March 5, 2010 by Jeff Hurt
Some of you asked for the slides from today’s PCMA’s Info On The Go Webinar on Engaging Attendees Today: How to Combine Virtual and Face-to-Face Meetings.
Read Michael McCurry’s recap of the Webinar. The full recorded webinar will be available soon at PCMA’s Online Learning Center.
What questions do you have about virtual and hybrid events. What questions do you have about livestreaming? Fire away and we’ll do our best to answer them–and I suspect the community will have answers too. And share your experiences, fears and concerns about livestreaming and hybrid events too.
Filed Under: Conference Education, Hybrid & Virtual
I’ve been in the remote audience for some F2F events where I felt like a forgotten segment. Is there a rule-of-thumb for how often a moderator should acknowledge/engage the remote audience? Sometimes it feels like we’re on auto-pilot.
Jeff,
Thanks for providing this. I was not able to see the whole presentation and I was really enjoying it when I had to leave. I love the photo of me and James Spellos talking! Did not know that photo existed! You and the #EC10 team did an amazing job.
I would love to be on the #EC11 team and hopefully I will be able to sponsor someone else to be a part of the #eventprofs community onsite!
Thank you! Cameron
‘@Donna My personal rule for how often to acknowledge/engage the remote audience is that there is no rule – it should be a constant awareness! I make sure I look into the camera just as if I was looking into the face of an audience member…plus I like to use polling, open-ended question taking and other tools.
i guess I’m a little weary of virtual events just because there isnt that interaction. I understand all the positives but for me I’d still rather see and meet someone person to person. I have a question. Wiith virtual meetings how do you keep your audience engaged? Its even easier for them to get sidetracked with other “toys” online or elsewhere and the speaker has no way of knowing that their audience isnt actually paying attention.
‘@Luke Great question. So how do you know that the audience is paying attention in a face-to-facde presentation? Just because they are contained within a room sitting looking at the presenter does not mean they are paying attention. Many maybe using laptops or mobile devices during the presentation today.
There are a variety of things to do to engage your remote audience and some were mentioned in this PPT. Polling, moderated text chats during the presentation, Q & A and breaking the fourth wall are just a few. The second PPT in this post Bottom-line: Hybrid Meetings Deliver More Value lists some more ways.
Thats a really good point. I never really thought about that. It just seems to me that whenever more technology is brought into a lesson the less I feel like I am learning less either because the instructor is busy trying to fix something thats gone wrong–and something always goes wrong with technology–or I don’t get the full picture of what they’re trying to say because the technology adds one more complicated layer to the lesson.
A good facilitator will ensure that all participants are involved in the meeting, this does not matter if it is virtual or face to face. Technology does have its problems, but these can be overcome by ensuring patience and planning to minimize unforeseen problems.
‘@Howard Thanks for reading and commenting. I like your statement, “A good facilitator will ensure that all participants are involved in the meeting…virtual or face to face.” Great point.
This can be tricky if the facilitator is not experienced. I have been to many remote meetings and conferences, both with and with visuals. I guess the control and the movement of the conference must follow same patterns of past when everyone was face to face. There were good and bad meetings. That has not changed.
[…] Though you’ll get more out of this if you pop for the $25 bucks and buy the audio version from PCMA, this is a great preso from Jeff Hurt on audience engagement for hybrid and virtual events. Told mostly through the best practices at EventCamp, this covers social media, speaker training, blending remote and f2f audiences and logistics. http://velvetchainsaw.com/2010/03/05/engaging-attendees-today-how-to-combine-virtual-face-to-face-meet… […]
[…] Engaging Attendees Today: How to Combine Virtual & Face-to-Face Meetings […]
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Comment *
Name *
Email *
Website
Δ
