Cost savings is only one aspect of taking a physical event virtual. With today's “On Demand” consumer mindset, having content that is queued up and ready to go at any time of day, is fundamental.

Think of how we have changed our TV media consumption. We used to watch just what was on at the time we were ready to engage. Or we had to arrange our schedule to be home at the time of the program we wanted to see.  Now, things are On Demand. The content is saved in the cloud, and we choose the content we want, and when we want to view it. Additionally, if we really enjoy the content, we can SHARE it with others, giving it free promotion socially.

Recorded is essential to repurposing content and meeting the needs of the On Demand consumer culture.  Repurposing also supports continuous revenue streams.

Interactive: Think about Facebook Live.  We see people streaming a live video on Facebook and then we also see the recorded version later. “Your friend John Smith was live at 2:15pm today”. 

Networking: With Speed Networking paired with the video conferencing, users meet who they want and when they want, still with the capacity to see each other for full 3D communication.

Educational: With the option of viewing previously recorded sessions, attendees can now actually consume MORE sessions than they could at an in-person event.  This means more CE credits possible and more availability for people who would not normally attend the full conference.

While a virtual event may not have all that an in person event may have, it can have different things and STILL be interactive, support networking, and educational. 

Check out more from AAG Virtual Events.

I heard a great podcast today from Craig Groeschel - on his Leadership Podcast.  He interviewed Whitespace founder Juliet Funt.

I personally liked the following tidbits from the podcast:

Many times we send emails when we need to get some question answered, but the timing of WHEN we need a response is not always clear. This can lead to missed deadlines if they are too late, or work interruptions that really could have waited for those cases when a response was not urgent.

Try using Response Needed tags in email subject lines

NRQ = Need Response Quickly

NRT = Need Response Today

NRNBD = Need Response Next Business Day

Consider Messaging and Mediums

• The message content determines the kind of medium to use
• 2D -vs- 3D mediums (email/text/chat -svs- calls or face to face meetings)
• 3D medium is needed for emotions or complex problem solving
• 3D allows for tonality, inflection and facial expression to be added to the communication

Not everything requires an email. Sometimes you have the urge to send an email but if you only delayed it to review it later it may be better served in a face to face meeting or connected to another thought about that individual. Juliet suggests using a document to record your thoughts for later review. She calls it the Yellow List - a place to keep a list of thoughts and ideas for each team member for things that may NOT require an email or meeting. Then review them later to access how to communicate them best, if at all.

Get the full podcast here.

Craig has many podcasts on leadership. His moto is "Everyone wins when the leader gets better."  I agree!