It’s more important than ever to be adaptable! Taking your events online allows you to continue to reach your different audiences, to reach your goals and potential as a business. Having a digital-first mindset will set you up for success going forwards. Virtual events are incredibly versatile and have the potential to be just as valuable to you and your audience as an in-person experience.
Since launching the Socially Distanced Studios in 2020 we have been so proud of the incredible impact that it’s had since its inception. We’ve been part of a really productive and pro-active team in pulling together some incredible experiences for audiences – despite the restrictions and limitations during this time.
We have learnt a lot over the past few months, and we’ve put together some advice and some sure-fire ways to really make your online event fly.
Creating an in-person experience online
What’s so good about the Socially Distanced Studios?
We live and breathe events, and we have built this space from scratch to best reflect the experience of being at an event. We have built SDS as a studio, this means it’s more like a quality TV production than a massive LED wall with a camera in front of it. We enable your audience to feel up close and personal, and with high quality production values to stave off viewer boredom – top-level sound, great camera work and quality graphics.
How we help you through the process
Well, we like to think we know what we’re doing… With decades of experience between us, and some of the top production and camera crew at our disposal, we can really make your event sing. You get one of our event managers with you every step of the way, to help decipher some of the more technical elements, support you with your story-boarding and script, and ensure that we’ve got all the content locked & loaded ahead of the show. Our show caller and team of technicians are highly skilled, and the team all work together on the day to ensure a great experience from the moment you walk through the door.
Keeping it hospitality focused & Covid Secure
We have separate bathroom facilities, separate access, green room space and plentiful drinks/snacks provision. We disinfect, clean up & clear down throughout the day. We have a wonderful local caterer who delivers fresh, high quality meals – individually packaged, with cutlery – and caters to every dietary requirement. We ensure everyone is warm, fed and watered – very important for long days of filming – and we work to ensure the absolute safety of all of our team and our guests onsite. You are our guests, and we ensure that you have a great time when you’re with us.
The little extras
Things like branded cue cards for your presenters, plants for the backdrop, seating set ups, on-brand uplighter colours, your logo in large scale, deciding what jacket to wear for your piece to camera. All these things we support you with, from the choice of the carpet colour to the best walk on music for your keynote speaker. We’ve done cocktail classes, entertainment, comedian pre-records, and elements live in the studio where possible. We make this a delight and a joy for those at home, as much as those onsite.
5 top tips for hosting virtual events
1. Have a plan
What kind of event are you looking for? – a performance, conference, round table, workshop, or perhaps a mixture?
What are your goals for the event? – to inform, inspire, promote?
An event planner will help you with the finer details, and how to achieve your goals, but knowing the sort of event you’d like to achieve, and what you and your audience will get out of it in an ideal world is a great place to start!
2. Promote the event
This goes without saying, people need to know about your event in order to attend. Don’t just assume that being online your audience will find it. And if you’re putting on an event that’s been in-person for years and years there may even be an assumption you’re not going ahead. That’s a big no from us. Get in touch with your audiences, get out there and shout about it from the rooftops.
3. Be prepared
Online events are fairly new to everyone, certainly very new to a good proportion of your audience. In-person events have the benefits of bumping into someone with a ‘where do we need to go first?’ moment, with arrows and signage to guide guests. Ensure you’ve got clear and accessible guidance for your guests, from joining instructions to how to interact at various points, signpost how to access different speakers, and accessibility elements such as sign language interpreters.
4. Encourage interaction
Networking is a huge part of in-person events and can be a turn off for moving online, but don’t let it be one! We can build in space for chatting and participation, allowing your audience space and time for interaction real time. Live polling, chat boxes, Q&A features – let’s do it.
5. Quality kit!
Having the right equipment ensures things run smoothly. Audio, internet and camera are the three big things that takes your event from your average Zoom call to an at-home experience! People attend events for that experience and is a big reason behind the Zoom fatigue we’re seeing now. It’s all about the highest quality!
Online Event Ideas
So what kind of things work well? What have we delivered/are looking at in the near future?;
Online Awards Ceremonies
With all the glitter sets and jazzy bow-ties you can shake a stick at
Read more about one of our Virtual Award Ceremonies
Virtual Comedian Performances
Laughs aplenty, with plenty of camera angles for those ‘to camera’ moments
Online Entertainment and Classes
Floristry workshops, cocktail classes, visual entertainers, musicians and more – it’s all possible, and it’s all wonderful! We like unusual!
Online Conferences & Town Halls
Whether it’s for your internal staff or a varied audience, we’re able to ensure a great result for you in the studio and those at home/in the office
Take a look at this Virtual Conference at our Socially Distanced Studios
Online Tender Pitches & Product Spots
With a great deal of space at our disposal, we can support you with the pitch of any tender/product, to really put you ahead of the curve for your presentation.
AGMs & End of Year Online Events
All the data, all the detail, let us help you ensure that questions can be answered, and core information/graphics can be seen and understood.
Get in touch
No matter the sort of event you’re looking for we’re here, ready and willing, to understand your vision and deliver it! Give us a call and let’s discuss what you are looking to achieve – it would be our pleasure to support you.