Blog - V2V2 | Virtual Event Production Services

Virtual Meetings and Webinars – the Solution for Working Remotely

March 6, 2020 No Comment Uncategorized

Are you suddenly unable to travel to an important meeting and need to connect? Or perhaps you were in charge of planning an in-person conference that suddenly may be cancelled because some of the speakers or a majority of the attendees are unable to travel? Let V2 help! We are seasoned professionals that have been in the webinar game for over a decade.

Virtual Events and Meetings allow you to connect to your colleagues and to your audiences at anytime, anywhere. With the spreading of the COVID-19 coronavirus, many businesses may be starting to make the shift to allowing their employees to work remotely, limiting the need to travel. Working remotely and using virtual meeting platforms allows employees to stay connected to their colleagues and remain productive during this time of uncertainty.

We can help you manage the setup of your virtual event from start to finish, on the platform that best suits your needs. Just need to connect with some of your colleagues? We can help you set up meetings on WebEx or Zoom. Need to re-configure a large conference with multiple speakers? We can get you on a large scale, branded console such as ON24 or INXPO. We’ll help you set up the event, configure emails, and train your speakers on the platform so you can focus on the content and marketing to your audience. We even can help with webinar archive edits and post event archive registration, so you can drive leads to your webinar after the fact.

In a uncertain time such as this, let V2 do what we do best – focus on all the little event details so you don’t have to.

Contact our team today to learn more or get a quote!

Jessica Bradford
V2 | Virtual Event Manager

Happy New Year from the V2 Crew!

December 31, 2019 No Comment V2 Crew News

During this Holiday Season, we want to thank our wonderful clients who have made 2019 a great year. It is in this spirit that we say… Thank you and best wishes for the holidays and a very happy New Year and New Decade! Here is to a prosperous 2020 for all our valued clients and partners. V2 got to celebrate the holiday season with a few of our remote employees which was a real treat. We have many things to be thankful for in 2019, including our new Event Producer, Adam Eggleston, who brought his seasoned rock star skills to our team with many years of experience in the virtual event production field.

We shared a wondering company dinner at Renata, a delicious high end Italian restaurant in the trendy Eastside Industrial District. It was a wonderful way to bring the year to a close and celebrate our achievements as a team. Thanks to our owners, Tania and Aaron for the fun holiday dinner!

May this season bring you the gifts of peace, hope and joy. To kick off your season with some laughs, V2 made this short holiday video for your viewing pleasure.

Happiest of Holidays and New Year!
The V2 Crew

The Virtual Classroom and the Value of the Facilitator/Producer Team

November 19, 2019 No Comment Tips and Tricks , V2 Services

Virtual Classroom facilitators have a lot on their plate – not only are they trying to communicate the lesson, engage with students, and knowledge share, they have to be aware of the virtual classroom tools, and be able to manage conversations and feedback through chat, polls, online Q&A, as well as breakout discussions. When facilitators are facing this alone, they may choose to not take advantage of all of the tools available that could greatly increase interaction. They may feel overwhelmed at the production and facilitation aspects required. In this instance, without assistance, the facilitator may be then forced to lecture to the attendees with minimal interaction.

That’s where the virtual classroom producers come in – they act as the technological expert on the virtual platform so the facilitator can focus purely on the content and engage with participants. To make the producer and facilitator relationship the most productive possible, we offer the following tips:

Have the producer assist with the behind the scenes activities of participant interaction such as breakout sessions. Engaging virtual classroom events include activities that solicit information from participants especially in a breakout session debrief. In addition to handling the organizing, prepping, and ending the breakout sessions, the producer will help collect their feedback and ensure it is available during the debrief with the entire group after the individual breakout exercise has ended. The producer is also invaluable in assisting participants while in the breakouts with any audio or connection issues that may arise. Often, the producer may just need to hop into the virtual breakout room to remind the participants how to use annotation or chat tools.

