How to make the most out of your virtual social events

Lots of event hosts reach out to us and ask if we have any advice on how to host a successful virtual event. Of course, our tips always depend on your group type and what your audience is most interested in, but we do have some that are universal. Read along and get ready to step your virtual events up a notch.

How to make the most out of your virtual social events

First things first: stay calm

Never take this one for granted. No matter the size of your audience or who they are - it is easy for us to get nervous. Just relax and make sure you get a chance to enjoy the event yourself! If you have everything planned and under control (whether you do it all by yourself or with the help of a professional event planner) there’s no reason to panic. Especially if you are using the right virtual event platform.

If you have good software, a good internet connection, an engaged audience, and a way to monitor how the virtual social event is going, there’s no reason to worry.

Choose the right software

We cannot stress this enough. Choosing the right video meeting platform will make or break your virtual social event. There are plenty to choose from, and they’ll all give your event a different vibe, so make sure you do some research before you commit to one.

Don’t choose one just because it is what everyone uses. Stepping out of your comfort zone is a good idea. It changes things up, makes your event more interesting, and is refreshing to your audience.

Double-check your tech

It happens to all of us. A virtual meeting or online event is about to start, and your microphone or camera simply stops working. One way to take care of this is to log in a few minutes before. Simple. You really can’t check too many times - we recommend you log in a few days before, in addition to the day of.

If you are hosting a virtual social event on Toucan and want our help, just reach out. We can help you out every step of the way.

Choose the right time

As a remote and widely distributed team, sometimes we struggle with syncing schedules and finding good times to meet. Though this isn’t a problem because we’ve been doing this for over 2 years, once in a while, there’s an event that we need everyone to attend. There are a few windows that we’ve discovered work for us. Generally, late morning PT/late afternoon GMT works well for such events.

Be mindful of your audience and where they might be. Some people might not show up because the time is just not right for them. Fun fact: We once hosted a Game Night that ended up being night, midday, and breakfast at the same time for people around the world. That was really cool, and everyone had so much fun.

Also, remember that different countries have different holidays. Make sure you don’t accidentally schedule something for a day when lots of people are out celebrating.

👏 Promote 👏 promote 👏 promote 👏

All event hosts (virtual, hybrid, or in-person) prefer to have a good turnout. But how do you maximize the chances of getting the turnout you want? By promoting it as much as you can. And by doing it sooner rather than later.

Start by sending out invites (via email, or DM). Share it on your social media channels. Talk about it with people (word of mouth is SO important!). The more people you invite and that are exposed to your event, the better chance you have of attaining your target number of attendees.

Automate as much as you can

Automation can and should be your friend. People won’t go to your virtual social event if they don’t remember to do so. It’s a good practice to start promoting an event as soon as possible, but you don’t want to do it so early that your attendees forget about it.

Our tip is a-u-t-o-m-a-t-e. Pick a platform that sends email reminders out for you. There are a bunch: Mailchimp, Eventbrite, and Luma. Or you can do it manually - which is fine if you are hosting a relatively small get-together.

And just like that, you have one less thing on your to-do list!

Send out a post-event message to your attendees

Once your virtual event ends, make sure to follow up. People love to feel appreciated, so send a message to thank them! This is also your opportunity to provide a recap of the event, as well as any materials or resources you want your attendees to see.

Get creative with outside tools!

Here are a bunch of very different tools that you can use to make the most out of your social virtual event:

For virtual backgrounds: ChromaCam, ManyCam

For filters: Snap Camera

For polls: Poll Everywhere, Slido!

Games: Jackbox Games,  Kahoot

Gifts: Sugarwish

Allow your attendees to connect with one another.

The easiest thing you can do as a host is to bring a bunch of interesting people together, who share a common interest. Once they get to talking amongst themselves, your job as a host gets significantly easier; no matter what kind of programming you build into the event, your attendees are going to remember the people they met and the conversations they had most. And this is a great thing! If your attendees become friends with one another, they’ll think extra highly of you and your events.

This is what Toucan does particularly well. Because it’s a platform designed for networking, meeting and developing genuine relationships with others is easy. And this benefits hosts, too. A community grows and strengthens from the inside out, from real relationships among members.

You may be interested in…

Toucan’s Homepage - here.

Not sure how to get started with Toucan? Well, you can find everything you need to know here.

How does Toucan feel? It feels GREAT. But you can experience it here, without creating an account.

Questions? We might have the answers for them here.

If you can’t find an answer, just send us an email: info@toucan.events

Looking for help with planning and executing your event? Shaily’s here to help! Send her an email: shaily@toucan.events.

Want some more tips & ideas! Go to our blog. It’s fun!