Conference programmes have been a staple of industry gatherings for a long time. Organising an online or virtual meeting in the midst of the pandemic has become just as important as holding a physical conference in all corporate domains.
Participants usually have the opportunity to network and connect during an in-person conference by participating in breakout sessions, meeting in the conference lobby, or enjoying a light conversation over coffee.
These options, on the other hand, are not readily available in a virtual meeting. But don’t be concerned! A robust virtual conference platform can provide you with the best networking ideas to help you get the most out of your Virtual Conference. The question is, what is the greatest strategy to achieve your event’s goal while also meeting the expectations of your participants? Before continuing on, we must realise that, while the digital format has some limits, it also provides us with some creative potential. Whereas face-to-face contacts, handshakes, and bumping into someone in the coffee line are all limited to in-person events, we now have the opportunity to think creatively and partake in an entirely new experience.
Let’s take a look at ten of the most effective networking strategies for your virtual conference event.
Separate Live Chat Rooms
Chat rooms are perhaps the most widely used method of simulating an in-person meeting. As a virtual conference organiser, you can use a single platform to establish a chat room with both private one-on-one and public forum features.
Attendees can quickly communicate their problems, worries, idea, or question thanks to the availability of these chatrooms.
Schedule the Meetings
As a virtual conference attendee, practically everyone is looking for a long-term relationship and is there to expand their network. Without post-event meetings that lead to engagement, each conference is incomplete. For the same reason, participants can use calendar linkages to conveniently organise and manage their meetings by finding the proper time period in each other’s calendars.
An excellent virtual conference platform also has a B2B meeting planner, allowing the sponsors and other attendees to schedule a 1:1 meeting after the conference. If it becomes impossible to conduct a dialogue during the conference, this allows your participants to plan beforehand.
Digital Immersive Lobby
Attendees can meet and network with one another in a virtual lobby during or between sessions. If they want to contact someone after the conference, they can look at each other’s business cards, contact information, and social media profiles.
Make Use of AI Matchmaking
You can add a questionnaire to the registration form as an organiser to collect specific information about your participants. By using search filters and connecting in a virtual conference, can enable like-minded people to network. You can also match your attendees with potential allies using the information you’ve gathered. In your registration form, for example, you can include fields like area of interest or industry overview.
Nothing like Gamification!
Event gamification can help your Virtual Conference attendees network more effectively. One of the most innovative ways to promote networking at your virtual event is to use the gamification tool. You may have fun contests or play games like a virtual scavenger hunt. Your attendees can also create teams to compete in the contests, allowing them to communicate while also participating in the event.
Q&A and Live Polls
Attendees can not only express their doubts or share their thoughts but also grasp each other’s perspectives, thanks to live polls and the Question and Answer tool. This feature encourages information sharing and idea exchange.
Online Escape Rooms
Because of the pandemic, several escape room enterprises have switched to online platforms. Now is the time to put it to good use! You might reach out to a local escape room company to see if they are interested in working with you. If the firm approves, you can have a special escape room created for your virtual meeting. These rooms can have a theme that appeals to your virtual attendees, such as specific industry or concept.
Social Media Groups
Private Social Media groups can be a terrific way for your conference attendees to network virtually. This is useful not only for pre-event promotion and raising excitement among attendees but also for networking before and after the conference. Even after the virtual event has concluded, these groups can continue to communicate and network. Furthermore, Social Media Groups assist not only the attendees in networking but also you in establishing a strong corporate identity.
Virtual Coffee Breaks
Getting a cup of coffee is without a doubt one of the most well-known ways to start a conversation. Your participants can enter a unique virtual coffee chat room that can also be built in the theme of a coffee shop using this function. This themed coffee-talk room might entice attendees to have their conversations in a pleasant replicated space with a coffee shop ambience.
Utilise the Clubhouse Platform
We’re already talking about innovation in a Virtual Conference while discussing networking. The clubhouse is another new platform that is gaining popularity among users due to its excellent networking capabilities. People who work in similar industries, have similar hobbies and have similar preferences meet together to talk and exchange their views. For the virtual conference, you can include a clubhouse feature in your virtual conference platform where your guests and speakers can network. As your virtual conference service provider to help you with this virtual functionality. While Virtual Conferences limit the potential of face-to-face encounters, intelligent and creative concepts can lead to tremendous success.
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