Online events have seen a massive uptake during 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Whether it is live performances or trade shows, the online event has helped pick up the slack in a year where the events industry has desperately needed it.

2021 is looking to be no different, with restrictions set to continue and perhaps even tighten as the second wave continues. Travel remains expensive, disruptive and contentious and more eyes turn towards online events in order to increase outreach and engagement in this challenging landscape.

As such, we here at ReAttendance have put together a list of 10 different types of Online Events to inspire you as we move forward into 2021.  

Live Performances and Entertainment 

Seeing a live performance from Broadway or the West End had already taken off in a big way in the ‘before times’. But those experiences need not be left in the past.

Now more than ever people need theatre, art and music and an online environment is the perfect place to allow people to feel connected to the musicians, actors and stories that we took for granted before the Covid-19 pandemic.

ReAttendance offers the tools to host a great gig where your attendees will be able to engage with each other safely, whilst fostering that atmosphere of witnessing a unique and special event. 

Networking for the New Age

As we all know, one of the main draws of many events is the opportunity to network.

While it might seem that this would also be lost in the era of Covid-19, it can easily be reclaimed with a dedicated online networking event. 

By providing attendees with a safe, reputable and professional space to meet and greet, it can be an easy sell and an easier win. 

With multiple rooms possible with ReAttendance, you could even schedule multiple events for multiple interest groups, allowing interesting activities and bonding events to occur simultaneously.

Activities For Team Building 

Speaking of activities, the fun doesn’t have to cease just because of travel restrictions. The technology that has come to the forefront during the pandemic means that events as varied as a pub quiz or party games or a shared playlist.

The aforementioned online networking bubbles offered by ReAttendance means that you can provide any number of events across multiple, easily administered and accessible virtual spaces.

If the uptake for one event is too large to easily manage, the event can easily be split into two or three using the powerful multi-room system. 

Webinar

The Webinar is a classic for virtual events and for good reason. A great way to help communicate expertise to a group in a personal yet authoritative way. Getting the right balance between educational and engaging will be vital here and this is where a two-way chat function can really exceed.

By either scheduling semi-regular Q&A sessions through a longer Webinar (2 hours or more) or by having a set Q&A session at the end of a short form webinar, you’ll ensure that the attendees will be primed and paying attention lest their idea comes up in between.

This ensures that the attendees feel they are getting value as well as personal interaction, however brief is always appreciated and helps recapture that unique spark from physical events. 

Morale and Well-being 

During these trying times, it is more important than ever to focus on social and mental health. Many people are finding themselves more isolated than ever before and the events industry can certainly play its part in alleviating this.

It is worth considering running events with an express focus on building morale, forging connections and lifting spirits. It can be themed with any of the ideas we have previously discussed or will discuss moving forward. 

It is an ideal time to get a group of people to try something new and with people in the safety of their own homes, they will be much more willing to engage (even if they decide to turn off their webcam) 

Now more than ever it is important people feel part of communities that are easily accessible and therefore hosting events under this banner will no doubt be received positively. 

One-on-One Talks and Discussion

All of our activity ideas so far have focused on group settings and events, but that isn’t the only way to run an event that people will want to attend.

Getting a guest with a high profile or expertise and having them talk to a skilled interviewer with insightful questions can be a great way to create quality content that can not only be enjoyed live but uploaded to your virtual spaces after the event.

The interview is a hallmark of both physical events and online content creation, so the melding of the two seems only natural. 

For an extra level of engagement, you could advertise the event prior with the draw of attendees being able to submit their own questions, with a handful being selected for the interviewer to ask. 

All the better if this can be managed on your own personal event space, as made possible by the ReAttendance team. 

Live Broadcasts and Live Streaming

With the rise of consistently fast and stable internet connections over the last decade, live streaming has seen an explosion of interest and popularity across many different sectors and genres. From cooking to gaming to music and even building, the livestream is here to stay and in the era of lockdown and social distancing, it’s star would appear to be ascendant.

The live stream is ripe for co-opting into your virtual event schedule.

The format is versatile, requires little engagement and minimum setup. All you need is a fascinating subject matter and a good camera and sound setup. 

A live recording of a podcast, a discussion amongst experts on key topics and important issues, a practical demonstration of industry techniques or even just a simple talk on the state of the industry will all be seen as attractive, low effort and high impact virtual events. 

Workshops

The workshop is up there with the webinar as a staple of physical events.

The gut-reaction would be that such intimate and involved activities would be restricted by the virtual event medium, but thanks to advances in technology that is no longer the case. Now, with the right virtual events platform, it is possible to run involved and complicated workshops with ease in a virtual setting.

With the appropriate workshop software, a workshop leader and their aides can help ensure that your attendees receive the necessary expertise to thrive in their industry and learn vital skills that will leave them feeling satisfied and wanting more.

Team Meetings, Business Meetings and Meet and Greets

Not every session during your event needs to be world-shattering. With the advanced infrastructure provided by a good virtual events platform, you will be able to host all sorts of impromptu or planned out meetings during the lifespan of your event. 

While these are essentially video conferences, they will be carefully woven into the virtual events platform and therefore easily accessible and manageable. With the advanced networking and connectivity tools offered by many virtual events platforms, this can turn even a meeting of multiple, disparate individuals into something as simple as several clicks of a button.

Conferences and Think-Tanks 

One of the highlights of a physical event was the ability to exchange ideas at a high level with industry leaders, experts and advocates. While there are now multiple challenges to organising, travelling to and hosting a physical conference, a virtual conference can combine the same expertise and easy flow of ideas at a fraction of the cost, inconvenience and risk.

Not only that but it can now be easily viewed by your other attendees with minimum disruption and maximum ease.

Not only that, but virtual event platforms like ReAttendance can host replays and recordings from your conference forever, so you can continue to sell access or simply use them as a free marketing tool.

The ability to advertise the panel that will be attending the conference ahead of time and having each of them post it on their own social media feeds will no doubt drive up attendance and engagement in the event significantly. 

ReAttendance can help host all these events and many more! 

Now you have a swathe of virtual events idea, it is time to meet the provider you need to make them happen

Here at ReAttendance, we are an event platform built by event hosts for event hosts. 

Our goal is to provide a platform that allows event hosts to deliver events that match and even exceed their in-person events. It is constantly being updated and improved with both user feedback and our own experience as event hosts in order to deliver a service that we can all be proud of. 

If you are interested in taking your virtual and hybrid events to the next level during this challenging time for the events industry, book a free demonstration today. The team can’t wait to show you how to make your 2021 events unforgettable.