The objective of any online event is to simulate the physical experience, making it more comfortable and enjoyable for the attendees. This is why a virtual auditorium works in a similar way to traditional ones.
The biggest difference is that instead of meeting in a physical space, the participants meet the speakers online. Therefore, they can attend the event from anywhere in the world using an internet connection and a mobile or computer.
For most companies, virtual auditoriums are the appropriate space to give educational, training or certification sessions; as well as product demonstrations, keynotes and seminars of all kinds.
The purpose of this type of online event is usually to generate potential customers, build loyalty and increase brand recognition.
What is a virtual auditorium?
A virtual auditorium is an online meeting space in which several speakers present conferences, seminars, and share presentations to a large number of attendees.
The appearance of the place can be the same as that of a real auditorium, so there are several rows with seats for guests and a central stage that includes a large screen on which the presentation of the speaker is projected live or pre-recorded. But it can also be presented as a combination of screens of the different participants.
Just like events in physical auditoriums, these are created around a pre-established agenda that reflects all the activities, speeches and sessions that will take place.
In addition, they include community participation tools that stimulate engagement and imitate the experience of socialization and interaction that usually occurs naturally in these encounters.
That is why live voting and polls, real-time chats and spaces to ask questions to the speakers are presented. At the end of the event, attendees can even earn downloadable resources and other rewards for their participation in case there is gamification integration.
Operation of a virtual auditorium
The development of a virtual auditorium implies the use of different augmented and virtual reality technologies, as well as interaction between the attendees and the speakers.
All technological tools taking part in the process improve the experience of those involved, and guarantee both the return on investment and the success of the online event.
Thus, activities in a virtual auditorium usually include:
Organization by agenda
One of the most important pieces in planning a virtual auditorium is the agenda. Especially when the online event takes place over several days and it is planned to offer different presentations.
Attendees must have access to a virtual agenda containing the name of the presentation, the speaker and the time. This tool is the main source of information for participants, in addition to allowing them to organize their activity throughout the online event.
When the agenda is shared via email or a special mobile app for the event, attendees have the opportunity to click on the links for each presentation to plan their participation. Additionally, this allows organizers to know which presentations are the most popular and how many attendees are expected.
Attendance limit
In general, a virtual auditorium can host any number of participants during a presentation. Depending on the magnitude of the event, more spaces can be included for attendees while the speaker will always be in the center of the scene.
Streaming webinars
Virtual auditoriums have been highly successful in terms of education and training, making them an excellent setting for conducting streaming webinars. These types of presentations usually last between 30 and 80 minutes per speaker.
In addition, they can be offered for free or paid through online e-commerce services. Webinars use video conferencing tools, Q&A sessions, and downloadable resources. They can even stream live or pre-recorded video.
Q&A session
In both virtual auditoriums as in a physical one, there is space for attendees to ask questions and ask the speakers about their doubts. Therefore, presenters can select and display audience questions to answer in real time.
To make the event more entertaining, attendees can vote for the questions posed by others in order for the presenter to answer the most voted.
For their part, the presenter can activate the moderator function to select and filter questions while the audience sends them. And in this way, answer in an orderly manner the ones you have selected.
Engagement activities during sessions
When attending presentations in physical auditoriums, organizers and speakers are expected to generate participation. Therefore, in a virtual auditorium, the same interaction spaces are created to stimulate the engagement of the attendees.
Therefore, live polls and voting are used, as well as Q&A sessions and online chats. These engagement tools allow attendees to exchange ideas and opinions, while speakers establish a closer relationship with their audience.
The results of these activities can be shared in real time to generate more interest and conversation.
Live interaction through RRSS
Social networks are a great participation tool that can help attendees share their impressions of the event and their level of satisfaction. In addition, they are ideal for creating community around the virtual auditorium.
If you do not want to use a social network known as Twitter or Facebook, it is possible to develop a special application for the event in which users can access from their mobile devices or their computers.
These spaces allow attendees to upload photos, comment, and participate in discussion threads. Therefore, they constitute a channel for participants to communicate with each other, network and perceive the interaction that is maintained with other people in a physical event.
Post-event surveys
When the surveys are carried out during the development of the activities, they are useful to know the opinion of the attendees about the activity or the particular topic.
On the other hand, when they are carried out at the end of the event, they are the right instruments to know how satisfied the attendees and speakers were with the event.
Likewise, in a post-event survey, all participants are asked what aspects they would improve and what suggestions they would give for the next presentations in the virtual auditorium.
The opinions collected in these surveys are taken into account to offer better experiences in the future, taking into account the preferences of the audience. Post-event surveys are often sent via email after the meeting is over.
However, they can also be included in the event’s mobile app to increase the chances of it being answered.
Post-event surveys are especially important at online events, as you don’t have the ability to collect verbal feedback or measure facial expressions like in physical audiences. Therefore, they are considered essential.
By implementing all these technological tools in the virtual auditorium, not only is the experience of participation of the attendees positively influenced. It also affects the success and conversion rate that the company obtains.
