8 Questions to Ask When Selecting a Conference Platform

Virtual Conferences have been around for quite some time now. Companies of all kinds & sizes utilize them to bring people together to discuss issues of importance & allow meaningful collaborations. They are also used to host informative, specific sessions on a particular topic pertaining to the industry they’re in.

Educational institutions too, use virtual conferences to get in touch with their students and help them understand the basics of a certain topic or subject.

In the current era of remote learning & online classes, virtual conferences have gained even greater importance.

Their applications are huge, so is their number in today’s times.

Ever since the COVID pandemic made it almost impossible to host physical events, virtual conferences, webinars, & virtual events have taken the centre stage in the event industry.

And their numbers just keep increasing every day!

In light of these facts, many virtual conference platforms have come up, each offering a different suite of services geared towards providing event organizers with the best experiences.

However, making the choice between these virtual conference platforms can prove to be difficult sometimes. This is especially true if the organizers don’t know just what to look for in each of the platforms.

In such cases, asking some well-informed questions usually helps. Below, we tell you the 8 questions you should be asking when you’re vetting your options for a virtual conference platform.

What kind of branding options do they provide?

Branding options are important when you’re hosting a virtual conference. You need a virtual conference platform that helps you customize your conference environment and gives you dynamic branding options.

Some Virtual Conference Platforms give you the option to fully customize and have complete control over your entire attendee experience at the virtual conference.

Right from attendee backgrounds, branded logos, & customized color themes for the virtual conference environment, they allow you to choose how you want everything to look!

This question is important to understand if the virtual conference platform of your choice provides you with adequate branding & customization options or not.

Since a standardized, uninspired, & templatized virtual conference can quickly put off your attendees, making them unlikely to retain any information from it.

Branding & customization options in a virtual conference platform also help you feature your sponsors’ logos along with your own, & help you fulfill your sponsorship agenda as well.

Which of the pricing options are the best for you?

Most virtual conference platforms come with pricing options that help you host different kinds of virtual conferences. Each of the pricing options consists of specific features that give you a certain degree of control over your virtual conference, along with various types of customization & branding features.

And even though you might be tempted, at first at least, to choose the pricing option just above the basic plan. You should carefully consider each of the options & compare the various features, customization options, & branding opportunities they contain.

Asking this question to each of the virtual conference providers you’re considering helps you understand which pricing options provide you with the best customization & branding options for your conference.

It also helps you see which of the packages provide you with the best virtual conferencing features & attendee experience.

What are the unique features that your virtual conferencing platform offers?

Despite all of your planning & expertise, if your virtual conference doesn’t contain adequate features that don’t support attendee experience & networking, it won’t leave a mark on them.

This makes selecting the right virtual conference platform for your conferences even more important to ensure good ROIs & outcomes.

You should ask the virtual conference platform providers which features help make their solution unique & indispensable.

You should ask if the virtual conference platform provides crucial attendee networking & interaction features like live chat, one-on-one video conferencing, interactive presentations, note-taking, & information sharing options or not.

Remember that the easier you make it for your attendees to communicate & collaborate with each other effectively, the more likely they are to find it useful & helpful.

What are the analytics & reporting tools that the virtual conferencing platform provides?

Analytics & reporting is an essential part of your virtual conference strategy. Relevant, informative conference analytics & reporting tools help you see the actual real-time impact of your conference on your attendees.

Based on your exact conference KPIs, you can decide which analytics & reporting tools you might need & which ones help provide you with the most useful data.

Information like attendee session timings, participation in live chat & other networking options, ease of navigation, information sharing numbers, dropout numbers, etc. are all important data sets you should look out for in your virtual conference.

These tools also help you modify your conference strategy dynamically to better suit your attendees’ needs & requirements, all depending on the kind of customization options the virtual conference platform offers.

Asking this question helps you understand the kind of reporting & analytics features that the virtual conference platform provides.

Will the attendees be able to attend the virtual conferences from any device of their choice?

It’s important to remember that your attendees will be participating in your virtual conferences from a variety of devices.

These include mobile phones, tablets, desktop computers, & laptops.

Choosing a virtual conferences platform that supports each one of these devices & lets your attendees have the best experience with any of these devices, is essential to ensuring a successful virtual conferences.

Asking this question lets you understand if the virtual conferences platform you’re considering supports all the devices that your attendees might use or not.

Will they have to download a separate app or install a specific plugin to attend the virtual conferences?

Some virtual conferences platforms come in a software-based format, which means that your attendees will need to download an app or install a specific plugin to access the conference.

Others are browser-based, cloud solutions that don’t require your attendees to download any specific software, app, or install any plugins on their browser.

With such virtual conferencing platforms, your attendees can easily tune in to the conference by clicking on their particular invite links and entering their respective credentials, with any browser of their choice.

Depending on the agenda & the nature of your virtual conferences, this distinction might be of utmost importance to your attendees, or not matter at all. However, it still pays to keep it in mind & ask this question to the virtual conference platform providers.

How secure is the virtual conferencing platform and what measures it takes to safeguard attendee information?

In these times of increased reliance on virtual conferencing platforms & other digital solutions, security has been at the forefront of most discussions.

Keeping your attendees’ information safe & secure from prying eyes is now more important than ever.

Based on the kind of KPIs you have set for your virtual conferences, your security needs from the virtual conference platform will differ.

However, it’s important for the virtual conferences platform to safeguard your attendees’ information from third-party attacks, & comply with GDPR privacy & security laws.

A recognized ISO certification is also a must for an efficient, secure and best virtual conferencing platforms.

Asking this question helps you understand the exact privacy & security options that the virtual conference platform of your choice provides.

Does the virtual conferencing platform provide content archiving & live streaming options?

Although Virtual conferences are live for a limited amount of time, organizers can leverage their impact for any length of time.

Ask if the virtual conferences platform gives you the option to access the virtual conferences even after it is over. Also, ask if the platform conducts live session recordings of the conference to help you utilize its contents later.

Whether or not it provides on-demand availability of the virtual conferences content, should also factor in your decision.

Also, ask if the platform provides simulive options to help you live stream your virtual conferences simultaneously on various channels.

The latter might prove to be especially helpful if you’re planning to host a multi-day virtual conference with several sessions over its entire duration.

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