Engagement

Know your customers. 

Know your attendees. 

Know thy audience. 

It’s basically the first commandment of good marketing. 

In fact, where there is a marketing team, a blog about the importance of understanding your target audience is sure to be a stone’s throw away (case in point: there are over 38,70,00,000 results on Google about this topic).

But when it comes to understanding the make-up of attendees at virtual or hybrid events, it’s a little more complicated.  

But before you keep reading, let’s pause for a moment. Why exactly is it important to know your audience?

Why it’s important to know your virtual event audience

Today’s virtual event attendees come in all shapes and sizes, and of different ages and countries. They have different pain points, challenges, goals, and desires. And critically, some are digital natives whilst others are digital immigrants. That’s why you can’t treat all of them in the same way.

Going the traditional route with stereotype-based alliterative-named personas might not help because you’ll need to go way beyond basic demographics. Virtual attendees have a complex mix of needs that they’re looking to satisfy at your event, and online and digital behaviours that they expect will be accommodated. More than ever, the name of the game is different strokes for different folks.

But the reality is that while they’re all unique individuals, it’s simply not possible to cater to your attendees at an individual level. Instead, you identify several types of attendees based on their behavioral patterns, and then plan in spaces and content that really resonates with them.

So, what are the different types of attendees you can expect at your virtual event? 

We’ve done the work for you. Keep an eye out for these formidable virtual attendee types’ (we were inspired by Dean Peter’s ‘Dangerous Animals of Product Management’ and make sure you have a strategy in place for each of them.

The different types of attendees you’ll find at your virtual event 

OWL (Obsessed With Learning)

Like their figurative namesake, OWLS are knowledge seekers who value information. They’re at your event to update their professional knowledge and upgrade their skills. They want to delve deep into topics of interest with knowledgeable experts, learn about industry best practices and pick up new tips and tricks that they can put into practice right away.

‍How to cater to OWLs:

Leverage the capabilities of your virtual event platform to help attendees gain as much knowledge as they hoped. A fantastic line-up is the first step but there’s plenty more you can do:

• Give attendees the ability to “talk” during sessions! Chat, Polls, Emoji Reactions, and ‘Raise Hand’ have democratized participation. Both introvert and extrovert OWLs can ask questions and chat in real-time with speakers to learn more about topics.

• Nurture more focused conversations. Set up virtual Rooms for some good ole’ fashioned group discussions, brainstorms, or workshops so that OWLs can ask other attendees about their insights or solutions and further cement their understanding of the topic.

• Accommodate busy lives and different learning styles. Your OWLs may have a range of learning styles so share content in different formats so everyone can engage with them. For instance, besides sessions and group discussions, set up Expo Booths with videos and downloadable material like guides and checklists so that attendees can absorb content as per their preferences. Also, make video recordings of the sessions available for attendees to watch whenever their schedule allows it. 

MACAW (Most Active Conversationalists At Work)

MACAWs are excited about and effective at building relationships and making connections. You’ll generally find them around or actively participating in group discussions, easily and impressively making conversation with people they’ve met only a few minutes earlier. So the MACAWs at your event want plenty of opportunities to meet and connect with attendees who can help further their business and career.  They have a specific aenda and will actively search for the right people at your event.

How to cater to MACAWs:

Give your attendees an easy way to connect with other attendees (right from their couches!) by organizing plenty of interaction opportunities.  And even better if you find a way to help MACAWs meet the right people who can help them reach their goals: Here’s how you can do this:

• Create different ways for attendees to connect with each other. From small discussion groups to ice breaker networking sessions, plan in small activities during the event that’ll give MACAWs a foundation for easy conversation.

• Make networking more effective. Leverage AI-powered matchmaking to maximize the chance of MACAWs being paired with relevant professionals who share similar interests and complementary goals, for conversations that ultimately lead to business leads or employment opportunities.

DOVE (Distracted Online Very Easily)

Distractions abound for the DOVE. As there’s so much to do at home and work,  they’re often found glancing quickly in every direction at tasks that require their attention. You’ll spot them with plenty of tabs open on their screens, switching easily from answering their email to purchasing something on Amazon to working on a office task to replying to a message on their phone. This means that keeping a DOVE’s attention on your event will be challenging. 

