Keeping things fresh and exciting as the industry moves toward in-person and online engagement over the next two years is essential. Keeping remote participants happy is more important than separating virtual events from basic webinars — if their online experience is as good as their onsite experience, they might even attend in person next time.

With hybrid strategies and year-round event communities, event organizers want to capitalize on remote connectivity with successful, profitable virtual events. Take inspiration from these 13 ideas for virtual events when planning your next online event.

  1. Sessions with real-time illustrations

You can engage your audience with unique content by bringing artists on board to create live illustrations. Illustrations created live by these illustrators provide entertaining, informative, and, most importantly, widely shareable/postable graphics of panel discussions. Future marketing materials can also use these illustrations.

  1. Livestream

Entertainment doesn't have to be sacrificed just because your event is online. Virtual event entertainment can include music performances, for example. Add musical guests to several events to keep the audience engaged. A performance of some kind can help bring entertainment directly to your audience if they might be distracted by other online entertainment. In the past two years, many event entertainment companies have added virtual options to their services. They can help bring different types of entertainment to your online event.

  1. Activities that promote health

With many people suffering from mental and physical health issues over the past two years, adding wellness activities to your event is a great way to mix things up. For a change of pace, you can arrange a short workout or meditation break between sessions or have a separate stream for these activities. An exercise break at a virtual event is a great way to get everyone moving.

  1. Cooking or Cocktail Class

Having a virtual cocktail or cooking class is fun. Just invite everyone from their kitchens, and you're done. Socializing has become more difficult as the pandemic fades. Bringing remote teams together can also be a great benefit. Despite social distancing, only some social gatherings require travel. Attendees will learn some new skills while socializing and bonding in a cooking or mixology class, all from home. At the very least, provide participants with a list of ingredients to prepare the class at home.

  1. A Team Movie

Let everyone pick a movie and watch it together, even if they're not physically together. For example, you can create creative alternatives to movie nights because of the pandemic. Now more and more people realize there are other ways to enjoy movies without leaving the house. A social event like this is a nice gesture if someone intends to attend an in-person event but tests positive for Covid at the last minute. You can either stream the movie from a conference call, or everyone can watch the movie simultaneously and participate in a group chat.

  1. Use Breakout Rooms

It is possible to re-engage an audience between speakers through virtual breakout rooms at an event. Between presentations, attendees can gather in breakout rooms. Networking or collaborative activities are typically carried out with them. Breakout rooms can be pre-allocated or randomly assigned by some virtual event platforms. For each breakout room, create a slide with question prompts as the host. Assign a moderator to each room to facilitate discussion, or jump between rooms yourself.

  1. Show & Tell

Show & Tell was a favorite activity when we were kids. Even as an adult, you still feel that way - why is Instagram so popular? Sharing experiences is something people love to do! The best part about this kind of game is that it improves team communication and is also fun. Show & Tell events can easily be created by asking for specific types of pictures and creating a slideshow, giving contributors time to tell their stories. If you would like a specific picture, you must request it in advance. Your favorite vacation souvenir or your worst Christmas present, for example. The images will be displayed one by one. Everyone should have a chance to show and explain their picture for a few minutes. You can also use ready-made tools to do this live - so you don't have to mess around making slideshows.

  1. Go on a Virtual Travel Trip

Virtual tours have been set up for many landmarks and cities in the last year. Explore popular locations in other countries with your team through these new opportunities. Making trivia an interactive experience, can be done based on the trip. Choose a destination for your virtual trip. Several virtual trip sites offer virtual places. Make a list of everything you want to see and then narrow it down. The entire Route 66 might not be worth walking, but you might want to see the highlights. Create trivia questions specific to your trip using a presentation program such as Slides With Friends. It doesn't matter if they're severe or wacky. Organize an interactive virtual tour for your team.

  1. Play Charades

Playing charades in virtual meetings is easy since they already have all the necessary components. The only thing you need is a camera set up and several people who are willing to act out a few lines. A few of these prompts don't even require you to stand up! The number of people on your team should determine how many teams you need. To get charade ideas, use the charade idea generator. With Zoom's Spotlight feature, have one team member act out the word while the rest try to guess it. The most efficient way to keep the game moving is to set a timer.

  1. Minute to Win It

The fact that many game shows can easily be adapted to virtual events is one of our favorites, Minute to Win It. Giving your team a heads-up and choosing rounds with easily-findable items will be the key to the success of this game. You can choose from several Minute to Win It games, including a one-minute pack attack, cookies face, snowball fights, human dictionaries, and many others. If your team participates in the games, inform them what supplies they will require. Keep track of the time spent on each challenge by creating a presentation platform like Slides With Friends, where you can describe each challenge. Assign a representative to each challenge and divide your team into two groups. There will be one game-winner. Whichever group wins the most rounds!

  1. Remote Work Bingo

Remote work bingo can be a great activity in terms of team building and reminding team members that they are all on the same team. Here is a great remote work bingo card you can use before your next meeting if you are looking for something short and fun to play before you meet. Please send them your card if you want to play Bingo with your team while working remotely. This Bingo can be used as is, or you can create your own using the template above. Choose a caller to announce different squares at random. After each call, take a few moments to talk. The first person to complete a full row wins!

  1. Typing Speed Races

It has a way of bringing people together, and there's something about competition that brings people together. Since we all need to type anyways, why don't we make it a competition since we all have to type anyways? It would be fun to have your team compete or to type simultaneously to see who has the best score after going head-to-head. Your team should look for a program that everyone can use. There are a lot of typing games on the internet, but we prefer Type Rush, Typing Test, or Nitro Type. Race people head-to-head to see who can score the highest in the shortest time. The two racers can be highlighted by using Zoom Spotlight. Alternatively, have everyone race simultaneously and share their times afterward. The group can also be divided into teams, and whoever has the highest score as a team wins!

  1. Virtual Tasting

The virtual tastings might take more time and effort to prepare, but they will be worth your time and effort. Make sure you choose something easy to mail to your team, like chocolates, beer, or some other kind of snack they will enjoy. You need to jump on Zoom once everyone has their package and taste, critique, and repeat the process until everyone has their package. We are big fans of sharing snacks from all over the world, regardless of whether it is chocolate or anything else. Besides, chocolate is always a winner. Thousands of real-world tasting / live virtual hosted events are available. For example, Dallmann Fine Chocolates is a real-world tasting / live virtual hosted event hosting company that takes care of everything for you, including the presentation of tasting items and the packaging and shipping of those items. It has been a while since we did a virtual beer tasting, but now we're all about it. Your team can let a professional host curate your beers, send them to you, and then guide them through the tasting process while you share them with your team. It is also possible to host your own beer tasting if you are feeling ambitious. 

Conclusion

It is possible to host an online event with just a video chat or social media. The bigger the virtual company event, the more likely it will be held in a dedicated online venue space, where you can accommodate more guests and features. There is no doubt that these events are beneficial not only to your business but also to your employees. Several studies have been conducted that have found that virtual events can also boost creativity, increase collaboration between people, develop diverse relationships within the company, and enhance a positive work environment among the participants as well. The overall effect of all of this is to make your teams more cohesive. The only way to promote worker buy-in and team connections in an almost post-pandemic world is through these events.