Author Archives: Paola Magni

5 Online Events Ideas For Internal Meetings

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Most guides to online events focus on engaging customers or growing an audience. Those are worthwhile goals that are well worth pursuing. Focusing all of your online events on external groups carries a risk: your employees may become disengaged and withdraw their best contribution.

The High Cost of Low Engagement

There is plenty of research on the value of encouraging high employee engagement. In brief, high employee engagement means staff brings enthusiasm, new ideas, and creativity to their work. On the other hand, low engagement means employees are focused on doing the bare minimum to get by. 

In the past, employee engagement discussions focused on motivation and productivity. There are new dimensions to employee engagement given our experience over the last few years – well-being. According to new Gallup research, only 24% of employees feel that their employees care about their overall wellbeing. 

Feeling cared for has significant benefits for organizations. Employees who feel their employers care about their wellbeing are 69% less likely to be searching for a new job. Further, these employees are 71% less likely to experience significant burnout. 

Driving high employee engagement and well-being requires multiple strategies, including events. If your organization has a hybrid or remote workforce, you need online events ideas for internal meetings.

Online Events Ideas for Internal Meetings For Growth

These online event concepts are powerful tools to inspire your employees to pursue challenging goals.

1. Virtual Annual Sales Meeting

Annual sales meetings are a proven way to engage your salesforce. These events typically involve a compelling keynote speaker, presentations from executives, and insights to help salespeople succeed, rather than flying in employees from multiple locations.

To make your event memorable, use these tips:

Feature An Exciting Guest Speaker.

The right guest speaker can fill your sales reps with inspiration and tactics. For example, you might invite Jeb Blount to speak to your team about prospecting, negotiation, or other sales skills.

Offer Customer Data Insights.

Your most successful sales reps probably understand your customers deeply. What 

about the rest of your sales team, especially the new hires? They may not know your customer base as well. To give your sales team a leg up, equip them with insight from your customer data platform.

With the Arena customer data platform in place, you can identify critical patterns in customer behavior. For example, you might find that industrial customers typically read two ebooks before they join a sales call. In that case, you can suggest your salespeople adjust their efforts to reach out to the right prospects.

2. Giving Company Awards In An Online Event

Recognition is one of the most enduring human motivations. Paying your employees well is just the start of recognition. You can also make employees feel appreciated by giving them awards. A company awards event can work well online.

To maximize engagement in your awards events, you can use a few techniques.

Offer Prizes.

A plaque or trophy is significant, but offering a prize can make the award even more memorable. For example, you might offer a gift card to the best restaurant or hotel in town so your winner can have a memorable night out.

Be Specific When Giving Awards.

The public praise you receive upon receiving an award makes the experience much sweeter. Ask your event moderator to prepare a short speech of 30-60 seconds describing some of the award winner’s specific achievements (e.g., completing a complex IT project on time or exceeding sales quota)

3. New Leadership Online Event

The arrival of a new CEO means change. Employees will want to know about the new leader’s personality, goals, and background. Meet these expectations effectively by organizing an online event.

With this type of online event, strike a balance between the leader making a presentation and allowing plenty of time for employee questions. It is best to use Arena Live Chat to manage the question and answer session in a larger event. Arena includes content moderation capabilities so that you can avoid off-topic questions.

Online Events Ideas for Internal Meetings for Well Being

The above online events ideas are powerful to stimulate ambition and productivity. However, that type of event is not appropriate for every context. If your employees have been burning the midnight oil to meet a challenging deadline, your staff may have other needs. It’s more than possible that employee well-being has suffered. 

4. Diversity and Inclusion Virtual Event

When employees feel mistreated or discriminated against, they are less likely to thrive. Planning an annual online event related to your diversity and inclusion goals can make a big difference. 

There are different ways to structure this type of event. You might highlight specific inclusion efforts, such as efforts to promote women and people of color into management positions. Alternatively, you might share a progress update regarding your organization’s diversity goals.

Data and metrics are not enough to make this type of event successful. It’s also powerful to feature stories from your employees and leaders. For example, invite employees to share stories about facing discrimination and overcoming those challenges.

Advancing diversity and inclusion goals, especially when new to your organization, can provoke questions and controversy in some cases. Give your team members the chance to ask questions and seek clarification using Arena Live Chat.

5. Stress Management Online Event 

An online event focused on healthy stress management techniques can go a long way to helping employees feel better. Assuming you plan for a 60-minute online event, there is a limit to how much you can cover. 

Therefore, you might want to organize a quarterly event series covering different topics. This quarter, you might cover breathing exercises and meditation. Next quarter, you might focus on practical ways to set boundaries at work (e.g., start time, end time, and no weekend email). 

Bring Your Internal Meeting Event Idea To Life

There are all kinds of ways you can use online events ideas to inspire your workforce. You can introduce new leaders, give out awards and help employees improve their well-being.