How to cater to DOVEs:

Use the features of your virtual event platform to the utmost to grab and retain a DOVE’s  attention and improve ‘virtual event stickiness’:

• Customize your virtual event venue with plenty of bells and whistles. Create a stunning branded virtual venue with different zones that DOVEs can explore and enjoy. From a lobby to breakout Rooms, Stages to Photobooths and even a gaming section, there are plenty of ways to make your venue so beguiling that the <name of bird> won’t want to leave the platform. (Click here for more ideas and real-life examples of how to customize your virtual event)

• Use gamification to make participation fun! Gamification is a fun and powerful way to nudge <name of birds> towards taking part in more activities at your event by rewarding their actions. For instance, for each poll answered or each question asked, DOVEs can win points or prizes, which will then encourage them to keep participating. Hopefully, over time, you can use gamification to turn these actions into habits, resulting in sustainable engagement.

PEACOCK (Prefers Exclusive And Customized On-brand Content + Keepsakes)

The PEACOCK is a brand fanatic. They’re passionate about all things involving your brand and are the biggest supporters of your business. They’re proud of being a customer and enjoy the status or prestige that comes with it. So when attending your event, they’re expected to be “wowed” by the brand experience you provide. And they’re also looking to be rewarded for their loyalty.  

How to cater to PEACOCKs:  

Create a unique event experience that is rewarding, share-worthy, and memorable. Here’s how you can do that:

• Customize your virtual venue to be completely on-brand. Completely brand the Stages, networking areas, breakout rooms and Expo Zones  with your designs and colours to amplify your brand and reinforce your messaging. And play your attendees an amazing Welcome Video that looks and feels like a movie trailer to get PEACOCKs excited from the get-go.

• Give them something to crow about. Share exciting and exclusive news first with PEACOCKs at your virtual event or give them access to high-profile brand ambassadors (imagine setting up a virtual cooking workshop with Nigella Lawson or a virtual meet-and-greet with Rafael Nadal!)or let them be the first to purchase a product from your Expo Booth with one-time-only discounts.  

• Make them feel appreciated. Gamify activities or actions at the event to let PEACOCKs win brand merchandise or experiences that reinforce brand loyalty.  Giveaway little extras like virtual swag to make them feel special and valued.

Key takeaways

Your virtual event will be full of all kinds of people, each with their own reasons for attending. Some may not fall into any of the four categories mentioned above, while others may fall into more than one. Nevertheless, being aware of these possible types of attendees, knowing what each type wants and how to create a fantastic experience for them will make your event more welcoming, valuable and memorable for everyone.  More than ever, it’s different strokes for different folks. 

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

Online burnout. It’s been increasingly cropping up in casual conversation with colleagues and friends, in Forbes articles and LinkedIn thought pieces, to say nothing of Twitter. And it’s no surprise. 

Ever since easing into a remote world of work and a virtual-first way of life, we are now all spending inordinate hours online, attending back-to-back meetings, replying to countless emails and messages, and jumping from tab to tab to tab. It can get overwhelming pretty quickly, leaving you exhausted and unable to focus. Everyone has had at least one of these days.

‍What does this have to do with virtual event attendees?

It’s the same principle.

Assuming your virtual event runs for 1-2 days, with each day filled with sessions and activities, there’s a high probability that your attendees too will experience online burnout. There’s no point in putting all that time and effort into organizing your virtual event only for your attendees to tune out and drop off during its run. 

It’s clear that while well-meaning virtual event organizers are working hard to make their events unique and worth attending, not all understand that simply having a great line-up is enough; that’s only one part. The other is really paying attention to the attendee experience and doing whatever you can to make sure that they feel engaged and energized throughout the event.

Here’s how to make this happen:

To improve attendee engagement in events, prioritize creating memorable experiences over simply conveying information. Utilize virtual event platform tools and strategic planning to enhance the quality of engagement. Here are four simple suggestions to implement for better attendee engagement in your virtual event:

1.  Vary your content strategy

A “one-size-fits-all” content strategy won’t work anymore given that people prefer to consume content in different ways at different times today. Attendees want to and will consume content in a format, time, and place of their choosing. Some learn by reading, others by listening, some by watching, and some by experiencing, so the content that you offer must be customized to engage this newly empowered attendee. 

This can be accomplished by creatively using the features and capabilities of your virtual event platform. For example:

• Invite a guest speaker to lead a session on an important topic on a Stage
• Simultaneously set up Rooms in which small groups can watch the session on Stage whilst discussing it with other attendees
• Set up an Expo Booth with downloadable material such as PDFs, checklists, guides etc
• Make video recordings of the session accessible to attendees even after the event ends so they can watch whenever they want

This way, by creating different touchpoints and experiences around your content, your attendees will be able to actively engage in consuming your content according to their preferences.

2.  Get attendees involved 

Let’s be honest. How many times have you drifted off during an online meeting - checked your phone, browsed Netflix, or caught up on chores, etc.? We’re not judging. 

