For eight years, AVD has been providing in-person event support for our financial industry client’s annual conference. While many companies have switched to virtual meetings since COVID-19 guidelines were issued, our client wasn’t satisfied with the new status quo. They wanted a virtual experience that was more creative, technically sophisticated, and engaging in every way possible so that it could rival a live conference.
Having relied on AVD in the past for our leading-edge AV solutions, our client came to us with a complex virtual event wish-list which included:
A professional presentation keeps meeting participants engaged on the highest level, and helping our clients plan for such an event is an AVD specialty.
For this event, our client required all meeting presenters to be pre-recorded so that all presentations would be flawless start to finish. AVD began immediately conducting virtual video meetings with all of the presenters, providing them with technical support, coaching, and rehearsal time before recording the messages that would be delivered to the audience. Once done with recording, AVD edited the digital footage in post-production and provided our client with final videos well in advance of the meeting.
With so many different virtual meeting platforms available, it’s impossible to know which one each invitee has on their desktop or mobile device. For our client, it was important that invitees not have to download any additional software to enter the conference. Our secure proprietary platform “AVD Live” provided invitees with a direct link that funneled them to a designated URL that was accessible from any mobile or desktop browser.
Once logged into the secure event, invitees entered a virtual lobby with a navigable agenda from which they could link directly to the speaker or panel discussion most relevant to their area of specialty. Just like an in-person event, for early arrivers, they were kept engaged with welcome music and announcements as well as shown any housekeeping information on the screen until the presentation began.
We develop virtual events that mirror in-person events by maximizing touchpoints and engagements with the viewing guest. This type of event gives virtual attendees multiple options for exposure to new content, while promoting a higher level of interaction and information retention.
Our client’s annual event was a unique and complex production due to the multiple meetings going on at the same time in the same virtual meeting space. Once a guest entered a virtual meeting they had the ability to roam in and out of any meeting room they wished. This gave them the option to see and hear which panels were most important to them. No one was forced into one room at a time nor did they have to sit through content that was of no relevance to them.
Every aspect of an AVD-produced virtual meeting or conference is about keeping the audience excited and engaged. We can add functionality like chat tools to help attendees interact with each other before and during the presentations. AVD also makes it easy for audience members to submit questions to the presenters in real time. And because all work and no play makes for a dull event, we worked with the client to create two happy hour spaces. Guests were invited to join in the Happy Hours after the content portions of the event were over.
For this conference, the first Happy Hour was for everyone to stay together. They could listen and watch a live DJ, text in the chat box, and watch a photo and caption montage. Running concurrently, guests were able to enter into one of several other virtual video “after parties” where groups of up to 20 participants video conferred with each other and mingled with colleagues they may not have seen in many months, or longer.
AVD has successfully pivoted from the in-person meeting space to manage virtual events for existing and new clients spanning all virtual tiers of service. For this particular production, our very happy client counted on us for pristine production values and exemplary service. And we delivered all this and more, including:
While social distancing at first seemed like a huge obstacle to important business meetings, it’s really just a minor hurdle when you connect with the audio visual professionals at AVD. Let us help you plan and produce your next big sales meeting, corporate training event, product launch or industry convention. We can scale for every size event so you can conduct business as smoothly and efficiently as ever. Additionally, we will partner with your existing stakeholders, meeting planners, and multimedia teams to help bring your virtual event to the next level. Call now to learn more: (973)-993-8500.