Virtual Facilitation Article Reprint from Issue #4

There was a time when we had to go to a special place to hold a virtual meeting. Then technology changed, and bandwidth increased, so we were able to hold virtual meetings from anywhere with an Internet connection. They were a great way to connect with colleagues as an alternative to travel and some people even adopted the technology to visit with family members in other cities and even other countries.

Then came the first quarter of 2020, when we were told we could no longer hold meetings in person - at least temporarily. Many events cancelled or postponed, and that has certainly affected Meeting Planners and Speakers. We decided that the pages of this magazine were a good place to learn more about how different elements of the events industry are adapting and handling these interesting times.

I first turned to Lori Pugh Marcum, CMP, CMM, CED, HMCC, Head of Meeting Innovation for Meeting Professionals International who said, “MPI has been doing webinars and online training for years.” “We really didn’t have to adapt a whole lot because we already had our feet wet and knew what we were doing on the virtual side.” They held their Third Annual Global Meeting Industry Day broadcast April 14, containing 12 hours of online content for Industry professionals. It was free to members and non-members. According to Marcum, last year’s event brought around 1,500 participants, and at press time, the reservations for the 2020 event has surpassed 7,000.

Marcum teaches many online training sessions herself, and observed, “The number one thing for any kind of virtual training is keeping people engaged. Usually, you want to chunk your content into 15-minute sections followed by some kind of activity. That could be filling something out in a workbook, or sharing their experiences in smaller groups. There are broadcast tools that allow breaking up the audience into smaller virtual groups, so presenters can assign an activity for a small group of people even though everyone is in different locations. Once you have your audience do an activity like this it breaks up the training, so the participants stay engaged.”

MPI uses different technologies for different kinds of events. Summits with multiple speakers that include videos and slideshows require more complex technologies, but simpler programs work for group training classes.

MPI has also used technology to provide hybrid events for several years. It’s been one way to add additional revenue streams to events by allowing paid access to conferences in addition to the in-person attendees. Hybrid events can incur additional costs, so meeting planners need to keep the costs in mind to add the extra potential revenue. At MPI, making events hybrid added to future attendance, as they saw virtual attendees for one-year travel to the event in subsequent years.

Marcum also has a couple of suggestions for speakers, especially those used to in-person events as their primary engagement. She pro

poses that speakers should practice working with the camera and get used to the virtual environment. Storytelling is still key to sharing your message. Speakers who thrive off of the energy of the live audience have to get used to the new dynamic. She also suggests that adding a moderator to manage the chat while you’re speaking will provide a more fulfilling experience for the audience.

I next spoke to Robert Sanchez, CMP, who is an independent event planner. He had also been offering hybrid events for his clients for several years. The biggest issue for him was to guide the clients to technology that suited their individual needs. Some only offered the live experience with online links, but others recorded their sessions and wanted quality products to offer their constituents.

Now, the main things filling Sanchez’s days are securing venues for postponed events and turning live events into completely virtual ones. His key partners for the latter have been IT Security firms. We’ve discovered recently that there are those who delight in disrupting events, so cyber security has become an important new piece of the puzzle. This not only includes offering his clients a secure way to share information, but also to manage connections of presenters who might not have the bandwidth necessary to safely broadcast to the event. He has found there are movie theaters, co-work spaces, studios, and video conferencing services that have helped with this challenge.

Timing is everything. As I was writing this, I discovered a Facebook Live conversation hosted by Speaker Coach David Newman, where he brought Speaker Coaches Steve Lowell, CSP, Jane Atkinson, and Lois Creamer. They each offered sound advice for speakers.Lowell struggled with detaching from his identity of speaker trainer. He’s reaching out to new audiences and making his content relevant for new markets. “Explore how attached you are to your identity, and give yourself the freedom to add to your identity.” things out. “When your phone hasn’t rung for a week, you might find yourself getting shaken. The value that you bring to the table has not changed even if you’re shifting your value to accommodate what’s going on. We need hope and confidence these days.”

Creamer advises us to recognize the shift in our lives and our businesses. “Make sure you’re going to add virtual presentations to your offerings. The value of your intellectual property in the marketplace is the same, regardless of the delivery system you’re going to use to give it.”

Newman spoke about pivot and flex. “If your value proposition wasn’t dialed in before this, you are going to feel it first, and you’re going to feel it hard. This is a fantastic opportunity to do a clean slate exercise and re-look at everything. What do your buyers want to buy?”

So how do webinar attendees feel about the experience? In a survey conducted by coach and speaker mentor Sherry Prindle, respondents said they come to a virtual event to learn something and expect programs to start on time, contain timely, up-to-date content, and be organized.

Most participants said they like to see the presenter’s face on the webcam but are sometimes distracted when everyone can be seen. They like participating in individual activities, polls, and rhetorical discussions. Some said chat responses were something they would do if they were interested in the content. Most said they were not likely to participate in discussing things out loud via an unmuted microphone.

Everyone agreed there are practical and tactical advantages to having virtual meetings and anticipated this platform would be used more even after the stay-at-home order is lifted.

The bottom line is many things have changed for event planners and for speakers, but the basic tenets of our professions remain the same. It’s our job to do everything in our power to offer memorable experiences and valuable content. As Robert Sanchez, CMP says, “It’s still all about providing the best experience for the event attendees.”