As per the 2020 Amex report, around 54% of event planners have already shifted their focus to enhancing the attendee experience, against the backdrop of virtual fatigue. What this means is that given the tendency for people to disconnect one’s attention, especially when they aren’t speaking, it’s critical for organizers to make attendees still feel involved and integral to virtual event sessions. 

This can be achieved by leveraging your virtual event platform’s engagement tools to turn them from passive viewers to active participants.

Zuddl, for instance, has a variety of tools designed to make attendees an active part of the conversations on Stage:

• Chat, Q&A, and Polls can make attendees feel like their voice is heard, especially if the questions, comments or results are incorporated into sessions. 

• Raise Hands lets attendees  talk face-to-face with speakers on stage

• Emoji reactions are an easy, quick, and fun way for attendees to indicate enthusiasm

The upshot is that these tools help attendees quickly feel like they're part of the proceedings and realize that their voices matter - a simple but powerful way to make them want to continue attending and engaging at your event. 

3. Use gamification to the fullest

Improving attendee engagement in events goes beyond initial participation and requires maintaining their interest throughout the event. While attendee engagement tools facilitate participation, incorporating gamification can motivate attendees to remain engaged in your virtual event.

Organizers can set up a point system, wherein attendees can earn coins or points by completing actions or activities at the event,  set up a leaderboard to encourage friendly competition, and award prizes to the top performers.

It’s an extraordinarily fun way to remove the drudgery that can come from attending many online sessions, and instead make your attendees feel excited and motivated to keep their focus on the event.

4. Give attendees downtime to recharge

It’s only natural for people to get a bit virtual-ed out so break up a packed day of long sessions with mini-breaks for attendees to recharge their bodies and minds.  Not taking this into consideration is a virtual event planning mistake you’ll want to avoid.

• Use push notifications on the platform to remind attendees to get up, stretch their legs and make themselves a cup of coffee. 
• Plan in micro self-care activities, such as yoga or meditation
•  Set up gaming zones within the virtual venue 

This will definitely earn you goodwill from your attendees and as an added bonus, it will also help to increase attentiveness after the break. Research shows that taking brief mental breaks when faced with long tasks can dramatically improve one’s focus. 

To sum up…

In today's virtual event landscape, it's crucial for organizers to recognize that attendees are exposed to an overwhelming amount of monotonous programming. To improve attendee engagement in events, organizers must prioritize delivering an exciting and valuable experience that feels memorable and engaging.

A combination of the right strategy and the tools and features of a customizable virtual event platform can help you deliver a memorable attendee experience. Book a demo with Zuddl today to learn more.

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

You've probably heard the expression, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” This proverbial saying continues to hold true, even in the age of remote working, and the great pivot to virtual and hybrid workforces. One of the greatest challenges company leaders and organizers face today is building connectivity and cohesion between employees working from different locations, some from the office and others from home.

And one way to do this is through hosting team retreats that bring everyone together to have fun and socialize.

Retreats, as we all know, allow colleagues to relax, recharge, exchange ideas, work through their problems, and get to know each other better. This also leads to organizational benefits, such as a rise in productivity and creativity. 

But how does this work with a hybrid or virtual workforce? How can you plan a company event when some of your attendees are at the physical venue and the others are tuning in virtually? Designing a hybrid or virtual team retreat comes with its own sets of challenges and will require extra planning. But with the right ideas, the right tools, and the right virtual platform, you’ll be able to deliver an experience that everyone will be raving about all year. 

Designing a virtual or hybrid retreat

To start, remember to accommodate the behaviorisms and needs of both your virtual and in-person team members; for one, no one wants to remain glued to their screen for hours on end. You want to reinvigorate your team, not contribute to digital burnout. Your schedule of activities, therefore, requires intentionality and attention to detail. Here are a few tips to help you with this:

1. Plan in a mix of time-sensitive activities and recorded sessions

One of the biggest benefits of organizing a hybrid or virtual retreat is that every employee can participate, regardless of where they are located. But this also means you’ll need to take into account time zones when planning your scheduling to ensure that important activities can be attended by a majority of your team.

So for instance, you can kickstart your retreat with a pre-recorded video of your company’s year so far and major milestones accomplished - a unifying experience for everyone. In fact, we would recommend making all sessions available as recordings so those unable to join live can watch them at their convenience. You can also consider hosting sessions that go live at different times for different time zones, but with the same content.

You’ll also need to plan in activities that bring team members together such as Networking sessions. Give your attendees a variety of options so that they can choose that which is most convenient for them.
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2. Choose a venue suitable for both in-person and virtual attendees

This can be tricky. Most team or company retreats are usually held at holiday locations, away from the city so that employees can relax and have fun at the beach or mountains. You can still do so, provided you find a venue at the location with the capability and technology to host a hybrid event. 