An idea is not enough to create transformational results. You need specific techniques to plan your event’s content and technology so that everything runs smoothly. Download your copy of Arena’s live events ebook to learn how to plan and execute an engaging event in less than a week.

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Online Events Ideas for Companies: Boost Team Engagement

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Online events for companies inspire you to bring together your employees, customers, and communities. You no longer have to start from the blank page when planning online events.

Online events ideas for companies: Team Building 

Spending time and effort on team building is well worth the effort. Team building helps employees view each other as three-dimensional people with various interests, quirks, and skills. With better trust and relationships, productivity will increase.

1) Virtual Happy Hour

  • Planning Effort: Low
  • Impact: Low

Coming together to share drinks is a tried and tested way of forging connections in the business world. When you take this concept into the online context, some adjustments are necessary. You might want to ship a gift card to employees so they can buy their preferred drink to make a big impression.

As far as online events go, a virtual happy hour is simple and easy to plan. Since the event is simple and unstructured, it is a good starting point if you are new to running online events.

2) Virtual Meditation Class

  • Planning Effort: Medium
  • Impact: Medium

Many employees struggle to manage stress effectively. This type of online event can ease the burden of heavy demands on your staff. Even the Mayo Clinic has stated that meditation is a simple, fast way to reduce stress.

Organizing a virtual meditation session is relatively simple. Seek out a meditation teacher with experience running virtual sessions for business audiences. Remember that many, if not all, of your employees might be inexperienced with meditation, so we recommend taking a beginner-friendly approach.

3) Virtual Cooking Class

  • Planning Effort: Medium to High
  • Impact: Medium 

Cooking is a life skill that most people want to improve. You probably have a few go-to recipes that you use repeatedly. Why not challenge yourself and your team to learn something new in the kitchen? Organize a virtual cooking class to learn something new.

Depending on your approach, the type of online event requires a few hours to a few days of planning. At its simplest, you could ask an accomplished chef or baker on your team to lead the event. 

Alternatively, you can also hire a cooking instructor to deliver a session. For example, Sur La Table in New York offers virtual cooking classes for $29 per household. The organization offers classes in preparing salmon, pasta, pastries, and more.

Aside from the event team, your employees will also have to put in some effort to prepare. For the best results, focus on easy recipes that can be prepared in 30 minutes or less.

This type of virtual event has the potential to foster significant connections between your team. It gives everyone a chance to step away from the keyboard and make something. This kind of online event also lets participants involve all five senses! Make sure you include Arena Live Chat so that employees can easily ask for help and share their experiences.

4) Virtual Speed Networking

  • Planning Effort: Low
  • Impact: Low

As you explore different online events ideas for companies, it is crucial to tailor the idea to your company’s situation. If your company has recently hired many remote employees, that is an important reality to consider. Newly hired employees are less likely to have developed the internal networks and knowledge necessary to get ahead.

Organizing a virtual speed networking event is an excellent way to kickstart employee connections. The event format is simple. 

Schedule the event for 60 minutes and organize five ten-minute sessions. At the end of each 10-minute session, rotate people into a new meeting room. Break the ice by giving attendees a few starter questions (e.g., when did you join the company, your favorite movie, and what do you like doing outside of work)?

5) Virtual Murder Mystery

  • Planning Effort: Medium
  • Impact: Medium

Mysteries and detective stories – everything from Agatha Christie to Batman – have been famous for decades. These stories have human drama, clues, and intriguing puzzles to solve. To bring your team together, plan a virtual murder mystery online event!

For a hands-off approach, work with a facilitator like Detective Ness. Alternatively, you can run the session yourself by buying a kit like the Little Rock Horror Shop Murder! A virtual murder mystery event has outstanding team-building potential because you need to work together to solve a problem, analyze clues and ask good questions. 

6) Virtual Volunteer Event

  • Planning Effort: High
  • Impact: High

Corporate volunteering events have a long history of fostering team building while making the world better. At first, organizing a virtual volunteer event might feel tough. After all, you can’t exactly come together to paint a house, clean a yard or easily complete other tasks. Don’t worry; there are several ways to make this format work for you

The first option is to structure the virtual volunteer event as a celebration. With this approach, you’ll invite employees to spend a day volunteering with a local organization they love. Encourage them to take photos if permitted. A few days later, invite the volunteers to join an online event where they share photos and observations about their volunteer experiences.

As an alternative, you can also virtually perform some types of volunteer work! In this situation, think about your employees’ skills and which skills could be shared in a virtual context. For example, your employees might tutor students in math or English. Alternatively, you might offer a new immigrant networking session to help recent arrivals build connections. 

7) Virtual Holiday Event

  • Planning Effort: Medium
  • Impact: Medium

The holidays are an excellent time to bring together people for a celebration. For example, you might organize a virtual Halloween party close to October 31 where employees can show off their favorite costumes. Further, some companies plan a virtual Worksgiving event close to Thanksgiving to thank their employees. 

