Why I’m the world’s worst virtual attendee. And how that can help you plan better hybrid events.

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Why I’m the world’s worst virtual attendee. And how that can help you plan better hybrid events.

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By Kristi Casey Sanders
Published: November 5, 2011

Kristi Casey Sanders is the editorial director/chief storyteller of Plan Your Meetings. She frequently speaks at industry functions about how meeting professionals can prove their worth, meet responsibly, integrate technology into events, create innovative experiences and maybe even change the world. Follow her on Twitter @PYMLive or @KristiCasey. And check out her videos on PYM's YouTube channel.

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I tuned into one of the EventCamps recently because I love them and the people who organize them. Because I couldn’t be there in person, I joined the virtual audience.

Unfortunately, I discovered that I’m a really crappy virtual attendee, and I’m not too embarrassed to tell you why:

I have a bad attitude. I hate giving up my weekend for business because I like to keep work at work. Having an 18-month-old at home also means that on Saturday and Sundays I have a lot more important work to do than my day job-type stuff.
I am an insufferable know-it all. I get really cranky when I give up my time to join a session and feel like I’m not learning anything new. I especially hate discussions where I feel like I’m hearing the same things over and over again. I don’t want to tackle topics I saw trending in 2009, I’m ready to move on!
I am an ADHD-riddled donkey. If there’s a group document and there are blanks to fill in collaboratively, you can guarantee I’ll fill in those blanks before the speaker gets to those sections rather than listen to what’s going on. And then if I get booted out for being precocious (or tech glitches), I’ll go clean the house or something and not participate at all.
I have little to no patience. When the expectation is that I’m going to be engaged, I will get really petulant if I’m not. For example, if you have a facilitated session, have the speaker address the camera and ask the virtual audience questions. Then read out what they answer in a few minutes so we know you really care. There were a couple of “come on virtual audience engage with us” tweets, but no video moderator or even a person on the side reading our comments to the live audience so that we felt like we were connected to or embraced by the live group in any meaningful way.
I’m extremely vocal. If I don’t like something, I’ll let you know, using all your media channels.

But my weaknesses can become your strengths. Next time you’re planning a virtual or hybrid event, assume that your all your attendees will be jerks like me.

How will you engage them? How will you keep them engaged? How will you coach your speakers to include the virtual audience during presentations? How will you moderate the online discussion and tie it into the in-room discussion? When there are breakout discussions during your live broadcast, how will you fill the dead space? (Will the speaker just address the camera and read tweets? Will there be a video moderator that swoops in to engage them? Will there be a special interview broadcast that the live audience doesn’t see?)

Think about the potential pitfalls and the virtual Easter eggs you can embed into your event that will make it more interesting.

And then invite me to come and play, because I want to be a good attendee … really I do!

Join the discussion

Jeff Hurt Says:

2011-11-06 12:50:34

I am with you! As I Always say about virtual events

1) avoid the four letter word - Drag!
2) your digital experience has to be more engaging than my distractions!
3) engage the remote audience early and often!

So many presenters think that asking people one question is enough! Not! Takes so much more than that.

Thanks for being vocal too!

Kristi Casey Sanders Says:

2011-11-06 21:45:43

No problem. I think that because the technology is past its infancy and there are (a few) people now who "get" how to participate virtually, planners have to be a lot more savvy about how they engage virtual audiences, and what back-up plans they have for the virtual dead space during every minute of the program. You can't just stick a camera in the back of the room and expect that to be good enough.

You have to plan for the contingencies (like if there's an impromptu breakout or something is starting late). Virtuals need clear visuals. They need to be acknowledged and they need more stimulus than the face-to-face attendees because there are far more things to distract them without any of the peer-to-peer elements or vibe they'd get being on-site.

You also need to think about how to instruct the virtual newbies who'll be joining you. Can you put instructions on how to participate up on the chat room when they log in? Will the moderator do that live? Make it as simple as possible for them to figure stuff out and dive right in.