Remember that you’ll need a space that can accommodate your in-person attendees, and can support a high-quality event production, such as audiovisual equipment, streaming capabilities, reliable Wi-Fi, and on-site experts. Virtual and in-person attendees need to be able to see each other, and talk to each other in real-time. You want to create an experience that is interactive, engaging, and free of buffering issues. The last thing you want is for your virtual attendees to feel like second-class citizens at an event that is all about making everyone feel valued and supported.

Click here to read more about what to look for in a hybrid event venue.

3. Keep things interactive

Central to your hybrid or virtual team retreat is creating spaces and facilitating discussions that are lively, inclusive, and fun - which you can do by leveraging the features of your virtual event platform. Here’s how:

• Host small group sessions and team-building activities (click here to read some ideas you can steal) by using virtual Breakaway Rooms. You can use these rooms to let virtual and in-person attendees go simply socialize and just chat, or for brainstorming sessions, inter-team roundtable discussions, etc.
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• Boost team and company camaraderie and cohesion through Networking sessions. If you use a virtual event platform like Zuddl, you’ll be able to employ Smart Networking, which matches attendees based on mutual interests (Click here to read more about Smart Networking in detail). This is a simple way to create authentic 1:1 connections.
  

• Make  every attendee feel seen and heard through the use of in-platform attendee engagement tools.  Chat, Polls, Q&A are all simple but powerful ways for everyone to feel  like they are in the same space, ‘seen’, and connected. 
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• Gamify activities to make engagement more fun! Setting points to tasks can nudge your team members into participating more, especially if there’s a reward to those who score the most. Gamifying actions or activities like networking or team challenges is a clever way to motivate your team and make the event experience more productive and fun for everyone. 
  

4. Give everyone company swag

If you do plan to host your team retreat at a fancy hotel or exotic location, find ways to make virtual attendees feel pampered as well. This could be as simple as sending them meals and gifts that in-person attendees receive such as personalized gift hampers and goodie bags. 

5. Choose the right technology 

For a hybrid or virtual retreat that effectively brings your team together, you first need a virtual platform that can facilitate this. Look for solutions like Zuddl that has a range of features and tools you can use to bridge the gap between in-person and virtual attendees such as Networking or Chat, and that makes the retreat a fun experience for everyone, like Gamification. 

To sum up...

Energized employees, tight-knit teams, fun workplaces - all are essential components of a successful organization. Done right, your hybrid or virtual team retreat can help nurture all three. With the right planning, platform and tools, you will be able to curate a remarkable experience that drives long-lasting value.

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Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.

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As remote working continues to be the norm, but with offices slowly reopening, every company leader faces a common question: How can Virtual and Hybrid Team Building Activities help me manage my remote or hybrid workforce effectively?

Virtual and hybrid engagement activities can be instrumental in keeping in-person and remote employees in sync, as it can be a challenging task. Managers and leaders not only need to ensure that daily tasks are accomplished but also need to focus on establishing connections, building trust, and fostering camaraderie. These aspects are crucial for team members to collaborate effectively, and virtual and hybrid engagement activities can play a significant role in achieving these objectives.

“The biggest dilemma for us in the current scenario of work from home model is…how to translate the same level of 'belongingness' in the virtual space”, says Anita Bhatia, HR Director for the Times Internet, the digital arm of the Times Group, the largest media conglomerate in India. “[This is important] to ensure seamless engagement, motivation, and retention of our key talent…”

The need of the hour is therefore for managers and leaders to work with purpose towards uniting their team, regardless of whether their colleagues are at the office or are half the world away. Technology can help — but only to an extent. But if you are deliberate about helping your team to bond and build relationships, it can yield great benefits in teams of communication and productivity.

One way to do this is through virtual team building activities. 

But let’s come back to this in a second, and cover the basics first.

Why team building is important for your bottom line

Yes, it’s true that suggesting team building activities for employees is often met with a roll of the eyes, but there’s no doubt that they’re effective.

According to a Gallup study, incorporating virtual and hybrid engagement activities can result in increased employee engagement and performance. The study found that such activities can lead to a 41% reduction in absenteeism and a 21% increase in profitability, highlighting the importance of incorporating virtual and hybrid engagement activities in the workplace.

These findings are buttressed by a new research from Better Up which show that workplace belonging leads to a 56% increase in job performance.

Team building is central to this. According to the Gensler US Workplace Survey, people see team building as the most important aspect of great workplaces, with 43% choosing ‘promotes team building and collaborate’ as a key attribute, 20% choosing ‘foster camaraderie and fun’ and 18% choosing ‘build social connections and community.’

