Planning and Implementing Successful Virtual and Hybrid Corporate Events
In the rapidly evolving landscape of corporate events, the integration of hybrid and live streaming options has become pivotal for success. With the onset of the pandemic, many aim to help clients overcome the restrictive pandemic rules of social distancing and other communicational barriers by providing a fully customizable virtual venue that suits their needs. Over the last year organisations and businesses across the world have had to dramatically adapt the way they deliver corporate events. While in-person events will of course still be essential to many industries, there’s no denying that for many organisations, incorporating a virtual component into their corporate event planning could potentially improve audience accessibility and maximise engagement.
The Venhall Virtual Experience
Venhall is what happens when we bring immersion and engagement into a virtual event. It serves as a powerful online venue for your industry-specific events, tradeshows, conferences, exhibitions, and anything in between. Combining ease of use and gamification, Venhall features allow a high degree of practicality for event organizers and a novel virtual experience for participants. Venhall keep improving its feature and currently has 4 type of halls, dark mode, 4 types of exhibition booth, video call feature, 2 view types of lobby and many more.
Development and Technical Infrastructure
The Venhall team was created to come up with a solution to overcome business hurdles due to the outbreak of COVID-19 especially in virtual event segments. In collaboration with Krista Exhibition, the team performed user interviews, research, and benchmarking to available solutions. Iteration of feedback, improvement, and user testing are used in each feature development using unity, unreal engine, Babylon, Blender and etc. It typically takes 3-6 weeks to build 1 feature.
Key Considerations for Virtual Event Planning
If you are now tasked with planning and delivering a hybrid or virtual corporate event, what key things should you consider to ensure it runs successfully? Choosing a venue for your virtual or hybrid event means greater flexibility in terms of your geographical location and the capacity of the venue, but you will want to think about how your online audience will experience the event on a screen as well as your in person audience.
Essential Technology and AV Installation
The heart of any hybrid event lies in its technological infrastructure. For an awards event or conference, a professional set and stage will be essential. Professional virtual studio packages provide you with professional lighting, furniture, digital lectern, screens and a professional camera set-up at your chosen venue. Therefore, the AV installation is really important. Look for features like high-quality cameras, professional sound systems, and reliable internet connectivity.
Software Selection Checklist
Choosing the right live streaming platform and software can feel a bit daunting at first if you haven’t had experience using them before. Consider the following points:
- Public or Private: Do you want your event to be public and open to all, or do you need a secure broadcast which can only be accessed via a private log in facility?
- Streaming Method: How will you stream your content? For example, will you use a private platform such as Microsoft Teams?
- Functionality: What different functionalities will you want to offer your attendees?
Spotlight on Advanced Venue Capabilities: Moonlight Studios NYC
Moonlight Studios NYC emerges as the ideal choice for companies seeking a corporate event venue that seamlessly integrates in-person and virtual components. As a turn-key hybrid event venue, it goes above and beyond to offer a unique combination of event space, technology, and a dedicated team.
Venue Features
- Versatility & Flexibility: Moonlight’s XR Studio seats up to 150 people with livestream technology capable of broadcasting your presentation to a global virtual audience.
- Virtual Control Rooms: A dedicated virtual control room serves as the nerve center for your event’s production. Expert technicians manage every aspect, from live presenters to motion graphics.
- Broadcast Studio Technology: Advanced equipment includes the Tricaster 2 Elite broadcast switcher and broadcast audio console.
- Customization: The ability to customize digital backgrounds using the LED wall set or XR studio sets Moonlight Studios NYC apart.
Application and Suitability
The following table outlines the suitability of different virtual features based on the event type:
| Event Type | Recommended Features & Setup |
|---|---|
| Expos, Exhibition, Fair, Product Launches | 4 types of exhibition booth, Sponsor Booth, Dark mode |
| Webinars, Talkshows, Conferences | 2 view types of lobby, Video call feature, Professional camera set-up |
| Business matching, Private meetings | 1-on-1 video call, Private meeting rooms, Virtual control room |
| Large Scale Corporate Events | XR Studio, LED wall sets, Global reach connectivity |
Plan Your Timing
Think about the realistic time-span you would expect people to want to spend at your event. Too long and you may lose their attention. Therefore, it might be a good idea to plan your corporate virtual event over several days. Remember that a key benefit of a virtual event is that you can record it and share the event to your media channels after it’s happened.
