3 key questions to ask yourself when planning your online event

It’s safe to say that holding an event in any industry has been quite a challenge this year. The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic meant that most in-person events were cancelled, including everything the biggest music festivals to the events that we were planning to attend ourselves here at Rubber Box, such as Prolight and Sound.

Understandably, organisers have instead turned to the world of digital to host their event instead. So if you’re one of those organisers, we’re here to help. Not only do we have a fantastic range of power distros useful for home broadcasting, but also a couple of key tips on how to plan your online event.

Be selective about your platform

Since the first stay-at-home measures were imposed back in March, some obvious kings of 2020 have emerged, including Zoom and Google Hangouts. And indeed, sometimes a simple livestream might do the trick – you could even use a free, high-profile platform like Facebook Live or LinkedIn. But don’t be too quick to settle on them – while they’re certainly tempting, they might not necessarily be the best choice for your event.

For example, you’ll need to think about whether your audience finds it easy to adapt to new technology, and what features you’ll need for your event to go off without a hitch. For example, will you need multiple streams running simultaneously, or networking, or the ability to conduct polls and Q&As? A simple Facebook Live won’t give you the option to do all that.

Personalised event platforms might require a little more budget up-front – which you might be understandably tentative about in this economy – but the extra functionality they provide is likely to be well worth it. After all, if you’ve spent time setting up the perfect broadcasting studio at home or in your office with the use of modular power distribution equipment, it’s worth making sure everything else is equally up to par!

Carefully choose your date and time

While it’s true that there are some inherent advantages of live events that their virtual counterparts can struggle to replicate, don’t forget that rather than limiting your number of attendees, virtual events can even expand them by allowing you to reach a global audience – which could well pay dividends in the long run. However, that does mean you’ll have to be very precise with scheduling your event.

That means thinking hard about where your international attendees will be based. Are there different timezones you’ll need to take into account? And just as importantly, don’t forget to consider whether there are any national holidays or celebrations in the home countries of your international attendees, which might clash with your event.

How are you going to market it?

Before you assemble all the other pieces, this is also something you’re going to have to consider at an early stage. How are you going to get the word out to your intended audience? Since so many people are staying at home right now, there’s no question that online is probably going to be your best bet. You’ll also need to think about what kind of social media your audience will be using, and how they’ll be communicating with each other – in other words, how they’ll spread the word about your event. And as a final tip, don’t forget to make sure that all your speakers and contributors are marketing the event too!

We’re not all social media aficionados ourselves here at Rubber Box, but where we can help is providing reliable, adaptable modular power distribution equipment for your own studio or setup. We’ve got a great range of them available right here on our site, and can even offer bespoke power distros if necessary. If you need a bit of help or advice in working out what you’re after, don’t hesitate to let us know – you can give us a call on 01282 677 910. We’re here to help!