Now that this is clear, here are some simple but effective  virtual team building activities you can use to strengthen your team.
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Additional reading: Here's a sneak peek of event trends in 2023 as per our latest report.

Here are 9 virtual engagement activities that can add some fun to your hybrid workforce

1. Virtual scavenger hunt

As you’re running this activity for a virtual or hybrid team, keep in mind that you’ll need to try to find items for your list that can be found by colleagues in the office or at home, such as books or keyboards. To up the ante, you set riddles as scavenger hunt clues, for instance “I have a spine, but no bones” (answer: books).

To make it even more creative, your list doesn't have to comprise physical objects - they could be people at the company instead. So your participants will first need to figure out who the person is and then take a picture with them either on-screen or at the office. 

This is one of the best virtual team building games that can also help build inter-company camaraderie.

2. Cultural celebration parties

When you have a diverse workforce, with employees from different parts of the world, it’s important to recognize and celebrate the cultural environment and location where each person works. Cultural celebration parties are a great way to do this. On the day of the celebration, you can decorate the office. 

Your team members whose culture you are celebrating can attend wearing cultural clothing, while others can dress up too in support. They can hold virtual cooking classes to teach others how to cook a national dish, and you can order delivery of the dish to the houses of remote colleagues.

Though these are small activities, they’ll go a long way in making each person feel like they’re part of your company community.

3. Online adventure games

Online games are a fun way for virtual team members to work together to solve puzzles and riddles, usually against a clock. They are great exercises in creative problem solving and collaboration. Some popular options for your to consider:

• Heist

Your team will have to solve a series of challenges to find the jewels before time runs out. Or, you can take this up a notch and make your team the bad guys who have to escape from the police with the jewels. 

https://try.outbackteambuilding.com/ap-virtual-escape-room/?utm_source=timedoctor 

• Murder Mystery

Assign a character to each of your team members. They will have to put on fancy costumes, learn about their characters, and solve the clues to identify the murderer. 

4. Virtual house tours

A virtual house tour is a fun way to let your team members show off their creativity and personality! Each week, ask a different team member to take the others on a virtual tour of their house. To make this even more entertaining, everyone can present their homes in the style of MTV Cribs or Architectural Digest just like celebrities do.  

This activity allows team members to learn about each other on a more personal level and see colleagues as parents and hobbyists too.  It deepens relationships and fosters greater understanding.

5. Virtual deserted island game

You’ve probably played this one before as it’s a classic team building activity for employees. Ask team members to pretend that they are stranded on a deserted island with an object that each possesses (distributed from a list or picked on their own). They will then need to work together to come up with creative ways to combine the various objects to improve their chances of survival. Working together in unfamiliar territory has a way of creating bonds that cannot be created in any other way.

6. 20 questions

This is another classic, although there are different variations. 

Ask each employee to choose an item and tell everyone what category it belongs to (for instance, if they choose ‘ball’ as an item, then the category will be sporting equipment). Everyone else must guess the item by asking 20 yes or no questions. You can award points based on how many questions it took for the team member to guess the item. It is a simple game that can be played during a tea time break. 

7. Two truths and a lie

This is another fun and light-hearted team building activity. To play this game, ask team members to write down three statements - two that are the truth and one that is a lie. Each team member will read their statements aloud in a random order, and the other participants will need to guess which one is the lie.  The winner of the game is the team member whose lie wasn’t caught. 

It’s a fun activity that’s a lot of laughs and helps your team learn more about each other too!

8. Idea workshops

The aim of organizing an idea workshop is to give your team a platform where they can brainstorm and work together to solve a problem. 

It could be something that solves a problem the team or the company is facing. Or it could be a more lighthearted workshop wherein your team discusses ideas to make the company more fun - perhaps debating the merits of a pool table or casual Fridays. 

9. Lunch and learn!

Eating lunch together is a simple way to strengthen the connections between hybrid team members. You can order a catered lunch for employees at the office, and food delivery for virtual teammates. As everyone eats their meal, they can relax and socialize. 

In conclusion...

Building effective communication and camaraderie among virtual and hybrid teams requires intentional effort, but incorporating virtual and hybrid engagement activities, like the ones discussed in this article, can help transform your distributed team into a cohesive and productive unit.

Zuddl is a unified platform for events and webinars that helps event marketers plan and execute events that drive growth. The platform has clients across the globe, such as the United Nations, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, HSBC, VMware, Google, StackCommerce and Cipla amongst others. In January 2022, Zuddl announced that it closed $13.35 mn in Series A funding.