There is a critical nuance to scheduling a virtual holiday event: timing. You don’t want employees to feel compelled to show up for an event on Christmas Day or another official holiday. Instead, schedule your event about two to five days before the holiday.

From Online Events Ideas To Reality

Finding one or two live events ideas is just the beginning. Aside from simple events like a virtual happy hour, most of the best online events ideas for companies require planning, a team, and the right mix of technology. You’re not alone in this journey, though – download the Arena Live Events ebook to learn how to plan, promote, and run a successful online event.

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6 Online Events Ideas for Sports Publishers

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Online events ideas for sports publishers are fast becoming one of the best ways to keep website audiences engaged. Use these online event ideas for inspiration – pick one or two that fit your team’s capabilities.

Six Online Events Ideas for Sports Publishers

1) Pre Game Online Events

Major sports publishers have long published stories and coverage before major games and competitions. For example, pre-game coverage for the Super Bowl is a staple of football coverage. To grow audience engagement, plan to offer pre-game online events. 

Here are two ways to plan your pre-game online events:

Interview A Player

Reach out to well-known players and interview them live during the online events. If a live interview is unworkable, you can pre-record an interview.

Bring The Data

The sports world is filled with data – spend some time with resources like Sports Reference or FiveThirtyEight. Once you have the data, create infographics to make that data exciting with fans. For example, you could highlight the players with the best scoring record and check if they are close to setting a record.

2) Organize A Sports Betting Strategy Event

In the United States, legal sports betting is booming since a 2018 Supreme Court decision allowed states to legalize sports betting. With millions of dollars changing hands, sports fans are eager for insights to improve their odds.

Building an online event around sports betting can be simple – organize a panel discussion with a question and answer session. For example, you might invite a few sports betting experts like Larry Gibbs, an expert on the sports betting field, or Alex Kane, CEO of a sports trading app.

Tip: consider charging a fee or limiting access to paying subscribers only to make this online event more exclusive.

3) Take Sports Fans Behind The Scenes With Coaches and Trainers

Many people are attracted to professional sports because it is exciting to watch elite athletes perform. Imagine if you could pull back the curtain on how famous athletes achieve success. That’s the essence of this ‘behind the scenes’ online events concept. 

A sports publisher lets fans into their favorite athletes’ locker rooms and gyms with this event. You could run the concept of this online event multiple times for each sport. For example, you might have a session on how athletes like Olympic runner Colleen Quigley and Michael Jordan used meditation to improve their performance. 

Tip: Use Arena CDP to gather data on your attendees as they participate in these events. If you find that your audience is much more engaged in basketball content or specific players, you can use that insight to create better events in the future.

4) Explore The Business of Sports

The sports industry produces billions of dollars in revenue each year. Some parts of your audience may be curious to learn more about the intricacies of the business. This online event idea might explore new trends like NCAA athletes earning money, contract negotiations, and the rise of sports-themed startups.

Queen’s University in Canada recently organized a virtual event dedicated to the business of sports in February 2022. The Queen’s event illustrates how bringing together a varied group of panelists – lawyers, executives, and entrepreneurs – can create an exciting event.

5) Run A Sports Equipment Gear And Apparel Online Event

The right equipment can make a significant difference in your sports performance. That’s why elite cyclists and golfers often spend thousands of dollars to get the best equipment. Sports fans also want to know about the latest and greatest in equipment.

This online event idea for sports publishers also offers great monetization opportunities. For example, you can reach out to manufacturers and retailers to request free products to review. Also, you might sell sponsorship spots in the section. 

To make a virtual gear event compelling, plan to demonstrate a variety of gear at different price points. For example, you might have a virtual event dedicated to golf clubs before the golf season. The event could feature entry-level golf clubs, intermediate equipment, and pro-level equipment.

Tip: Make sure you use Arena Live Chat to gather questions from your audience about the equipment you’re demonstrating.

6) Live Blog A Major Game

Dedicated sports fans can’t get enough when a championship game is on! Think about the world series in baseball –  the event attracted over 11 million viewers in 2021. That intense level of interest creates an opportunity for sports publishers to create online events.

Running a live blog during a major sporting event is easier when you prepare in advance. Use these ideas to prepare a few blog posts in advance. With advanced preparation, online events ideas for sports like live blogging become less stressful. Fox Spots Australia is doing a great job using Live Blog and Live Chat during its online coverage, averaging over 500 monthly live events.

Report on Player Injuries and Absences.

When a team misses a key player due to an injury, penalty, or other reason, it can dramatically impact the outcome. Casual sports fans may not track such details closely, so your live blog can remind them of these details as the game gets started. 

Introducing New Players.

Has the team recently recruited or traded players? If so, your audience wants to know more about the new player. Prepare notes about the new player’s key statistics and background.

