Just as different physical buildings work best for different event and conference types, different platforms suit different virtual events. There are many good platforms to use – each will have its own benefits. At Through The I we are completely platform-agnostic, so we’ll talk to you about what the aims of your event are, and then recommend the most appropriate platform. Be cautious of virtual events companies who only work on one platform – that’s convenient for them, but it means they won’t be taking your needs into consideration, and your event could be compromised.

Organising a virtual conference requires different skills to running a physical event. With thousands of virtual events under our belt, we make sure you are fully supported in planning and in making decisions that will impact the security, vibrance, accessibility and general smoothness of your event.

Some organisations have tried just running giant video calls, which have resulted in disillusioned attendees who don’t feel like the content is for them. We treat virtual audiences like a broadcaster would treat their TV audience – capturing our viewers’ attention, using engaging content and delivery to serve the needs of both organizer and attendee, whilst understanding the pressures on everyone’s time. That’s why our background in live broadcast is such an advantage. On top of this, most platforms have extra features, such as polls and voting, as well as the opportunity to use breakout rooms, to mix in recorded content, and to manage live Q&As that actively engage the whole audience. Our knowledge, experience and creativity

For some industries the security of a platform is the most important thing. Knowing that you have experts on your side, ensuring that everything is locked down, and only visible to invited participants is essential. We are the trusted partner of many businesses in regulated industries for exactly this reason.

Engaging your team – particularly now that visits to the workplace are becoming less frequent – is vital. There’s no point in putting time, money and energy into an event which doesn’t “speak” to its participants. That’s why we work across a huge range of types of business, but some key industries we have a lot of experience in include Retail & Hospitality, Pharmaceuticals, Financial & Professional Services, Automotive , Tech, Publishing and Entertainment.

Arranging a virtual conference that really takes advantage of the technology, and truly engages and excites your attendees, takes some practice – and we’ve had plenty! It’s also important to know that you’ve got technical support on hand to ensure everything is taken care of in real-time. We’ve worked with some of the world’s biggest brands, organisations and famous faces, so you know you can trust us to make sure things go smoothly.

The digital world allows you to design the environment in a way you never could when you were looking for a physical venue:

• – Create as many breakout rooms as you like – of any size
• – Secure a fabulous keynote speaker you’d never have been able to get before
• – Present your company vision from a state-of-the-art boardroom, an aquarium, or even from space!

And there are other benefits including:

• – Less travel for attendees – so less time wasted, fewer travel and accommodation costs, and a lower carbon footprint.
• – Seamlessly mix live and pre-recorded content, so you can be sure your messaging is just right
• – Get real-time feedback, ideas and queries, so you can be confident everyone’s engaged
• – A record of everything – flipcharts used in breakout rooms, cross-functional interactions, important speeches, questions, answers and opinions can all be accessed later. Much more useful than rolls of paper and recordings from the other side of the room – and great content to roll out in a managed way to the rest of the company, partners and other stakeholders at a later date.

It’s a good idea to prerecord sections of your conference or event that wouldn’t have live engagement anyway. It allows your presenters to be confident they’ve nailed that content before you go live, and to relax ahead of any Q&A sessions, or discussion. Recording in advance is particularly important in heavily regulated industries, where you need to be completely certain of the compliance of your content. It also allows you to record in an interesting venue or workplace if that would be useful – or to ensure it’s sorted from anywhere in the world in advance, and that a dodgy signal won’t interrupt your event’s flow. We can ensure recorded elements and seamlessly blended into the live experience.

You can invite as many people as you like to a virtual conference or event. We work with some platforms which allow unlimited numbers to access the content, and regularly run conferences for thousands of people, in many countries at once. We can also facilitate plenty of break-out spaces, so even large events can allow participants to choose their content, and personalize the experience.

This is where experience really counts. We’ve spent over 20 years running virtual events, from Facebook’s first livestream, to political debates, and the first virtual Papal Mass for millions. We know what checks to do in advance, how to brief presenters, and which technology can be trusted to deliver your important messages. The best way to ensure your event goes smoothly is to lean on a partner with plenty of experience.

A hybrid conference or event gives you the best of both worlds – it allows you to have a live audience attending the event,  and to enable those who can’t get there to join for all or part of the time, and to be truly engaged, and part of the audience when they do. Hybrid events are often used when a wider audience is invited to a particular bit of a conference, or to enable attendance by people the physical experience just wouldn’t be possible to attend. They can span country and continental borders, and provide accessibility that an in-person event never would. Hybrid conferences can be run from our studios, from your company boardroom, or from a larger physical events venue such as a hotel or theatre.

Running a virtual event or conference tends to be much more cost-effective than running a physical event. It saves on travel, accommodation and catering costs – both for speakers and for participants. It also save the time that is taken in preparing venues and in traveling to attend. Whilst all organisations these days have access to video-conferencing software, running a large event that is engaging. Inspiring, and you can be confident of going without technical hitch, needs experience. That’s where we come in. To work out exactly what the costs would be for the type of event you’d like to run, get it touch and let’s get talking.