Allow the producer to look out for participant technical issues and questions. If the facilitator is taking care of content and trying to process information coming from multiple places, it is helpful to have an extra person looking out for the participants. Often, this may be seeing someone has posted a question or used the raised hand feature that the facilitator may have overlooked. Virtual classroom producers can also help keep the facilitator on track if certain activities are taking up too much time.

The virtual classroom producer helps create a seamless fast paced learning environment. By being flexible the producer can add value to the class by creating polling questions, whiteboards or breakout rooms on the fly if needed should the facilitator decide those elements would better meet the needs of the individuals of that class.

Create a leader guide that specifically outlines production tasks. For example, include instructions for participating in the breakout, typing on the whiteboard, pasting text into the chat area. The guide should be very specific and cover the ‘when’ and the ‘why’ in addition to the ‘what’. This will help clearly define the facilitator and producer roles when it comes to the interactive elements of the class.

Meet a few days ahead of the live classroom to review content and planned exercises and activities. This meeting is best held in the same virtual classroom platform that will be used on the day of the live event so that the facilitator/producer team can plan exactly how things are going to work. It will also give the producer a chance to walk through all the virtual elements of the classroom with the facilitator to familiarize them with their functionality. It will also allow the producer to familiarize themselves with the content a bit prior to the session.

Establish emergency back-up procedures. What happens if the facilitator drops offline and the producer is left with the class? The answer to that question needs to be determined ahead of time. The producer should know whether to call for a break or to ask participants to complete an exercise, such as typing into chat. Also, this is the time to test that the facilitator has an excellent internet connection and phone connection, and to discuss a back-up plan if either one goes out. For instance, if their internet goes out, should the producer run the content and have the facilitator speak to it (if they can still maintain audio connection), for example.
Create a set of ground rules. The producer needs to know how to respond to participants who get to class late or leave early. For example, if someone logs on 35 minutes into the session, should the producer tell them that class has already started and provide an alternative class time? Or offer up the class recording if it is being made available?

Ensure that the producer has all participant and facilitator materials, such as pre-work, job aids, and other handouts. This will make it easier for him or her to support the facilitator and the participants.

Hold a Post-Mortem after the session is over. After the live event, share notes about what went well and what could be improved in the future.

Jessica Bradford
V2 | Virtual Event Manager

Boost your Marketing Efforts and Leverage Pre-Recorded content with Simulive Webinars

October 24, 2019 No Comment webinar marketing

We work with many presenters who are seasoned webinar speakers and feel super comfortable talking to a live audience, while others may be more shy and timid when it comes to speaking live. With a simulive webinar, presenters can record their content at their preferred time, and can listen to it prior to the live date. Pre-recording allows them to re-record and make any necessary edits, ensuring a smooth presentation free from the stress of live webinar issues that may occasionally arise. There is no need to worry about day of snafus, such as internet connection issues, sound issues, or emergencies that could prevent a speaker from showing up at all.

Simulive webinars are a great way to stretch existing or pre-recorded content in your marketing program. Running Simulive webinars gives you more freedom to schedule webinars at a date and time that best suits your audience and marketing efforts. For many global companies, scheduling speakers that often span different timezones can be difficult and may result in a late night for some!

simulive_webinar_image-1 Boost your Marketing Efforts and Leverage Pre-Recorded content with Simulive Webinars

Many webinar platforms are offering the ability to create simulive webinars that can be played back at a specific date and time. We’ve produced simulive webinars on INXPO and ON24, which both offer great options for creating simulive webinars. Both platforms allow the ability to have live Q&A at the end if desired. Often, speakers will join if able and answer questions through the Q&A panel if a live audio Q&A is not preferred. Just like a live webinar, the attendee console can be customized with branding, resources, speaker bios, and surveys.

Jessica Bradford
V2 | Virtual Event Producer

Gamification – What is it? And How can it be used effectively in your next webinar?