Prepare Content About Recent Controversies.

Controversial decisions sometimes play a significant role in sports. In early 2022, the Cincinnati Bengals won their first playoff victory in decades thanks to a whistle error. If your online events involve the Bengals or their opponents – the Las Vegas Raiders – it would be wise to have commentary prepared about this mistake and its implications.

Running your live blog smoothly helps to use the right tool. Arena Live Blog is a light blogging platform that can be installed in minutes. Arena also makes it easy to discover and feature social media content – like tweets by players – during your online event.

How To Run Online Events Without Facebook and YouTube

Sports publishers tell us they’re worried about relying too much on Facebook, YouTube, and other platforms to execute their online events ideas for sports. 

When you rely on these platforms, your audience can easily get distracted by notifications and disengage. The solution is simple – end your dependence on those platforms and create your own online events platform. Get started today by using Arena’s free live events ebook.

SXSW 2022: Impressions From the Opening Weekend

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The SXSW 2022 Conference kicked off last Friday. It seems like everyone is writing about what’s going on in Austin. So we decided to take a different approach and analyze the online side of the conference.

Come with me.

SXSW 2022 is a hybrid event. This means that all (or most of) the sessions happen in-person, there in Austin, Texas, and at the website if you bought a ticket. 

Being in the online side of things has its ups and downs. 

Ups:

  • No FOMO. Yes, some really awesome sessions are concurrent, but the little VOD (Video On Demand) sign in the corner of your screen provides peace of mind that the video will be there for me to watch later.
  • The ability to swap between sessions at any time, whether they happen at the Convention Center, the Paramount, or the ACC Ballroom.
  • Being in the comfort of your own home. In case you like the comfort of your own home 😉

Downs:

  • Not being there. You kinda miss a lot of the action. Human connectivity is different when you physically bump into each other.
  • Also, if you’re doing the online version, you’re probably working at the same time that you’re watching the sessions. This can suck the authenticity of the moment away from you. Although you do watch the content, you might be thinking about that spreadsheet you need to fix by the end of the day.
  • No autographs and selfies with that founder or movie director you would do anything to have in your hands.

Some of the takeaways from SXSW 2022 Online’s opening weekend

Our team took a good look at some of the live sessions. Of course, since this relates to our products, we kept an eye on the interactivity of components on SXSW’s website.

I noticed that the live chat widget is a bit clunky. For some reason it kept requesting to sign in after just a few minutes of inactivity. Once signed in, it offers the options to send text messages, emojis and upload files. We missed a GIF search and sharing option. For a long time GIFs have been a way to express emotions and to communicate in groups. And, even though the upload file feature can be used for a bunch of different things, there’s no real use for it in a virtual event group chat.

Live Chat trap: when your engagement tool becomes a mere support channel.

One Live Chat trap that event organizers should give more attention to: Live Chat can become some sort of a support channel if there’s no one there to guide the conversation. Therefore, it would help to have a moderator in the wings. We spotted attendees complaining that the sound was too low, they were asking the camera to show the slides instead of the speaker, and some even spammed with their Linkedin profiles.

The Q&A tab, on the other hand, is where the hybrid action actually happens. This feature allows online attendees to submit questions directly to the organizers and lecturers. They can be upvoted and replied to, so organizers can pick which ones they want to answer on stage.

Live Q&A is a powerful feature for conferences and events like SXSW.

There’s also a direct message chat widget which can be activated on top of the group chat. In this feature people can talk directly to other participants about whatever they want. It’s usually used to talk and do business, introduce companies and schedule meetings, but not to talk about the sessions.

Our team picked up some valuable content from the online sessions. 

Scott Galloway’s Famous Predictions on SXSW 2022

Scott Galloway brought his highly expected Provocative Predictions to the stage. Being a mediatic person, much of the content wasn’t new to people who follow him closely on CNN+ or the Pivot podcast. Still, he is gifted with dodging buzz – or yogababble (“another ridiculous business: Space Tourism”, “big flowery terminology for 2022: web3”) and conflicting trends against reality that just makes you want to see him saying it over and over again. 

Prof G takes the stage. Online and in-person.

At the same time, Galloway shows solutions to the themes he doesn’t clearly bet on. For instance, on the whole metaverse+crypto+blockchain realm, he said “You can have Chanel bags or the Chanel logo as your visual metaphor in the metaverse… I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think this coin would go for $100,000, $500,000. Imagine the speculation it would attract. So overnight, I believe Chanel or Hermès could raise $5 billion to $10 billion, trying to monetize this scarcity.”

Amy Webb’s keynote at SXSW 2022

Still pulling from the highly-expected shelf, Amy Webb, futurist and best selling author, brought her Emerging Tech Trend Report that everyone will be talking about until she releases the next issue. Re-perception is the keyword here: Amy wants you to stare at issues beyond the surface, because this is the way you can learn how to “predict” the future. Once you get more information about things that are unclear, you can find and add new patterns to your mental model.

