Our final event had three main elements. After a short welcome and introduction (including house-keeping), we started with a speed dating session, as an ice breaker (2 people each were randomly assigned to breakout rooms, 3 sessions). After the speed dating, we had a short input from an expert on the topic (Financial Regulation and the new EU Action Plan). The input served as food for thought & was no more than 10 minutes including some questions and polling to keep engagement levels up. The main part of the event was a virtual pub crawl – participants went from pub to pub (pub = breakout room) to meet different people and talk about the specific topic. Each virtual pub was assigned a few guiding questions. Briefly before the breakout groups ended, we broadcasted the message that it was now time to connect (exchange LinkedIn, Email, etc). Between the pub sessions, we had Irish pub music playing in the main session, some polling questions and were taking funny pictures throughout the process.

Here a reaction from a participant:

“I attended an informal virtual GreenBuzz event, which exceeded my expectations. It achieved everything I expected from a normal event: a great presentation and Q & A, and we broke out into smaller groups to continue the discussion and network.” Simon Sudbury, Participant in the Virtual Informal Drinks for Impact (British Swiss Chamber of Commerce Advisor)

 

The first steps to plan the event were quite similar to a physical event. Firstly, we defined the topic, recruited speakers and created a programme. However, the programme for a virtual event needed to be much more precise in order to ensure a smooth flow. As we learned throughout the process of having virtual events, it is very important to keep the audience engaged and have interactions at least every five minutes. This means that we had to prepare some pollings and activities. Those activities should be fun and creative! An example here is that all participants had to get up and grab a hat or anything to put on their heads before we all toasted to each other and took a picture / screenshot. Having these interactions with the audience, firstly, creates a feeling of community and secondly, makes everyone more relaxed (also for those who are not as comfortable in the virtual world).

Again, we’d like to emphasize the level of preparation that went into planning a smooth virtual event / experience. The detailed agenda was planned down to the minute, all speakers had to be briefed in advance and we made sure to have backups from our extended team who could take over the lead in the case of an emergency. 

Even though planning good virtual events is time-consuming (more so than what we had expected), they also have their advantages! For example, you do not need to secure a venue, or deal with any other logistics. Furthermore, if well planned, you are able to control the procedure better than in a physical event. For example nobody can interrupt if muted, or you can decide at what time, and more importantly, who you want to let in the event.

To create a sense of community we used both technical features from Zoom and a range of engaging activities. We used the Zoom Breakout groups, both for the speed dating session in the beginning, as well as for the virtual pub crawl itself. Particularly the virtual pub crawl made the event feel like a networking event. The most important thing for GreenBuzz was in creating a networking space online, as having an active and engaged community, is core to our organization. We gave our participants the opportunity to tell us, using the private chat function, if they wanted to meet and talk to someone in particular in the breakout groups. That way, we could ensure bringing the right people together. Using all these features, we were able to create a process that came close to that of a physical networking event.  

Furthermore, we made sure to always keep our audience engaged, using pollings and other forms of virtual interactions. We found that this helped to create a sense of community and loosen everyone up. An example of this was when we took some fun and engaging pictures together, including one where everyone had to wear a hat and another where we tried to imitate a tree.

We learned that a well structured detailed agenda is key. It is really important that all the roles (Host, Speaker, Moderator, etc.) are clearly assigned in the planning process. Besides, we made sure that the speakers are well briefed and comfortable with Zoom. Furthermore, we carried out a test run before the actual event and included all the speakers, moderators etc who wanted to. Conclusion: Make sure everyone knows exactly what their roles are and that they feel comfortable with them!

“I have to admit that I was sceptical about virtual events in the beginning. Covid-19 forced us to transition to the virtual world faster than what we had ever planned for, especially with running events being our core business. My scepticism soon turned into appreciation and amazement. Running events online has many advantages and gives even the shyest among us the opportunity to participate actively.” Lena Stüdel, Managing Director, GreenBuzz Zürich