual attendees engaged with the event.
Well, even after the world recovers from the health crisis, people will still remain suspicious in attending an on-ground event with large gatherings. Virtual and hybrid events are here to stay and are the future of the event industry. In this post, we have mentioned a few tips for attendees on how to attend a hybrid virtual conference and increase the focus. Let’s get started!
Effective tips for attending a virtual hybrid conference
If you are a part of a hybrid conference and attending an event in-person you are surrounded by fellow attendees. You can have discussions with them at the venue. But if you are accessing the event virtually from your remote location, here are the few tips you need to follow for your next virtual conference:
1. Get familiar with the technology
A virtual hybrid conference is hosted on a virtual event platform that offers comprehensive virtual hybrid conference solutions. The attendees may or may not be familiar with the tools and technology used in hosting an online conference. Whereas some are not tech-savvy. To make your experience smooth and seamless ensure to download whatever is required beforehand. Doing it on the last movement may cause any technical glitch without leaving any time to fix it, resulting in making you frustrated. Take an hour before a conference and explore the event. Figure out the ways to access the sessions, navigate through the event, check out your internet connection, audio, video, etc. Explore the features of a virtual conference platform for a hassle-free seamless experience. If you are familiar with the platform and tools it helps you to get engaged with the content instead of searching out ways for navigation.
2. Sit in a quiet room
While attending a virtual conference or a virtual meeting make it a point to keep yourself free from distractions. At home, there are many obligations to accomplish, but while joining a virtual conference keep them aside and be professional. Look out for a room that’s quiet and free from any distractions and distracting sounds. Lock the room from inside and place your system at a comfortable spot for attending a virtual conference.
3. Turn off your notifications and tabs
While attending a virtual hybrid conference turn off your phone notifications as it may distract you from gaining valuable information. You opt to attend a conference because it holds value to you, make the full use out of it, and prevent yourself from calendar notifications. Close all the other tabs on your computer while attending a virtual meeting to keep yourself focused. Do not check emails amid sessions.
4. Schedule your time accordingly
Virtual content can be watched in real-time or on-demand. While planning your schedule, mark out the most important sessions you want to watch live in real-time. Apart from it, outline sessions that can be adjusted as per your time slots on-demand.
5. Separate work time from family time
Work from home dynamics means you are surrounded by your spouse, kids, pets or they are just a room away. It ultimately results in dividing our attention. Try to work out on your schedule and separate work time from family time. However, it will result in having a seamless virtual conference experience.
6. Figure out coffee and snack breaks
Hunger should not distract your mind. While attending a hybrid conference in-person you do not have to worry about meal breaks. In-person events have built-in coffee breaks and snacks keep coming amid. While attending a virtual conference remotely, the responsibility of arranging F&B for yourself comes on you. Grab a coffee, water, and some snacks for a virtual conference. You can even make arrangements that it gets delivered to you during breaks.
7. Connect and network with other attendees
In-person conferences enable you to connect and network with new attendees, reconnect with old acquaintances, and have discussions in real-time. The same can be achieved with virtual conferences. A virtual conference platform offers live chat functionality. It enables attendees to interact with other attendees in real-time via live audio/video chats. They can discuss the keynote sessions with other attendees seamlessly in real-time.
8. Write down notes
Taking notes is one of the effective ways to keep the most insightful information in mind. Almost every virtual conference shares slides, presentations, and recordings with attendees. Writing down notes for the most significant and valuable points is an effective way to keep insightful detail in mind.
9. Stretch your body amid and make movement
Don’t be seated on a chair for the entire virtual conference. Take breaks in between sessions. Stand, walk and stretch to relax your body and remain focused.
10. Set appointments for connecting and networking
Virtual conferences allow you to set up one-on-one appointments with colleagues even before the event.
We hope the above-mentioned tips will help you experience a seamless virtual conference. We have listed the best ways to attend a hybrid virtual conference and to make the most out of it. If you are a first-time virtual attendee, by following the above tips you can make your virtual experience seamless.