Amy Webb invites the audience to practice re-perception as she presents her Emerging Tech Trend Report.

By the way, her Tech Trends report is fully downloadable here.

Conclusion

SXSW 2022 started this year’s edition in high style. And we’re there to bring you the latest news, the surprising trends, and the insightful reflections. Where? Here! Stay tuned for more surprises. 

Arena Live Chat at SXSW 2022 Online Conference

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SXSW 2022 is just around the corner, and we’re very proud to announce that Arena Live Chat will be part of the online event. 

How did that happen?, you might ask.

This year, the SXSW Conference will be in a hybrid format for ten days (11 – 20 March 2022). 

In the online edition, Arena Live Chat will be there making it easier for thousands of attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors to connect with each other, as well as to engage the audience in real-time.

As you know, South By Southwest (SXSW) connects companies from promising startups to established industries, leaders, authors, and creatives across industries all over the world from their home in Austin, Texas.

Therefore, Live Chat will be an important part of SXSW by enabling participants to:

  • Exchange ideas and comments during keynote presentations
  • Submit questions to panelists using the Q&A native Live Chat feature
  • Express emotions with GIFs and Emojis
  • Participate in Polls that are part of the program

Arena is an Online Exhibitor at SXSW 2022.

How Arena Enhances Virtual Events

Arena’s software is trusted by thousands of companies to improve their virtual events. Consider adding one of Arena’s tools to enhance your own virtual event. 

Live chat is a tool that lets attendees respond to polls, ask questions, and interact with your brand and other attendees during virtual events. By adding Arena Live Chat, brands can seamlessly integrate live chat capabilities in their virtual events. This feature lets online attendees provide feedback and share ideas virtually instead of needing to be physically present at the event.

Live blogs let virtual event organizers share quick updates like images, text, video, live scores, maps, and more as an event unfolds. Live blogs can provide important event updates, share ideas, present interviews, and keep attendees informed about speakers. Organizers can use Arena Live Blog to quickly improve their virtual event experience. 

Arena Customer Data Platform (CDP) can be integrated with Arena Live Chat and Live Blog to help understand customer behavior and interests. Companies are finding it harder to understand their customers because of the heightened restrictions from cookies and data privacy. Arena’s CDP can solve this problem by building customer profiles and collecting data from different touchpoints. 

SXSW 2022 and Arena

SXSW 2022 will gather some of the most important tech players and contemporary trendsetters on the planet from March 11-20 in Austin, Texas, and also via live streaming. Arena will be doubly there: with Arena Live Chat to connect and engage the audience in real-time, and as an Online Exhibitor.

Vimeo OTT: How to Stream Video In 8 Steps

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Learning how to stream video online using Vimeo OTT is easy. Follow this guide to plan and execute a live video stream. By following these steps, you will run a video experience for your audience directly on your website. Running a live video stream from your website is powerful because you can offer an engaging experience free of social media distractions.

Why Use Vimeo for OTT?

Over the top (OTT) media is a popular way to share video content online without using a cable, satellite, and other traditional means. Many people know Vimeo as an online video platform. However, it is capable of much more than sharing videos. Vimeo OTT is an excellent choice for streaming because it is fully brandable and offers multiple monetization choices, including advertising and subscriptions. It is one of the best ways to add streaming video to your organization.

Online female vlogger creating podcast content with videoblog, recording live discussion to broadcast on social media channel. Happy lifestyle blogger using vlogging equipment.

1) Set Up Your Vimeo Account

Your starting point in streaming video with Vimeo is to create your account. Your first step is to choose a Vimeo OTT plan. The starter plan is suitable for organizations just getting started in live video streaming. The growth and enterprise plans are better suited to companies that need multiple streams and pay-per-view options.

2) Customize Vimeo OTT For Your Organization

Out of the box, Vimeo OTT has significant video streaming capabilities. That said, creating an immersive branded video experience requires some work on your part. Fortunately, customizing Vimeo for your organization is simple.

At a minimum, use the following tips to customize the Vimeo OTT platform.

  • Apply Your Branding To The Vimeo OTT Platform. Upload your branding to Vimeo OTT.
  • Create A Vimeo OTT Custom App. You can create a custom app for your video channel. Reach out to Vimeo to discuss this further.

3) Integrate Vimeo With Your Website

Your next step is to add a Vimeo OTT video to your website. Adding live streaming video to your website means you can create a more engaging video experience. For example, you might run a live stream video to promote a new product. When that video stream is displayed directly on your website, it is easier for customers to view and order products.

4) Plan Your Video Stream Content

With Vimeo OTT installed you are now ready to plan your video content. If you are already experienced in running online video events, skip ahead to the next step.

