Events with ClickUp: How to plan a virtual conference event

So you want to host a virtual conference. Great!

Virtual events are experiencing a boom and you've probably attended at least a dozen of them - yes, WFH happy hours and live yoga classes still count.

Online events create a cost-effective and inclusive solution for those facing travel restrictions and are likely to remain so long after the world returns to "previous" times. 

But where do you start? And how do you make your virtual meeting a success? 

We heard you and we were there too!

ClickUp recently held its own large-scale web conference, LevelUp , managed entirely in-house! But whether you're planning the ultimate productivity conference or your sister's Zoom baby shower, there are five essential steps to planning the virtual event of your dreams.

5 Steps to Virtual Success

When you summarize the checklist for any virtual event, there are a few steps that many successful plans have in common.

So buckle up and get your ClickUp Chrome extension ready for some notes, because we're here to share these steps with you right now!

Step 1: Choose your event

Before the planning takes place, you need to establish the type of virtual event you will be holding. Maybe it's a conference or a webinar? And what's the difference? There are four main types of virtual event that your event is likely to fall into.

A virtual conference is ideal for a longer, large-scale virtual event with a detailed agenda that each participant can choose to build their day around. A virtual conference is usually held in real time and is the perfect type of event for lead generation and online networking.

A Webinar is shorter than a conference and is a stand-alone virtual event that serves the purpose of a lesson or a "how-to". A Webinar doesn't offer much in terms of networking opportunities, as this type of event is usually recorded to be replayed whenever the participant wants, but it usually includes a question and answer session if and when the event was held in real time.

Hybrid internal and external events are events that take place online and in person at the same time.

Type: virtual weddings and engagement parties.

Many meetings, end-of-year parties and team events also take place in this format! If the event is limited only to team members within a company, it's an internal hybrid event. But if clients, users or other potential companies are invited to the party, it's considered an external hybrid event - and a great networking opportunity!

Step 2: choose your virtual conference platform

Once you have decided which type of virtual event best suits your purpose, consider how you will broadcast the event.

There are numerous streaming platforms to suit all budgets, so before committing to an option based on price alone, first consider the purpose and scope of your event.

Ask yourself:

• What is the purpose of your event? Go back to the type of virtual event and write down the qualities that made you choose the format that was best for you and why
• How many participants are you expecting? There will be thousands of guests or ten of your closest friends
• What features do you absolutely need? If audience participation is a big part of your event, look for platforms that allow members to chat, raise their hand or talk to their colleagues. If your event is a ten-minute tutorial on how to wax and tint your eyebrows at home, perhaps focus on a platform that allows you to broadcast live and record for later

Asking yourself these questions may raise some new ones that aren't listed here. And that's a good thing! At the very least, these three will get your mind working in the right direction to choose the perfect streaming platform.

Some of our top choices of streaming platforms:

As the world of virtual events grows, so does the range of streaming platforms to choose from! Choose carefully, this will essentially be your virtual venue - and remember, there's no need to settle! Some of our favorites include:

• Brandlive : Brandlive is unique because it offers three different streaming products, depending on the type of virtual conference event you are planning. Its products include Allhands, Streams and Showrooms, allowing you to choose the experience tailored to the category of your virtual event - everything from daily business meetings to virtual product launches. This ensures that you get the resources you need!
• HeySummit : this streaming platform will also help you create a landing page for your conference website before the event to track registration and get a jump-start on marketing your conference. If you're planning a series of talks or several speaker sessions, HeySummit is worth considering.
• AirMeet : A similar platform built for virtual summits and workshops. It emphasizes the social aspect of holding an online event or webinar and promises a rich networking experience.
• Zoom : Ah, the tried and tested. Zoom became a household name last year and you've probably hit the 40-minute limit once or twice, but with its paid options, Zoom can host events of all sizes. Its breakout session feature offers networking opportunities for participants and organizers, and the mobile device feature allows users to participate from anywhere.

Step 3: Keep your audience engaged

A major challenge of the virtual conference is that the event is, in fact, virtual.

There's a certain energy that builds up in a room during a well-organized personal conference - when the day is going exactly as you imagined and everyone is enthusiastic.