April 30, 2019 No Comment Technology , Tips and Tricks

You’ve probably heard the term “Gamification” by now…but are you wondering what does this really mean? How can it be used effectively in my communication with my employees and customers? Gartner defines Gamification as “Gamification is the use of game mechanics to drive engagement in non-game business scenarios and to change behaviors in a target audience to achieve business outcomes. Many types of games include game mechanics such as points, challenges, leaderboards, rules and incentives that make game-play enjoyable. Gamification applies these to motivate the audience to higher and more meaningful levels of engagement. Humans are “hard-wired” to enjoy games and have a natural tendency to interact more deeply in activities that are framed in a game construct.”

We like to think that Gartner is suggesting that gamification can be used to align your audience’s goals with your own. That is what I like to think is the main objective of incorporating gamification into your business. Applying gamification techniques into certain tasks can make them more engaging, which in turn can help your audience achieve your goal, whether it be to complete a training module or fill out a survey, as an example. Gamification creates a sense of community and touches on our need for achievement and competition. Many gamification techniques such as awards, points, and levels reinforce that feeling of achievement and make more monotonous tasks fun by receiving that reward. These techniques can lead to higher employee engagement, retention, and completion rates. Examples of gamification can be found all over. Upwork lays out several examples of gamification in several SaaS apps. For example, “Twitch is a well-known video streaming platform and a mine of gamification ideas. Leveling up, getting achievements, climbing up in the rankings, comparing your stats—Twitch successfully adapts these and many other gamification techniques:

Drops are rewards given just for watching channels on Twitch. The only thing users should do to earn it is watching broadcasts. A pretty good job in terms of user engagement.
Also, here’s a gamified motivation for users to upgrade their plans. Twitch premium members have an ability to earn in-game loot like characters, vehicles, skins, virtual currency, etc.
Moreover, Twitch goes beyond just giving badges: it enables streamers to reward most loyal viewers themselves with custom loyalty badges.”

twitch_gamification Gamification – What is it? And How can it be used effectively in your next webinar?

Incorporating gamification can be an incredibly effective tool in your webinars, whether they are e-learning based, or more of a marketing centric webinar. The big fear a lot of people have about incorporating gamification into their webinar is that it will trivialize their presentation, and from our experience, that just isn’t the case. Sure, for some presentations you may need to maintain a specific tone, but gamification doesn’t have to be silly. You can use polls for instance not only to get information from your audience, but also to engage them more, by asking them to guess, or make suggestions. Social Media, and other group collaboration tools such as breakout sessions on certain platforms like WebEx and Adobe Connect are a great way to get people engaged and learning from each other.

Need help figuring out how to integrate gamification into your next webinar? V2 is always here to help!

Jessica Bradford | Virtual Event Manager
v2crew@virtualvenues.com
503-286-3581

How to Look Good on a Webcam!

March 29, 2019 No Comment Tips and Tricks , webinar best practices

Using a webcam on large webinars or even on smaller collaborative team sessions helps you engage with your audience and your colleagues. With the use of Skype, Zoom, WebEx, and many other web and communication platforms, in combination with the fact that all laptops and tablets have built-in webcams, makes video easier than ever. We thought we would share some simple tricks to help you look your best on webcam, because let’s face it — webcam isn’t like TV – you don’t have professional lighting or a production team directing you (usually). We guarantee if you follow these simple tips you will look professional on your webcam.

Make sure you have the best internet connection possible – You don’t want your video to look choppy or pixelated because you are on a slow Wi-Fi connection. If planning on presenting or speaking on a webcam, be plugged into your modem directly, and test the webcam quality out ahead of time.
Dress professional (at least from the shoulders up!) Looking put together and well groomed, and sitting up straight – these things will make you feel confident and ready to shine.
Raise your laptop or device up so the lens is just about at the top of your head. This is the best angle, especially for the wide-angle lenses that are used in most webcams. You also don’t want to sit too close to the lens, sit back a bit as the wide-angle lens can exaggerate features a bit the closer you are.
Lighting – This is a BIG one. Make sure you are not back lit, and turn off any overhead fluorescent lights if possible. The best is to have a lamp or desk light right over your computer centered with your webcam lens. This will illuminate your face the best.
Smile, and look at the lens when you are speaking, not your video screen. It is in our nature to want to look at ourselves everyone now again but remember looking at the lens is akin to making eye contact with your audience.