For organizations new to live stream video, take some time to brainstorm and plan your content. Fortunately, you don’t have to start from scratch. Instead, read our post: 9 Steps To Make Your Own Live Stream. You will learn about the audio and video equipment needed for an event.

5) Enhance Your Livestream With Live Chat

Creating a live stream video that grabs your audience’s attention is difficult. Your audience might get distracted by a notification, email, or text at any moment. There are two ways to solve the problem of maintaining high levels of engagement.

Reduce Distraction

Start by looking for ways to reduce distractions. Using Vimeo OTT, your video experience can be branded, and free of clutter found on other platforms. You can also encourage attendees to turn off other browsers and devices for the duration of the event.

Increase Engagement

Ultimately there is a limit to how far you can cut distractions – that’s why boosting engagement is critical. Adding live chat to your video event is one of the best ways to make your virtual event more engaging. For example, you can use Arena Live Chat to run quick polls during the event. Offering a poll is one of the fastest ways to gather feedback from your audience. In addition, you can take questions from the audience through live chat.

Live chat to encourage comments and questions transforms your live stream video into a social experience. People often feel uncomfortable abruptly leaving a social event. When attendees see your video event in social terms, they are more likely to stay engaged.

6) Staff Your Livestream Video Event

A successful live stream video experience is a team effort. At a minimum, we suggest having a team of two people: presenter and support. The presenter will be front and center on the screen, interviewing other people and delivering content. On the other hand, the support person can focus on the live chat session and help attendees with questions. In addition, the support person can share links and conversion cards to drive action. For more significant events with hundreds or thousands of participants, a larger team may be needed to maintain engagement with your audience.

Once you have your team, boost their confidence by equipping them with a live training session.

7) Complete a Vimeo OTT Video Trial Run

Learning to use new video technology can be difficult. If you are unfamiliar with Vimeo’s advanced features like pay-per-view, your team may feel overwhelmed. Plan a small-scale video streaming event with your team to build your team’s confidence. As the test event progresses, verify that the presenters and support staff can view the live chat.

8) Schedule and launch Your Vimeo OTT Event

You are now ready to launch your first live stream video event using Vimeo. To maximize attendance, schedule the event at least a week in the future and then promote it. Make sure you post about the event on social media and highlight the event on your website.

Tip: Plan to offer subscriptions to your live stream video event? Reach out to Vimeo for tips on how to set up your subscription options.

Launch Your First Vimeo Live Stream Today

Following these seven steps will guide you from start to finish in streaming video with Vimeo OTT. To enhance your streaming experience further, consider leveraging live chat to build a sense of community around your content.

Engaging with your audience in real-time using live chat not only boosts viewer interaction but also fosters a loyal community. Incorporating live chat into your Vimeo OTT streams can transform your video events into interactive experiences, keeping your audience engaged and coming back for more.

Employee Engagement with Live Streaming

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A corporate live stream is an excellent way to engage your employees, minimize expenses, and create a more unified organization. With the technology available to companies, almost any in-person experience can be transitioned to virtual. This guide is for companies looking for creative ways to engage their employees using a corporate live stream. 

How to Engage Employees with Live Streaming

Consider the following ways to engage employees using a corporate live stream. 

Conferences

Conferences are a great way to learn valuable information about your industry, it’s consumers, and your competitors. However, you can’t send everyone in your organization to attend them. Therefore, most companies send a small handful of employees to attend. 

If the conference permits it, have the attendees from your company live stream important speakers and topics. This allows all of your employees to benefit from the conference without having to be there physically. If your company runs its own conference, make sure to set up a live stream so employees can watch and rewatch it online.

Check out these virtual conference platforms you and your team can use to stream awesome events.

Announcements

Create a corporate live stream for big company announcements. For example, a startup has scheduled an IPO and needs to announce it to its employees. Instead of sending a wordy email, the CEO can set up a corporate live stream that connects with employees in an exciting and personable way. Allow employees to view the live stream, ask questions, and engage with each other. 

Nubank went further: the bank hired award-winning singer Anita for its IPO live streaming event.

Training

A corporate live stream is one of the best ways to train employees. It eliminates the need to gather employees at one physical location, and it can save your company on training costs. Use live streaming for sales training, onboarding, compliance training, and more. 

During live stream training, let employees engage by asking and answering questions. Live stream training is especially useful for roleplays that require employees and trainers to interact with each other. If you have employees spread throughout the country, a live stream training allows them all to hop on from the convenience of their desktop or mobile device. 

By recording your training, you give employees the ability to rewatch training on-demand at their own pace. Once a training is recorded, there’s no need to spend time recreating it. If a clip needs to be updated, you can always go back and make the necessary changes.

Adding Live Chat is also a great way to enhance the e-learning experience.

Q&A Sessions

Question and answer (Q&A) sessions, also known as “ask me anything” sessions, give employees the chance to speak with someone higher up in the company. For example, you could host a virtual Q&A session with the company’s CEO. This gives employees the opportunity to ask important questions regarding where the company is headed, why he or she started the company, and more. 

