For any event, it can be tough to come up with great ideas for themes, engagement and interaction boosters, and other elements. Event planning isn’t easy. It’s even more difficult for virtual events, because they’re still a new and unfamiliar format for event planners. Unfortunately, the dominant virtual event ideas tend to center around boring conference calls.
Don’t stress. You can plan a unique virtual event that’s a lot more than a series of conference calls! At XtendLive, we’ve got lots of fun virtual event ideas. We gain inspiration from the virtual corporate events and digital experiences we’re privileged to design.
Take a look at these twelve virtual event ideas and tips for your next virtual event. Incorporate one or two of these into your event strategy, and you will build an online experience that will leave your attendees wanting to come back again and again.
1. Create Custom Breakout Spaces and Networking Spaces
One of the truly great things about virtual event venues is that you’re not limited by the size of the venue. All live venues have space limitations, and even the largest venues still have a finite amount of space. It’s often difficult to find a venue that’s just the right size. With virtual events, that’s not a problem. Need more space? We can make it happen.
That means you’ve got all the room you need for breakout spaces, virtual socials, networking areas, 1-on-1 chats, FAQ sessions, and anything else you can think of. Any virtual event can benefit from the addition of breakout spaces that let attendees interact more spontaneously. Most of the virtual experiences we’ve designed have included one or more breakout or networking spaces.
For semiconductor manufacturers Renesas, for instance, that meant a networking area with a live Teams meeting where attendees could speak with Renesas experts. For NJM Insurance Group, attendees could launch Zoom breakout sessions in groups or 1-on-1 meetings, or attend breakout presentations.
2. Organize Your Lobby Content with an Interactive Video Wall
Many virtual booths and digital experiences have lots of content available for attendees. When there’s a large amount of content available, it can be difficult to organize it logically. It’s useful to develop an information hierarchy to determine how content should be accessed. This means the most important general information is easily accessible in the main areas of the virtual venue. Specialized niche information is then seeded in showrooms, exhibits, and other spaces that are accessed via the lobby.
With the Knightscope digital experience, for instance, we created an interactive video wall for the main lobby area. This video wall was used to showcase the information that the company felt was most important or engaging. This included product highlights and 3D content. Attendees could then check out the video wall for a quick overview, then head off to product showrooms for details.
3. Give Your Attendees a Virtual Photo Booth
Entertainment in a virtual event isn’t just for fun. It also keeps your attendees engaged, who are sitting at home, where there could be half a dozen other things they could be doing. You want them to stick around long enough to hear your keynote speakers and experience the content you’ve prepared for them.
The most popular events are often the ones that inject some fun online event ideas into the proceedings. Logitech’s virtual photo booth definitely qualifies here. Added to the lobby, this feature let attendees create customized portraits with special effects and messages. Every customized portrait was also added to a composite photo mural of all attendees, which was displayed in the lobby.
4. Create a Mock Pitch Video Contest
One of our favorite virtual engagement ideas came from the Logitech event. It was a pitch contest. These kinds of contests are often used as virtual team-building exercises. In this case, attendees had the option to create and submit a mock pitch video as part of the event. A special kiosk was added to the lobby, where attendees could view all the different entries and then vote for their favorites.
5. Build a Video Wall With Playable Games
Gamification is a useful element for boosting engagement, but it’s also possible to add real, playable games into a virtual experience. XtendLive did exactly this in the digital popup experience we created for the open source software company Red Hat. This popup included a video wall with several mini-games that attendees could play. Along with the virtual games, the video wall also included information on the Open Source Game Jam. This annual event is hosted by Red Hat and themed around the development of new games.
6. Hire a Band for a Live Performance on a Virtual Stage
7. Host a Happy Hour or Coffee Break with an Ingredient List for Attendees
There’s no limit to ideas for online social events. For example, take advantage of one of those networking rooms and give your attendees an online cocktail hour. Make sure to send out the ingredient list ahead of time, so attendees can show up to the virtual happy hour with their own homemade cocktail. You can include an alternative “virgin cocktail” ingredient list to maintain full inclusivity and networking opportunities for everyone.
Alternatively, for a daytime social, host a virtual coffee break. You can give instructions for how to make a specialty coffee drink, or you can simply ask everyone what type of coffee they’re enjoying. Remember, virtual socials, just like their live counterparts, are all about the conversation. Take the time to prepare for how you’ll encourage engagement, but also allow your attendees to interact naturally and hold their own conversations.
