Thanks to the global pandemic and the lockdown that accompanied it, virtual events have become the new way of doing things. They’re how we conduct most of our businesses and how most of our kids have been receiving their education.
With most things taking place virtually, it comes as no surprise that people are also looking for entertainment ideas that they can enjoy and experience virtually.
7 Virtual Event Ideas
- Live illustration Sessions
Live illustration sessions, or digital live scribing as they are sometimes known, are a great way to bring something unique to entertain your audience. They are also fairly easy to set up.
Find an artist that is willing to create their artwork live and you’re ready to go. Include panel discussions, audiences can ask the artists questions if they have any. Live illustration sessions show audiences the process involved in creating loved artworks. - Live Competition and Games
One of the more innovative virtual events of 2020 was Salesforce’s World Tour Sydney Re-imagined. The event included a live “battle of the apps” that even allowed the audience to vote for their preferred apps. At the battle, competitors were given 3 minutes to do a live demonstration of their app. The audience then voted for their favorite and the winner was announced on Twitter.
You can do something similar at your event. All you need is a sponsor that’ll be willing to donate a prize, and you can have yourself a live competition. You could make it very simple and make it a Q&A between two departments. The department with the most correct answers wins. It could also be an individual competition; the important thing is making sure everyone is engaged. - Virtual Concerts
Virtual events can also be very entertaining. Musical performances, for example, work quite well as a virtual event. It may not be the same as attending a live concert, but it is better than nothing in this pandemic era. One of the biggest virtual events of 2020 was a musical performance event called Verzuz. It started on Instagram and ended up signing a deal with Apple before the year ended.
You can add a musical performance to your event. You can make it karaoke-style and ask specific attendees if they’ll be willing to sing karaoke for the event. If your company or your sponsors are willing to pay for an artist to perform then you can go that route too. People miss concerts so musical performances are always appreciated in virtual events. - Health and Wellness Activities
A lot of people struggled with their maintaining their mental and physical health during the pandemic. Health and wellness activities are a great way of switching things up and delivering value to your audience.
You can either have meditation breaks or short workouts between each activity, or you can have a separate stream dedicated to these types of activities. Attendees can tune in whenever they want a break from the regular session. - Cocktail or Cooking Classes
Virtual cooking classes or cocktail classes are a fun alternative to in-person social events. All you need to do is to hire a mixologist or a cook, or both if you have the resources and time. Everyone can then join in from their respective kitchens.
Cooking and mixology classes will give your attendees the chance to get some social contact (something that has been scarce because of the pandemic) while they learn a new skill. To increase the participation rate, you can send baskets filled with everything they need in advance. If that’s not possible, you can provide them with a list of ingredients so they are fully ready when the time comes. - Trivia Night
Trivia night is an example of a live competition listed above. It is relatively easy to host and the healthy competition it fosters is always fun. For some reason, most people enjoying showing off their random knowledge which is why trivia nights are always so engaging and entertaining.
To make it more challenging, you need to come up with a theme, preferably one that matches the event. You can split the participants into teams ahead of time to build excitement, and so they’ll know who they’ll be playing against. - Online Murder Mystery
Murder mysteries are a classic at dinner parties. Why not take that idea and incorporate it into your virtual event. This activity is ideal for team building since players will need to work together to solve the mystery.
This may be a bit difficult to pull off on your own. You may want to hire a virtual event company, preferably one that specializes in murder mysteries to plan and run the event.
5 Key Tips that’ll improve your Virtual Events
– Get event software. They help with improving user experience and save your hours on preparation
– Make sure to record every session and make it available on demand. That way, both new and old guests can re-watch the event whenever they feel like it.
– The most popular and some might say the most entertaining virtual events are those that look and feel like in-person events. There are virtual tools that you can use to achieve this.
– Look outside the box for inspiration. Get inspiration from what people outside your industry are doing.
– Do all you can to make the virtual event a memorable one for your attendees. There should be lots of games and entertainment options. You can even personalize the experience to each attendee using session tracks and other tools.
– The right partner can go a long way to making your event successful. You don’t need to be a one-man army and create everything yourself. You can get sponsors to add value to the event. You can also hire virtual event production teams that’ll help you fine-tune and polish your event.
Virtual events became the norm in 2020 and will only continue in 2021. By now, most people have come to terms with the effect COVID-19 had on events. The good news is there are enough ideas on this list that your virtual attendees will love.