To prepare for Q&A sessions in advance, you can create employee polls to collect votes on most important questions. Questions that get the most votes can be prioritized and answered first. Let employees watch the stream live, submit anonymous questions, give feedback, and watch Q&A recordings. 

Product Demos

If your company is constantly releasing innovative products, it can be hard for employees to keep up. By hosting a virtual product demo, you can engage your employees and share all the details of your new product. Allow them to ask questions, rewatch the demo, and see visual representations of the product in action. 

Town Halls

Virtual town halls are organization-wide meetings in which all employees attend and receive important updates, share ideas, and ask pressing questions. By hosting a town hall virtually, you can connect employees in several different branches, and you allow them to connect with colleagues that they don’t see on a regular basis. 

Town halls are typically conducted on a quarterly basis, and virtual ones cut expensive accommodation, travel, and venue costs. They also make employees feel more united and appreciated, and they can have tremendous benefits on company culture. 

Employee Parties

A great way to improve employee engagement and retention is by creating a culture that makes them feel appreciated. One way to do this is by hosting a virtual party. This can take the form of a virtual happy hour, employee recognition meeting, or team party. 

While most would prefer these to be in person, this isn’t always possible. Team members can be scattered around the country and have busy schedules. By hosting an employee party online, you can allow them to connect without needing to travel or take time off work. 

For example, your HR team could host a virtual happy hour in which employees in North America have the chance to meet employees in Europe. You can promote casual conversations, recognize employee achievements, and boost the overall morale of your employees. 

Interviews

The first way to engage employees is by live streaming interviews. You can interview customers, employees, suppliers, industry leaders, and partners. Ask them important questions on how they interact with your company and its products and services. This engages employees by allowing them to learn more about your company and its challenges from someone else’s point of view. 

When you live stream your interview, make sure to record it so people can rewatch it if they missed out. It also helps to generate a transcript so employees can highlight important points. By sharing video interviews, you’ll be able to help onboarding employees gain a better understanding of your company’s mission and strategies. 

Conclusion

Many people think of live streams as a way for companies to connect with their customers. However, this guide reveals that live streams are a great way to connect and engage with employees too. A corporate live stream can be used for interviews, conferences, announcements, training, Q&A sessions, product demos, town halls, and casual employee parties. 

How Arena Can Help

If you need a tool that lets you create group live chats, send instant messages, ask questions, and create polls, consider downloading Arena Live Chat. You can also share important written updates during your announcement with Arena Live Blog. If you enjoy using these tools, check out Arena Customer Data Platform (CDP) to help you understand your customers’ preferences and interests. 

Arena has been used by thousands of companies in over one hundred countries to improve their live events. Arena customer TV1;, a company focused on live experiences, began creating virtual business conferences as a way to keep attendees and employees engaged online. Arena has also been trusted by companies like Facebook and VTEX; to run live events. 

For help planning a virtual event, download our free eBook for creating highly engaging live event scripts. For more information on enhancing your live stream, click the link below to download our free eBook. 

12 Ways Companies Are Using Live Chat For Growth

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Live chat is a great way to bring people together, increase engagement and get leads. Yet, you might be wondering what a successful live chat experience looks like in practice. To inspire your next live chat experience, check out these creative approaches to live chat.

These 12 companies are Using Live Chat – and doing it right

1) Boost Engagement In Virtual Events Like Grip Events

Grip Events organizes live chat experiences to enrich its virtual events. Instead of sitting back and passively watching content, they can ask questions and interact with other attendees. That’s not all. Event organizers can also use Live Chat for lead generation. No more scrambling to ask virtual event attendees for contact details so you can follow up.

2) Keep Fans Engaged Like Van’s Channel 66

Marketers spend a lot of time and energy attracting customers to their websites and digital experiences. Keeping your audience engaged is a different challenge. Vans, the shoe, and apparel company, uses Live Chat to enrich its online “Channel 66” experience.

Available in video streaming or audio-only formats, Channel 66 lets music fans come together to chat about their favorite songs. In addition to music, Channel 66 also features live commentary on bands, DJs, and other music topics.

3) Reinventing the IPO Like Nubank

For decades, initial public offering (IPO) events were formal events. Executives and investors would celebrate a company’s success on the stock exchange. There might be a ceremony, a party, and news coverage. 

Nubank, a bank from Brazil, decided to do something different in their 2021 IPO event. Anitta, a Brazilian superstar, sits on the bank’s board of directors. She also performed at the company’s IPO event. This event also included a chat experience for fans to connect. The lesson from Nubank – you can add fun to formal corporate events! 

