An online conference is a large virtual event with a big target group and a number of sessions in a combination of different formats (e.g. plenary sessions, workshops, lectures) that take place over several hours to several days.
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Virtual conferences became popular due to the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to replace already planned events and avoid their cancellation. Similarly to in-person conferences, the aim is to bring together a big group of experts and people interested in the same topic, and to enable exchange on several levels.
The target group is large, sometimes reaching hundreds of participants from all over the world.
In virtual conferences, there is a large variation in the extent of interaction depending on the type of format. Similarly to an in-person conference, the program of a virtual conference consists of several events. It usually starts with an opening event in plenary, for example, featuring a keynote speaker. The program might continue with several sessions, taking place in parallel, with different moderators or lecturers, but further plenary sessions with all participants might also be planned.
The moderation of the different events follows the design of other formats introduced in this navigator. For example, plenary sessions could be planned and moderated like an online seminar or an online lecture, both of which address a potentially large audience. On the other hand, the design of smaller sessions might resemble formats like classroom trainings, or workshops.
One of the main challenges in planning and implementing online conferences is to get (and keep) participants connected and to assure a smooth navigation throughout the different (types of) sessions.
In in-person events participants prepare themselves for the conference at the latest when they start travelling to the event site. For virtual conferences, an important number of participants start to prepare themselves for the conference when they search for the online access minutes before the start of the conference.
It has proven helpful to develop a website as it is typically done for an in-person conference. The conference website not only provides some background information and the possibility to register, but also shows the program.
Links to the respective events should be included directly in the program, assuring a smooth navigation. Set up a separate session for each event, and link to it on the website, so that participants can easily find their way to the correct virtual meeting room. Be aware that not all participants are familiar with all the online tools.
To make sure that the technical requirements are fulfilled for participants to access the conference events, a technical onboarding of participants in advance has proven to be helpful, i.e. the opportunity to access the tools used prior to the conference. These technical onboarding possibilities should preferably be offered first the week before the conference, in order to be able to adapt or improve the online access of participants (e.g. in a worst-case scenario it could turn out that the chosen tool is not suitable for the participants e.g. of a specific country), and then again, the day before the workshop (the latter announced only 3 to 4 days before the workshop). It is also recommended to provide a point of contact or a technical hotline during the conference to support visitors in case they encounter technical problems.
The methods used in an online conference depend on the types of sessions planned. The methods will be different for plenary sessions with a big audience and for small group sessions with only a few participants. Again, please refer to other formats presented in the navigator, like online seminars, lectures, workshops or classroom trainings.
Organizing an online conference takes substantial amount of time, similarly to an in-person conference. Usually, the preparation will start months before the conference takes place.
The conference itself can be a one-day event, or stretch over several days. The longer the conference is, and the more diverse tools are used, the more complex the preparation will be.
Compared to an in-person conference, the budget for virtual conferences is smaller. For example, there are no expenses for venue rent or catering. However, expenses for software should be budgeted in. Some tools might come with license fees. Please consider that some tools have different price levels depending on the number of users. Still, license fees will never come close to the costs of an in-person conference.
Organizing an online conference requires dealing with a variety of tools and apps. Some required tools are:
The organizing team putting together an online conference is big. At a minimum, it includes the following roles: