It’s increasingly common to see large events held in an online forum. This even includes major trade expos that once hosted thousands of in-person visitors. If you’ve been tasked with producing such an event, it may seem overwhelming, but there is a blueprint you can follow to ensure that your online expo is successful. You should start by learning how to use virtual background in Teams. In a virtual expo setting, visuals reign supreme, and branded Zoom backgrounds are one of the most effective tools for establishing consistent branding and keeping the attention of your audience. Check out these additional tips to ensure your online expo goes off without a hitch.
Develop a Strategy and Timeline
The key to success in nearly any endeavor — especially a big event like an expo — is to develop a general strategy. There are many ways to approach event planning strategy, but it boils down to three important functional factors: you need to identify the number of expected attendees, the resources required to accommodate them, and the plan for solving problems as they may arise. For a more detailed strategy, you can outline a mission statement and identify the objectives of the expo, but you can start with a simple outline.
In addition to a strategy, you need a timeline that explicitly schedules every minute of every hour of the expo. There shouldn’t be any dead time or overlap between presentations, and with an effective timeline, there won’t be. The details of your plan depend on how long the expo is scheduled to go on, how many presentations are planned, and other schedule-sensitive factors. Although a timeline is important, you should always be adaptable on the day of the event, and if plans need to change, do your best to accommodate.
Choose the Right Platform
There are many video call platforms available that you can use to host a virtual expo. Zoom is one of the most popular, of course, and you can easily use a custom Zoom background to create a unique look. Many event organizers prefer to use Zoom because it’s accessible, user-friendly, and offers several affordable plans. It also offers useful functions, such as breakout rooms, that allow organizers to recreate the structure of a discussion group that may be used at an in-person expo. Zoom features high-quality video feeds, too, which can contribute to an appearance of professionalism. Finally, Zoom can accommodate meetings with up to 1,000 participants.
The other main contender is Microsoft Teams. It is also affordable, high-quality, and user-friendly, but it can only host as many as 300 people in a meeting. This makes it less attractive than Zoom if you’re planning on having many attendees at your expo. Still, it has several benefits that make it valuable, including the ability to connect with other programs within the Microsoft suite. Many people enjoy the ability to seamlessly access their document drive via SharePoint. It is integrated with Office 365, too, so that you can share content easily.