3 Technologies to Enhance Your Online Events

January 19, 2021

If there’s one thing we can thank 2020 for, it’s the advancement of online communication technology. Now, whether you’re hosting a networking event for colleagues, or a team-building day, there’s a platform that will help you gather a crowd online within minutes – rather than having to send out RSVPs, plan a venue and make sure everything is organized before the big day.

Naturally, this was all pretty new and exciting at the beginning of the year. But as lockdowns got longer and working from home became the norm, the novelty certainly wore off. Despite there being slight improvements across the globe, the pandemic still rages on, and with that, so do Zoom calls and virtual conferences.

So, if you’re in charge of an online meeting this year, how can you improve accessibility and engagement? Well, here are three technologies that can really help improve your online event.

Gamification Apps

Sometimes, you need to add a little light-heartedness to help guests get engaged. Gamification apps are perfect for this. Whether you start your event with a quiz or create an ice breaker puzzle, everyone can access the event from their phones with the click of a button. Simple options like Kahoot! make creating quizzes quick and easy. However, there are more advanced gamification options on the market if you really want to get the team rearing to go.

Real Time Captioning

Unlike in-person events, virtual options are a little less accessible for those visually or audibly impaired. Real time captioning technologies improve the accessibility of your event by offering captioning services in real time. So even if you end up going off script, captions will be created, and everyone stays on the same page.

Virtual Event Bags

Of course, there is one real downside to virtual events: a lack of freebies. Everyone loves a free pen or canvas bag when they attend conferences, so how can you give back to attendees in a virtual setting? There are now businesses that offer virtual event bags that can be sent out at the beginning or end of your meeting. They include vouchers and tokens for online sites or activities, so there is no additional cost for delivery.

Alternatively, if you’re hosting a small event, you could send each guest a physical goodie bag or activity to do in the session. Businesses in 2020 took this approach to host ‘virtual Christmas parties’ for their staff to try to give back to staff after a strange and difficult year.

There are tonnes of creative ways to add engagement and accessibility to your virtual event in 2021. After the past year of uncertainty, staff are definitely feeling a lot less motivated and are ready to get back to some level of normality. If that means adding something a little different to the standard Friday afternoon business meeting, then it’s definitely worth a try.