8. Use a Virtual Escape Room to Host Virtual Murder Mysteries
Want to allow attendees to interact and solve problems together? A murder mystery night in an escape like this one on the XtendLive platform might be just the thing! It would certainly fit into a unique virtual event and is a great choice for team building activities.
9. Gamify the Experience with a Scavenger Hunt, Achievements, and Real Rewards
Engagement is critical at all events, but keeping engagement levels high is harder to do at virtual events. One highly effective option is gamification, which takes elements from games and applies them to events. With virtual events, this typically means offering attendees achievements, or digital “badges” as they interact with content and complete objectives.
With XtendLive’s 3D virtual events platform, gamification is baked right into the design. We’ve added a range of gamification elements that encourage attendees to explore the event and its content and interact with one another. Of course, clients have plenty of input into how those gamification elements are applied. At Logitech’s Dream Different event, we added a digital Swag Store to the venue. Attendees could visit the store to check out the merchandise, and buy items using points they collected by taking part in the event.
10. Give Different Types of Content a Different Location
Whether it’s architectural or natural landscapes, creative design can really make a virtual event venue come alive. Fluidigm, a company which manufactures equipment used in biological research, wanted creative virtual spaces for its Igniting Insight event, and we delivered. For this event, we designed an outdoor setting with lush foliage, water features, and gracefully curved architecture.
Along with information kiosks and breakout spaces, we designed an outdoor amphitheater to display live-streamed keynote sessions. There was also a separate structure for accessing interactive panel discussions. Creating different locations for accessing different types of content is key for designing virtual venues that feel authentic. Just like at a live venue, virtual attendees get to visit a number of different locations to access content. That helps the whole experience feel more immersive and engaging.
Remember, there’s no limit to the types of locations you can hold–from product demonstrations or a virtual exhibit hall, to a location for a virtual trivia night or online cooking class. Alternatively, you might create a virtual museum to celebrate each of the major milestones your company has achieved across its history, perhaps in preparation for a company virtual birthday party. A well-designed virtual environment allows you to organize both content and entertainment in a visually beautiful way.
11. Utilize Truly Inventive Landscapes that Showcase Your Product
Creating virtual event environments offers plenty of scope for creativity. You can give the imagination free reign to create landscapes that might not work in the real world. XtendLive created an unusual lobby experience for Masonite International, a company that manufactures interior and exterior doors.
The lobby in this digital experience is a 360-degree landscape that changes every time an attendee returns to the lobby. Within each natural landscape, doors from the company’s own product line can be clicked to move to different parts of the virtual experience. It’s the perfect way to make the products stand out—literally as well as figuratively—and the breathtaking beauty of the landscapes make this lobby particularly memorable.
12. Take Advantage of Limitless Environments to Create Inventive and Immersive Product Demonstrations
There’s a lot of talk in the events industry about things you can’t do in the virtual world—things you’d take for granted with a live event. But there are also plenty of things you can do at virtual events that aren’t feasible at a live one. Utilize some asset-based thinking and take advantage of the opportunities! The truth is, both formats have limitations, but creative design helps transcend those limits.
Product demonstrations are one area where virtual events shine. XtendLive proved this with the digital experience we created for Knightscope. This Silicon Valley company designs and builds security robots and related products.
Knightscope wanted to showcase their security robots in different settings. To that end, we created a virtual venue with three showrooms. Each was designed around a different theme: a parking garage, a casino, and a shopping mall. In each location, attendees could explore and interact with virtual versions of Knightscope’s security robots. That might be difficult to achieve in the limited space of a live exhibit or trade show booth—but not in a virtual one.
And, besides, not many live exhibits for security robots can provide their users a casino night and virtual shopping mall. They successfully met the interests of all different types of users, while clearly showcasing what their product can do.
Whether you’re wanting a virtual garden party look, a luxury resort experience, or a night in a casino, take advantage of an interactive virtual platform. Let your imagination run wild and create the experience that will best showcase your brand. Once you realize the possibilities and freedom, you’ll be coming up with your own unending list of virtual event ideas.
A Successful Virtual Event Starts Right Here
Far from being limited, virtual events have incredible potential to be just as creating and engaging as their live counterparts. Looking to host your own hybrid or virtual event? Let XtendLive show you what can be achieved!