Jessica Bradford
Virtual Event Manager | V2

Webinar Panel Discussions: Four ideas to make you Shine!

February 28, 2019 No Comment webinar best practices

Panel Discussions are a very popular format – you see them on talk shows, radio shows, and now podcasts. Panel Discussions are a great format to integrate into your webinars as well. Even if you aren’t doing live video where you can see the speakers talking to each other, panel discussions can work really well in an audio-visual (slides/demo) format. Below are some tips on how to make your panel discussion shine:

Consider your Audience – Gather questions/topics from your audience prior to the webinar on the registration form. This will help you hone in on the subjects that really matter to your attendees, and allow your speakers to discuss this together ahead of time and really fine tune the material and how it relates to the presentation at large.
Use Video and Images – Consider having live video of your panelists! Even if they aren’t together in the same location, people love to see the faces of the speakers. If you can’t do video, have the panelists bios and photos up on slides or in a speaker bio widget, so people can still get a visual.
Practice the hand offs and discussion flow between panelists. For panelist discussions, it is important that each speaker not only review their own material they plan to cover, but that they all practice together. In a virtual setting, if panelists are not in the same room, they won’t have the same visual cues they normally would when having a conversation.
Stick to a Timeline – Creating an outline that sticks to the allotted time can be difficult, but try to map out your time in your practices, and remember to leave time for live questions from your audience. They will appreciate you being aware of their busy schedules.

Jessica Bradford
Virtual Event Manager | V2

Wedventure Live Stream Wedding Event in Bend, Oregon

January 7, 2019 No Comment Onsite Webcasts

2018 was a busy year here at V2, and we want to share a big highlight, which was our production of the Wedventure Magazine Live Stream in beautiful Bend, Oregon! This wedding show was broadcasted live via webcast at Spoken Moto, an old restored mechanic’s shop in the Old Mill/Box Factory of Bend that houses vintage motorcycles, a hand roasted coffee bar, as well as craft beer!

wedventure_console-1024x587 Wedventure Live Stream Wedding Event in Bend, Oregon — A still from the Wedventure Live Wedding Event at Spoken Moto in Bend, OR

Wedventure Magazine is publication that is tailored to saying “I Do” in the Pacific Northwest and Southwest US. Their stories feature couples who are adventurous and love the outdoors, and want that reflected in a very special wedding. Their “thoughtfully curated magazine inspires them to go beyond the burlap and craft a wedding celebration that is uniquely them – unconventional and unforgettable, a bit wild, even,” according to the Wedventure website. Their beautiful and unique magazine features stories from couples and vendors in the central Oregon community and they offer workshops on Photography, Planning and Styling, Floral Artistry, Cake, and Videography, just to name a few.

The webcast featured some expert vendors, such as Bliss Northwest Bridal, whose focus was to bring a modern wedding experience to Bend. At Bliss, they focus on the individual bride, and feel every bride should find a dress that makes them excited, no matter what their body type. Bliss Northwest Bridal provided amazing wedding dresses for a fashion show during the webcast featuring beautiful dresses by designers Martina Liana, Grace Mariee (who is a designer from Portland, and is exclusive to Bliss Bridal), Wilderly by Allure Bridal, Allure Men’s suits, and Mikaella Bridal. Every dress in Bliss is unique and hand selected by their owner, Jen. At the end of the fashion show, the audience got to vote for their favorite wedding dress via a poll in the webcast. The winning dress was showcased in a mock wedding ceremony at the end! We highly suggest you check out the webcast archive here to see the fashion shows in action and find out which dresses were voted the favorites! In addition to the fashion shows, you’ll also get to meet two of the top wedding coordinators in the region whose experience can allow you to relax knowing everything has been handled to perfection on your special day. Sprinkled into this exciting event are some excellent regional vendors who can give you great ideas on what to incorporate in your wedding, from event spaces and catering to a truly gifted photographer, and so much more!