But don't worry, that feeling is still possible with online events.

You just need to be a little more creative in how you keep your participants hooked on your content.

When structuring your event, break down how you are delivering information and consider using a mix of live and pre-recorded content.

Especially for longer events, such as conferences or summits, blended content offers presenters a short break from speaking and can act as a contingency plan in the event of a technological error or timing mistake.

Mixed content also shakes up the way participants absorb information and can help them remember important ideas and key moments of the day!

This could mean incorporating videos made by your company, relevant to the theme of your event, or even a great gif. And who doesn't love a good gif?

Pro tip: Share and discuss content ideas with your team throughout the planning process by storing them in ClickUp! Embed YouTube videos, Vimeo URLs, Google Drive files and screen recordings directly into task descriptions and comments , so you're never more than seconds away from the content you need.

Another way to keep people on their toes? Choose a host or relevant speakers who can keep the agenda moving.

A solid speaker can help attract more ticket sales to your event and keep your guests on their toes! Especially guest personalities who specialize in the topic of your event or industry experts, are well-known names in the business or are professional speakers who know how to fill any unexpected dead space.

Just as Amy Poehler and Tina Fey have hosted the Golden Globes four times and ClickUp has brought in world-renowned organizational psychologist Adam Grant as keynote speaker for LevelUp 2021. 😉

Even with a great speaker or host, consider these options to fill your schedule with meaningful opportunities to flex your knowledge:

• Offer themed sessions or panel discussions during the day for participants to learn from a moderator and discuss together. This is a great way for your guests to get to know each other and interact on both sides
• If possible, activate chat features on your platform so that participants can interact and engage with each other at any time. Live a little
• Set aside time for live question and answer sessions at the end of each section. The virtual conference will seem more personal and your guests will feel more involved if they know they are part of the conversation. Have another member of your team monitor your event chat so that no question goes unanswered

Step 4: Manage all moving parts in one place

It goes without saying that A LOT of planning is required for a virtual conference of any size, and if you've reached this stage of the game, you're probably already feeling it. Track your progress on the virtual event timeline by organizing your tasks on an online project management platform.

Ara, you should use ClickUp .

ClickUp is the glue that will hold your virtual event planning together and one of its main assets is its customization abilities. In other words, everyone on the team can work the way they want.

How do we use our own platform to plan LevelUp? Here are some small must-haves that make a big impact:

• Create a single list for all things related to your next conference and add custom fields to your tasks for each department to show which stakeholders and organizers the task relates to
• Quickly find the tasks assigned to you in each list with filters and me mode. Find your immediate and most urgent tasks by eliminating any distractions and noting the tasks that belong to certain event organizers or just to you 
• Use the Dashboard to easily see an unfiltered summary of how close you are to completing your project. Basically, this is the overview of how things are going. Use Dashboard in meetings when reporting to stakeholders or project managers
• Host your meetings directly in ClickUp! Turn any meeting into a Zoom meeting with Zoom integration in your ClickUp task

Step 5: Market as much as possible

You're almost there! You have:

The type of event

✅ The streaming service

✅ The agenda

The best project management tool. Cough, cough, ClickUp.

Now it's time to put virtual asses on those virtual seats, implementing a comprehensive marketing strategy to achieve your goals.

Virtual conferences offer the flexibility to attract audiences from all over the world, as long as you know how to reach them! ClickUp can help you manage your social media posts, videos for your company's YouTube channel, email marketing, PR strategies and much more.

Use custom fields to quickly access posts, forms, documents, URLs and even basic information for review or reference. They accompany your tasks and subtasks at every stage of the planning process and the sky's the limit when it comes to all that custom fields can contain! So have fun with it. 🤓

If your marketing strategy includes adding VIP status to your guest list, offers from influencers to promote your event or sponsorships, then it's time to use ClickUp's Template Center.

Choose one of ClickUp's pre-made templates designed for event planning or create your own to quickly cover all the bases needed for recurring tasks.

There, there, GO!

Remember, this is just the beginning!

These may be the five essential steps for planning your next virtual conference event, but the possibilities are endless and the online events market is getting bigger all the time! So let ClickUp do the heavy lifting on the organizational side and let your creativity run wild!