How are virtual events giving way to the new roles?

The virtual event is the new reality for the event industry. Event planners are now recognizing this fact and are ready to adapt to these new changes. This drastic shift to virtual events has brought a new wave of practices- both in terms of event technology and skillsets required. In this article, we will cover various new roles emerging in virtual events because of recent changes. We have already discussed the 3 Ms of virtual event planning, i.e., manage, market, and monetize. The emerging roles have been categorized accordingly-

Category 1-

In this category, we have various roles that are responsible for management during the virtual event.

• Virtual Event moderator-

A virtual event moderator is responsible for interpreting audience feedback and receiving questions from different channels. In-person events also have event moderators but here, this role becomes more important. There are so many sessions during a virtual event, all of them on a virtual interface. It’s important to keep a real-time track of audience involvement and interactions and take needful actions. A clumsy approach to this role can have direct effects on the overall event experience.

• Customer experience manager-

Customer experience management is another role that is concerned with attendees’ experience but this isn’t limited to the event duration. A customer experience manager takes care of the attendees’ entire journey. From pre-event engagement, and onboarding to final feedback and retention of attendees for future editions- the purview of this role is comparatively bigger.

• Live feedback manager-

While virtual event moderator is concerned with communication happening within the virtual event, that isn’t sufficient. Apart from that, the digital presence of virtual events also includes so many different social media channels. A live feedback manager is responsible for tracking the social media buzz for the event. Some event attendees might get to social media to post any issue related to the event. A live feedback manager can address such queries in time and take prompt actions. You can also allocate him a virtual reception within the event where attendees can put real-time issues that they face during the event.

Category 2- 

In this category, we have covered the roles which will help in the ‘marketing’ of the virtual event.

Virtual Marketing manager-

As virtual events are gaining prominence in the industry, so is their marketing. This has given way to some highly specialized roles such as virtual marketing manager. From creating buzz for the event to increasing attendee exposure, a virtual marketing manager has got many tasks in the bucket. All of this is done through various marketing campaigns.

Digital analytics manager-

Virtual events rely on the digital presence of the event-goers. This makes digital marketing the best way to reach out to potential event-goers. However, it needs the right insights and data-driven approach to be effective. Therefore, The role of the digital analytics manager becomes important for overall marketing to be successful.

Category 3-

In this category, we have listed all the roles that are concerned with the monetization of the virtual event-

• Sponsorship manager-

Sponsorship is the most basic way of how you generate revenue. A sponsorship manager is responsible for generating and managing sponsorship leads for the virtual event. The role of a sponsorship manager doesn’t end with attracting sponsors. It’s important for him to ensure that it is a mutually beneficial arrangement form both sides and that sponsors are getting value out of their investment. This becomes important in the long run and helps in retaining sponsors for further editions.

• Digital analytics manager (on-event interactions)–

This role particularly deals with the interactions that happen during the event. Virtual events allow you to keep track of all such interactions. The insights drawn may be used for enhancing attendee engagement and event experience. Sponsors and advertisers also seek proper metrics to measure the value they’re getting out of the investment. Thus, Virtual event analytics is also a means of ensuring monetization.

Other important roles- 

As event technology is now impacting events more than ever, the role of event technologists is in high demand. With the new wave of virtual events, this trend is only going to increase-

• A virtual event technologist will be responsible for determining the right tool as per the nature of the event. All further customizations will also be under his/her guidance.
• It is a must for event technologists to be aware of the latest event-tech practices going on in the virtual world. Moreover, They must keep a track of event-tech suppliers available in the market and the pricing of the tech solutions.
• Many event organizing firms are going to extend this role further to learning and development. This means that it will be the responsibility of event technologists to educate the event staff regarding product interface.
• Event planners can either have in-house event technologists for virtual events or the role can be outsourced.

From the above discussion, it is clear that there are many new roles emerging in the event industry which are very specific to the virtual event ecosystem. It’s not just these roles, the industry is witnessing many such unprecedented changes amid COVID-19 changes. Post-COVID era is surely going to be different. As an event planner, you must ensure that you make yourself comfortable with these changes to stay relevant. Request a free demo of FLOOR with our event experts-