5 Tips for Running Your Virtual Conference

With the first half of an extraordinary year behind us, we at RAC continue to be amazed by the perseverance, performance and creativity exhibited by our portfolio companies.

With the last point of creativity in mind, it is inspiring to see how the RAC portfolio has adapted to the world in which we currently live, where the classic, in-person, high-touch (and high-cost) way of doing things is no longer possible. One such example is the move away from physical conferences to fully virtual events. In May I attended two such conferences run by each of Consensus and Ideoclick. These were staggeringly successful, with great content, attendance levels that surpassed expectations, and all executed with marketing organizations of just a couple of people.

Participating in these conferences got me thinking that many of us may be scared to attempt an event like this or not even know where to start, yet hosting a virtual conference can be a great way to reach more people, attract new customers, and generate new revenue.

With conference season approaching rapidly, I thought it may be useful to document some best practices for running such a program so that others can think about running a similar event — ideally before the end of the year.  By their very nature, virtual events carry different requirements, logistics, and challenges and I hope the outline below helps our portfolio and other software companies plan and then execute great (virtual) events.