Call it a blessing in disguise but, meeting and event planners have gotten to use their creative side when hosting virtual programs. This has mainly come in the form of video conference systems like Zoom, Microsoft Meetings, Skype, and more. While a virtual event seems pretty straight forward, transferring a sponsor’s or attendee’s benefits to a virtual platform is maybe not-so-straight forward. In this article, we are going to give you our best tips for adding value to your stakeholders, a lot of which are from our very own Virtual Planner Master Class. This Master Class brought together some of the brightest minds in meeting and event planning to help discuss these issues and come up with some amazing solutions. 

  1. Classes and tutorials: Online classes and tutorials offer great sponsorship opportunities and real value to event attendees. Things like cocktail mixing classes, cooking classes, or craft classes will allow your event to be more relaxed and provide real benefits to participants. 
  2. Digital sponsor ad placement: While banners and physical sponsorship apparel may seem longer lasting attendees’ minds, online banners can still make a huge impression during webinars and virtual events. Staying as a static or changing montage of banners, these can bring in more value to sponsors and your event. 
  3. Sponsor entertainment breaks: Many more online meetings and events have begun to utilize breaks in order to give attendees a chance to stretch their legs and grab another cup of coffee. During the break, you could host a small concert or another unique form of entertainment that could feature sponsors’ products and services. Or, simply have a screen with sponsor logo exposure that is displayed during the break with background music. This is an easy and fun way to build value around virtual events. 
  4. Educational opportunities: A great way to retain sponsorship value in an event is simply by educating attendees through quick company overviews and how they relate to the topic at hand. Tying in a sponsor to your event’s overall theme or mission would allow them to stay even more relevant in the minds of your audience.
  5. Integrated chat features: Specialized chat room features during, in between, or after presentations can allow your event attendees to get more involved and actively participate with other members. This doesn’t only make meetings more fun, but it also builds a level of trust and participation among people who may be more apprehensive to network from behind a computer screen. Sponsors could also be added to this feature to bring in more value. 
  6. Online games centered around rewards : Another great way to spend an online break or happy hour is to host games like trivia or team-building exercises. These will be sure to get everyone to relax more and increase participation among attendees. Sponsors could send out prizes to winners or create questions that are centered around their brands. 

Written By: Colin Jay