For those seeking to reshape strategy in line with a changed economy or strengthen their primacy in the ever-developing digital world, virtual conferences provide a tantalizing alternative that foregoes face-to-face interaction in exchange for some distinct advantages.

Potential cost savings: Virtual events eliminate the need for team travel and hotel costs, and they save you from booking a snazzy venue. They might also pose less interference on staff productivity: There is no travel time, and team-member involvement can be easily ramped up or down during the day of the event as needed.

That said, virtual events certainly aren't free, and ancillary charges for additional attendees or extra features can quickly up the investment, so a full evaluation is necessary to calculate your true savings.

Broader reach: Given the absence of travel costs, there are fewer limitations on who can attend. Moreover, several virtual conferencing technologies allow the virtual environment to be translated into multiple languages so that a more global audience can be served.

Most platforms also make event content available on demand for months following the conference; as a result, scheduling conflicts or other emergencies have less of an impact on total attendance, and additional prospects can be reached over time.

Data tracking: It's much easier in the virtual world to identify who attends, how long they engage, and how and where they interact during the event—valuable information both for exhibitors and for the event host.

A smaller carbon footprint: Of course, less travel all around also contributes to a healthier environment and signifies a company's commitment to the larger global community.

In many ways, virtual conferences require the same level of effort as physical events:

• There's still a need for strategy and selection of a theme.
• In-demand content, knowledgeable speakers, and awareness-generating promotions all continue to play important roles.
• Paid sponsorship becomes perhaps even more imperative as market forces trend toward a free-attendance model.
• Finally, just like a physical event, putting it all together takes ample planning and time.

Though the technology itself can be up and running within a week or two, production of a well-organized virtual conference event requires a minimum of 60-90 days, according to Malcolm Lotzof, CEO and cofounder of virtual event solution provider InXpo.

But there are distinguishable differences in how these types of events are planned and carried out—and the technology is just the beginning. The following insights will help you effectively navigate that process.

1. Selecting a platform

Assuming you're confident that your target market or industry will be open to participating and engaging on a virtual conferencing platform, one of your first tasks will be to identify the appropriate technology solution for your needs. Reputable candidates include InXpo, On24, Unisfair, and Webex. Your consideration process should assess whether their solutions meet your requirements around the following criteria:

• Functionality and ease of use: Determine which interface and interactive elements (such as text chat, surveys, etc.) will provide for an enjoyable—and intuitive—experience for your team, exhibitors, and attendees.
• Scalability: Verify whether the customized platform can be readily augmented if more attendees show than planned, whether there would be any downtime involved in such an instance, and how your pricing would be affected as a result.
• The registration process: Some vendors may handle the registration process for you but require access to your internal database to make that happen. You need to decide whether that tradeoff is acceptable or you'd prefer handling registration in-house.
• Reporting capabilities: Find out ahead of time what types of data will be collected, whether you'll receive raw data or summary information, whether reports can be customized, and how accessible that data will be for your sponsors.
• Turnaround time: As noted earlier, platform customization will likely require far less time than the actual planning of the event; nonetheless, you'll want to know what to expect in terms of timing, as well as how soon after the event content will be made available on demand.
• Level of support: Especially on your first run, the virtual event stands to be an unfamiliar experience for most involved. There will be questions. There will be unanticipated challenges. But what you can establish ahead of time is the level of support provided by the vendor before, during, and after the conference. Find out what kind of documentation the vendor provides, whether it offers training (for your team, and for your exhibitors) and there are any costs involved for training and support, and how many vendor representatives will be dedicated on the day of the event to handle any backend issues.