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Online Event Mastery - Unveiling the Most Engaging Formats

If you are still looking for the perfect format for your online event, we will tell you which ones could be hosted online and help you select the option that suits you best. For more than 13 years our company has helped organize many high-quality online events. During this time we created our OnlineExpo platform, which offers a wide range of tools for creating both hybrid (on-site) and online events. We know a lot about events that can be held online, and now we'll share what we know:

Online Marathon (learning)

An interactive event with feedback and strict deadlines that participants need to meet - send the task to the marathon leader on time, shoot a video on a certain topic on time and complete the final test task on time. Conventionally, an online marathon consists of three main blocks: teaching theory, practice on a given topic, and homework with teacher verification and feedback. During the online marathon, participants can interact with each other, and communication with the teacher can also be done via chat or, alternatively, using special virtual rooms that are offered, for example, by the OnlineExpo platform for event organizers.

You can run an online marathon before selling your main online course. An online marathon is a presentation of your activities, an advertisement of your capabilities and an indirect advertisement of your other Internet products.

Any well-organized online marathon will surely attract new potential customers. Especially if you offer to participate in it for free. And if a person is satisfied with the marathon, you will offer him the option of a full-fledged paid course, with a more in-depth and voluminous study of the topic.

Webinar

The synchronous format of an online event, in which the participants of the event simultaneously receive information that is relevant to them and can, for example, communicate with each other in real time. The entire webinar can be played in real time, and in addition, e-learning materials and information booklets can be distributed for participants to use later. In the format of a webinar, absolutely any lecture, conference or meeting can take place. Participants receive an invitation in the form of a link and gather together in a virtual room, where the online event takes place. In webinars, you can use voting, polling and testing tools with the ability to control the presence of an online listener in the session (important for medical training programs).

Virtual master class, online seminar, virtual conference, virtual presentation - all these are types of webinars.

You can use webinars to increase the loyalty of your target audience to you, as well as to expand your customer base, attracting them with new topics and informing them about your new Internet products or technologies during the webinar.

Many companies need webinars to improve the skills of their employees, for affordable distance education, to present new products and services, as well as to effectively and quickly sell these products.

Online Session

A new format within the framework of distance learning, which has already gained popularity and has taken a strong place among other online learning tools. A virtual session is, in fact, the same regular session, only taking place online. Just like all other online formats, the online session saves time and effort, enables students from other cities or countries to pass all exams and tests on time.

An online session will be useful for expanding and disseminating the services of an educational institution. If an educational institution aims to maximize the number of students, then an online session, along with online courses, will help to achieve this goal.

Thanks to the introduction of such an online format, the circle of students and teachers will significantly expand at the educational institution. This is a great economic opportunity to expand the range of their paid services. Or increase the loyalty of real and potential customers by conducting free online sessions for everyone.

Virtual Summit

This format has declared itself relatively recently. The first ever virtual summit of G20 leaders was held in 2020. The essence of this format is that many speakers gather on a virtual platform. It's almost like a virtual conference, only the scale is wider and there are more participants. Every day there are some meetings, lectures, speeches online and recorded, participants share their opinions and exchange professional information.

For the organizer, the creation of such a summit is in itself a unique and image event, which can later become a calling card. Feel free to use the virtual summit for your professional portfolio.

The result of organizing such a large-scale online event can be the acquisition of new customers who were participants in the summit, and then come back to you again to book an online event. New contacts and new professional connections are guaranteed for both organizers and participants of the virtual summit.

Online Exhibition

This is a large online event, consisting of many participants. It assumes that each participant has a virtual stand where he can place his information about products and services. Modern platforms for holding online events allow organizers to hold an exhibition in several languages ​​at once, using a built-in translator, add an unlimited number of virtual stands to the exhibition, and participants located in different countries to interact with each other in real time.

The goal for the organizers is both the image component and attracting new customers. Also, an online exhibition will significantly save overhead costs and, in general, will be cheaper and more profitable for both participants and organizers.

And the result of the success of your online exhibition will be grateful participants, recommendations and new projects, invaluable experience in developing a large online event and the prospect of holding such events regularly, attracting more and more participants and expanding your opportunities and benefits.

Online Training

The main process characteristic of this format is learning and improvement through the acquisition of new knowledge. This is the pumping of certain skills, or the development of new ones. The goal of online training will always be to fix some problem. Or, for example, a participant in an online training, together with a group, solves a certain problem that may arise in real life. All participants are involved in the training process, and this full involvement is one of the main rules of this format. Online training differs from a master class or webinar in that the participants in the process gain new knowledge and at the same time train, upgrade or master some skill. Participants complete tasks, listen to lessons, receive feedback from the coach. For the most part, online trainings have a narrow focus, their topics are very specific, and the promised results are practical. Training materials should be as concise and informative as possible so that participants can get the maximum benefit and knowledge in a minimum of allotted time.

Online Course

The main process of an online course is also learning, but the volume and scope of an online course is greater than that of an online training or master class. The latter can be part of an extensive online course program. The topics of the online course can be varied, as the format involves thorough training, so you can turn around here. Usually, high-quality online courses are relatively expensive, but since they include a lot of useful and practical information, this format of learning suits people, and they are happy to purchase it, while saving the most valuable resource of their personal time. Considering that an online course also saves a person’s energy resources (no need to leave the house, get up at a certain time, be tied to a certain place), this format can be confidently assessed as promising and relevant.

Hybrid Formats

When hosting hybrid formats, such as hybrid exhibitions or conferences, you can use online components to embed into an offline event and vice versa. The OnlineExpo platform has various technical tools for holding such formats: offline, you can use the following online add-ons: create colorful catalogs and business cards, use exhibition navigation using the iBeacon module, create excursions or walks for delegates. The service of using electronic forms for registration is also popular among event organizers. Such forms help to collect data about participants and create an electronic database of potential customers. Access control and printing of a variety of information and promotional products are also in demand. Also, for hybrid events, navigation through the speakers' program is available with the ability to ask them questions, vote, thereby being more involved in the process. In our other article, you can learn more about the rules for holding hybrid events.

We answered in detail the question "What events can be held online?". It all depends on your goals, objectives, budget and opportunities. If you want to learn more about the principles of operation of platforms for creating online events, to understand their capabilities, then you can get acquainted on our website with the online event platform OnlineExpo.

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