These COVID times have brought on a lot of fear when planning live or virtual events. For live events, it's the fear of getting sick, not having enough people, or even being sued. But for virtual events, the fear is largely the unknown - having this new learning curve and suddenly not being able to do something "the way you've always done it."

Today, Richard and Angela shared some of their tips for getting over that fear factor and diving right into a successful virtual event when it's outside of your comfort zone.

• Understand that it's just like learning to swim. Dive in, get wet, and keep moving. 
• Test it in-house - get employees to jump on your Zoom events and practice, practice, practice.
• Practice with your keynote speakers as well. Have run-through sessions so you are able to test the cameras, the slides, polls, and any other interactive materials they use for their virtual presentation.
• Attend a lot of sessions. See what you like, and what you don't like. Take notes and ask for feedback. 
• Lastly, research different platforms. There's nothing worse than having a virtual platform go down in the middle of a presentation because it couldn't handle the number of users, so be sure the platforms you choose can accommodate your group size. 

The moral of the story is - Practice makes perfect! Virtual meetings are here to stay. While we will likely (hopefully) see more live events return in 2021, most will also incorporate a virtual component. So dive in, practice now, and prepare for the future of meetings.