ARTICLE
Digital Events to Event Marketers: “We’re Not Dead.”
By Michelle Bruno
March 12, 2024
Digital events are far from dead. But, from online conferences to webinars to all-hands meetings, must-have elements separate the winners from the losers. Kristen Koenig of RingCentral and Jay Schwedelson of Guru Events joined the hosts and the geniuses of the “Cut the Sh*t. Cue the Genius.” webcast to talk about what works.
Kristen Koenig, RVP of Video Sales & Partnerships at Ring Central, was previously involved with event technology at Cvent, Freeman, and Hopin. Jay Schwedelson, President & CEO of Outcome Media and Founder of Guru Events, produces digital conferences that attract 20,000+ attendees. Here are the highlights from the discussion.
- Don’t go with what you know.
“The biggest mistake most event marketers make is to replicate live events virtually, and that’s a recipe for total failure,” Jay says. He believes digital event organizers should not only think outside the box but also get rid of the box.
- Fun is a key (if not the key) ingredient.
Good content must be surrounded by entertainment (hot wings eating contest), engagement (trivia games), music (encouraging attendees to add songs to a Spotify list), and a little chaos—“Whatever is going to get people to show up,” Jay explains.
- The name of the online game is speed.
Conference presentations at Jay’s digital events are twenty-five minutes long, with an eight-minute question-and-answer session. And when the event is over, it’s O-V-E-R. He does not offer on-demand viewing.
- Give attendees options.
Kristen says the world is no longer in-person or digital-only. Event marketers need to be flexible because their customers, employees, and partners crave flexibility and because they can do so with capable technology and blended formats.
- Test concepts with digital events.
Jay suggests using digital events to test concepts that could move to an in-person format. It’s much easier to do using a platform that can handle any format (in-person, digital, or blended). However, he recommends treating the digital trial as its “own thing” (not as an afterthought or in-person add-on) because “they are their own experiences.”
- Dare to be creative.
As a RingCentral Events customer, Jay and Kristen have lots of conversations about “how to do things that make people feel good.” For example, they’ve been discussing how to handle voting for a planned costume contest at Jay’s upcoming (1980s-themed) event. To be successful with virtual events, “you’re going to have to get comfortable being uncomfortable,” Jay says.
- Offer amazing content.
Even in a fun atmosphere, education is crucial. “You can’t have second-rate speakers. You have to deliver really important information,” Jay explains.
- Look for “all-in-one plus” platforms.
Events like Jay’s are unique. There are times when he needs additional capabilities to pull off something crazy. But rather than look off platform for a solution with an API integration, he chooses from the forty-plus pre-integrated apps in the RingCentral Events app store. It’s what Kristen calls the “all-in-one plus complementary best-of-service” model.
- Don’t try to please everyone.
Last year, when Jay decided not to offer an on-demand version of his conference, he got “hundreds of emails saying horrible things” to him. On the other hand, he says, “The show-up rate for the conference was through the roof.”
- Customize content for the event.
Jay also gets people to show up for his events by offering content downloads that are specific to the conference and only available during the event.
- Make events free.
Jay’s principal revenue source is sponsorships. He does not charge for registration. He uses several tactics, including incentives, to encourage attendees to engage with sponsors. Last year, he and Kristen orchestrated “Supermarketing Sweep,” a five-minute pause in programming during which Jay invited attendees to download as much sponsor content as they could in exchange for a donation from Jay’s company to the American Cancer Society.
- Place content anchors strategically.
Jay places power speakers, power sessions, power activities, and power content at the beginning and end of every day. From a Q & A session with the cast of the “Love is Blind” reality TV show to the aforementioned hot wings eating contest, he goes for epic.
- Market agressively.
Jay breaks the rules sometimes. For instance, he keeps going rather than stop retargeting attendees who have already registered. “The show-up rate from those people increased exponentially,” he says. He also converts speakers into micro-influencers by requiring that they activate their own audiences as part of their contract.
- Get AI to do the heavy lifting.
Artificial intelligence is poised to completely change how organizers market, produce, and repurpose events. “AI is not going to replace the creative juices associated with what we do. It’s going to enhance them,” Kristen explains. Imagine speakers getting snippets of their presentations that they can share with followers. “With AI, this can happen after every event,” she says.