Some of our favorite featured vendors for this webcast was Worthy Brewing Company, who offered a great giveaway of a free keg with a booking of their venue space! If you haven’t tried their beers, it is a must! They are crafting some award winning beers here in the Northwest and offer an amazing campus for weddings and other events. Another featured vendor at the event was the Bend Beerstream – a converted airstream trailer that is now an incredible mobile bar! They customize their beer, wine and craft cocktails to go with each couples’ preferred libations. Their mobile bar can go almost anywhere, and is a great idea if you are planning your wedding in a more remote outdoor location.

From a technical standpoint, V2 worked closely with Wedventure Magazine and Bend based Production Company StoryLab Media to produce the webcast. V2 designed and hosted a custom registration page complete with payment gateway, which provided access to a custom designed webcast microsite. Viewers of the webcast were able to watch the live stream while simultaneously viewing pictures and examples from featured vendors. Interested viewers could even click on a dynamically updating resource list to visit the websites of featured vendors. Social media and group chat played a large part in the event, with an integrated twitter feed and an open chat forum within the webcast environment. We were absolutely thrilled to be part of this event, and to bring it live to people who were unable to attend in person. The webcast archive is an amazing resource for any newlyweds looking for a unique way to get hitched in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Watch the Webventure Live Event Now and discover amazing tips and vendors that can transform your upcoming nuptials.

Need a webcast production crew for your next event or even your wedding? Contact V2 at: V2crew@virtualvenues.com.

Happy Holidays from the V2 Crew!

December 28, 2018 No Comment Uncategorized

In warm appreciation of our partnership during the past year, we extend our very best wishes for a happy holiday season, and a wonderful New Year in 2019.

May this season bring you the gifts of peace, hope and joy. To kick off your season with some laughs, V2 created this short video for your viewing pleasure!

v2_jib_jab-1 Happy Holidays from the V2 Crew! — Join us in some Holiday Laughs with our Jib Jab Video!

Happy New Year!
The V2 Crew

The V2 Crew Volunteers at the Oregon Humane Society!

November 20, 2018 No Comment volunteering

The V2 Crew got some dog and cat love at our recent volunteer shift at the Oregon Humane Society.

A few weeks ago, the V2 crew was excited to once again volunteer at the Oregon Humane Society! The Oregon Humane society is our favorite animal shelter because they do amazing work around the state and the nation in getting animals adopted, and offering training and behavioral classes, which help ensure each person adopting an animal from OHS has all the resources they will need to give their dog or cat or other small animal the best home possible! They also offer a program called Spay and Save, which provides low and no-cost spay/neuter surgeries for cats owned by low-income residents in the greater Portland metro area.

In 2018 alone, the Oregon Humane Society has had 10, 542 animals adopted, with a goal of 11,000 by the end of the year! Because of their amazing donors, volunteers, adoption policies, veterinary care, and their Second Chance Program, OHS is a no kill shelter with an adoption rate of 98%! Their adoption rate is higher than any other shelter in the state, by far.

The OHS relies on a network of over 2,000 volunteers to care for the animals on everything from cleaning kennels/cages to dog walking, maintenance, socialization, adoption services, veterinary care, and training. As part of our group volunteer work, we were tasked with socialization (petting and exercising) with the dogs in the outside yards and the cats in the colony rooms. The socialization with the volunteers helps the pets get adopted faster and provides much needed attention.

We met some adorable new furry friends including Buster, pictured below, a sweet collie mix who loved to be pet and to eat some delicious homemade treats provided by OHS. Buster has been at the shelter for a few months due to a torn ACL. He is such a sweet boy, and we know he is getting amazing care and love from the staff at OHS. V2 Owner Tania Mayer also adopted a new furry friend of her own! She and her family had been thinking about adopting a kitten, and during our visit, Tania fell in love with an adorable orange tabby, that her and her family have named Waffles! Waffles and their dog Abby (who they adopted from OHS as well) are best friends! We are so happy Waffles found a home with Tania.

Keep up the amazing work Oregon Humane Society! We can’t wait to come back soon for some more furry cuddles.

Jessica Bradford | V2 Event Manager

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