Welcome to an anniversary episode of sorts- Episode Thirty of “Zooming to Webinar Success!”
Hey, I’m Grant: My clients call me The Webinar Guy. And a special shoutout to Jane Wing at JaneWing.com for our new podcast introduction!
Today we’re going to talk about “Planning your Big Webinar or Virtual Summit- Part two”
We’ll talk about the pieces parts you’ll need! Stay tuned…
In the last episode (twenty-nine) I started talking about producing larger webinars and how that might be defined. If you missed it, head to TheWebinarGuy.com and look for episode twenty-nine..
As I mentioned in that episode, here at TheWebinarGuy.com we’re often involved in large virtual events. These events can be “large” in different ways. What are those ways? It’s all about numbers. The number of speakers planned, the number of days it will span, the number of staff required to take care of myriad details and of course, the number of dollars you’ll spend to do any of that. ALL the numbers are related, btw.
I talked about overusing the word “multi” as I hit those numbers above, Multi-everything!
And I said that the webinar or virtual summit, or virtual event- whatever you want to call it, will be constrained by two significant factors. Audience and Budget.
Okay enough going back over the last episode, let’s move on, but first.
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Before we dig in too far a word from our webcast and podcast sponsor, TheWebinarGuy.com! (Yeah, that’s me). When you decide to approach your first big webinar or you want to plan a large, multi-dimensional virtual summit, and think you need assistance, we have many resources and would love to help you! Hit me at WebinarPro@TheWebinarGuy.com, or visit our website (TheWebinarGuy.com) and use contact form! We’d love to work with you! Thanks for listening to my commercial!
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So, define “Big” already, Grant!
Alrighty. Again, I define a BIG webinar or virtual event when it just flat can’t get done by you alone and likely not by two people. Can they be done, yikes, yes but not if you like to sleep!
What you might need; First take a real, honest, frank evaluation of what you can actually do on your own. Know what your gifts and capabilities are and make an honest assessment of whether that serves your virtual summit or event.
Now fill that in with those that can do other things around your gifts.
Let’s start at the beginning with marketing the event. Here we go…
Web designer/web master to post events. Will they need to integrate with platforms like EventBrite to post or zoom to create the event?
Social media posting: There’s a specialist in every field, and this is no different. You may need someone with knowledge of each platform for best practice and keyword usage and more. How often will they post. Are they paid ads? Is the budget made for that? Can that person or persons interact well with your speakers or their staff to market them into your event?
Script writing/editing: Maybe you’ve got a script and you just need someone to look at it for clarity, maybe it needs written from scratch. I get many scripts to record for clients that you can tell were written by the person that is the subject expert, so it’s really detailed and then at the same time, it steps right over the points the audience really needs to know!
Slide Deck creation/editing: Repeat the paragraph from above on script writing. I’ve gotten slide decks where the “expert” just flat skipped an important slide or two.
But the other problem with inexperienced slide deck creators is using all the cute bells and whistles that will ruin a professional presentation. We spend a lot of time normalizing animations, removing animations that aren’t needed and more. And we end up adding graphics that better explain processes or expressing the appropriate emotion for that point the speaker is making.
Back to Speakers: Who else is going to speak? Who will interact and help to manage them, their notes, their slides and as mentioned, possibly work with their staff?
Event coordination: Who is going to track all this and manage all these people?
Tech Coordinator: Who is responsible for set completion? If a simple virtual event, you may just use your room (see episode seventeen) what do you need to do to be ready? What about sound (mic, etc) and your speakers and camera (just go hit episodes fifteen through eighteen!). Oh yeah, make sure your computer is ready as well as your internet connection too.
Software: Do you have someone to check your computer and KNOW that all your software is working and will play nice on presentation day. By the way, a word of caution on “updating your software because the publisher said it was a new version that can run faster and jump higher. Just last month we had to roll back three of our packages to the point where they would play nice. I’ll just say it will be a while before I upgrade stuff that’s working.
Do you need programs like: OBS, WhatsApp, Skype, Discord, zoom or another platform installed and working?
WhatsApp, Skype and Discord are great for off platform communication for your team. Get everyone in a group!
Moderator(s): Depending on size, you may need one or two folks to monitor chat and the Q&A box, assign breakout rooms, setup and show polls, remove trollers (episode twenty-three, twenty-four and twenty-six).
Host: Usually one host is sufficient, but if you’re doing sections, you may want a different host for each section. Maybe you’re doing a session for say Spanish speaking attendees and having a host that speaks whatever language or that looks like them, might matter!
Finally: POST Webinar: Who all from the list above is needed for follow-up, sending thank you notes, follow-up social posts and other web related activities? You just had a great webinar, don’t let the energy die now!!!
It IS a LOT to consider, and I think I hit most of it! So what is a BIG webinar? I think I was on a team of eight recently- that I knew of!
But with the help of TheWebinarTeam at TheWebinarGuy.com, we’re ready to jump in where YOU need us!
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This series is for smaller organizations and solopreneurs that may not be tech savvy, don’t know all the steps, or don’t WANT to know all the steps.
Over the series, I’m going to lead you through the significant decisions and capabilities you’ll need to “Zoom to Webinar Success!” If you have a subject you’d like me to cover, please subscribe, then drop me a note or comment.
As always, if you need help now, don’t hesitate to reach out at WebinarPro@TheWebinarGuy.com
Thank you for watching! Would love to hear your questions and comments! Don’t forget to tell a friend or two!
And if you’re listening to the Podcast audio, thanks for listening!