4) Give Multiple Interaction Options Like Reuters’ Strategic Marketing Virtual Event

Reuters held the Strategic Marketing 2021 event in October 2021. The event stressed interactivity in several essential ways. First,  Reuters offered live chat, including polls and Q&A sessions, which was vital for the event’s value. Second, Reuters offered a networking “match-making” option. That platform allowed attendees to interact directly with speakers and other attendees. Third, the event included discussion boards for longer-form discussions.,

5) Keep Discussions On Your Website Like The Daily Telegraph

Sometimes we want to talk to someone about what’s happening in the world at that very moment. Most of the time, we run to our social media and start posting, whether that’s Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

But, with Live Chat embedded in your website or blog, there’s no need to go anywhere else to post and discuss the news. People can talk right there and then what’s on their minds!

And that’s exactly what the Daily Telegraph is doing on their portal.

6) Reinvent Church Services With Live Chat Like City Gates

Since the pandemic started, many churches decided to go online for their services. For this experience to be more involving and personal, many of them also chose to use a Live Chat. During the church service, church members can talk about it, share their thoughts and pray together virtually.

City Gates is one of the churches following this tactic. They perform services on Sundays, and the chat is available during this period. 

7) Empower Students To Get Answers: The Bridgend College Story

This UK college found a way to help students through the internet. Due to the pandemic, virtual education has become a necessity. Using a Live Chat, the student asks their question and someone responsible for this service will answer them right away. They can get their questions answered about various subjects, from financial aid to work placement assistance.

8) Make NBA Coverage More Engaging Like Fox Sports

Fox Sports became a reference for Live Chat usage during the NBA games. They created an online community for basketball lovers; that is just amazing. Any sports and games can have a discussion page where fans can talk about their favorite moments.

For some games and sports news, chats are only open for a limited time. You can see what was discussed during the live session when closed. When closed

In addition, they also used Live Chat for a live Q&A in an interview with Tom Morris. It was a huge hit, fans loved it, and the sports company will probably use it more times!

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9) Appeal to Disc Golf Fans

Still on the sports subject, this is a website to watch disc golf games, follow news about the sport, find information about athletes, and a calendar to see the upcoming games. 

The Live Chat here is available when a match is happening, making a big difference for spectators. They can talk about the game, comment on their favorite moments, and share their overall thoughts on the match.

10) Encourage Virtual Business Network Like Dynamics Con

This was an event about business-related subjects. It had several lectures on technology, finances, etc., where participants could watch live and discuss with the speakers through the Live Chat tool.

Webinars are pretty popular nowadays, and the Live Chat can help spectators to get their questions answered, just like it happened during this event.

11) Boost Public Health Awareness Like Toronto’s CityNews

This news website from Toronto used Live Chat to engage its readers during a public health Q&A about coronavirus. The topic was fresh, and people were interested in it. You can still read some answers on the website page and check all the saved questions on the chat.

12) Start The Diversity Discussion Like Diversity Live

Diversity Live was an event that happened during the pandemic in 2020, with many lectures on various themes related to diversity like diversity in sports, marketing, and diversity on social media. Like other online events, the Live Chat helped transform the whole experience for the spectators and speakers alike.

While spectators talked and contributed their thoughts, speakers could hear some questions and lead their speeches accordingly.

The Next Step To Add Live Chat Takes Just 10 Minutes

Planning a virtual event takes significant time and effort. You might think that adding a live chat capability to your event is too challenging to try. That’s why Arena Live Chat is designed for a fast setup. Most users can set up and install Live Chat in less than 10 minutes. Don’t believe us? You can try our Live Chat for free. Sounds great, right?

The Absolute Best Live Streaming Tips

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Live streams are used by companies and content creators to engage audiences, monetize content, inform customers, and much more. When creating a livestream event, it’s important to understand best practices to achieve the greatest results possible. This guide uncovers the meaning of live streaming and shares five insightful tips to use during your next event. 

What is Live Streaming?

While basic streaming can be pre-recorded, live streaming is the act of creating and sharing a live video on the internet in real-time. 

People livestream webinars, news broadcasts, social media videos, sporting events, video game content, and more. Companies use live streaming to increase brand awareness, retain and engage viewers, build a wider audience, and monetize their websites. 

How to Enhance Your Live Streams

Use the following tips to improve the effectiveness of your next livestream. 

Pick the Right Platform

The two main types of livestream platforms are social media platforms and platforms that specialize in live streaming. 

When deciding which to use, consider where your audience spends their time. If most of your audience interacts with you primarily through one social media platform, you can use it to host your live streams. 

For example, travel bloggers may prefer Instagram, video gamers may prefer Twitch, and software professionals may prefer YouTube. YouTube Live, Facebook Live, Instagram Live, and Twitch are examples of social media platforms you can broadcast on. 

If your audience uses multiple social media platforms or has less of a social media presence, it’s better to use a platform that specializes in live streams. Examples of these include Restream, Dacast, and Brightcove. 

These platforms let you stream on websites and multiple social media platforms simultaneously. They also provide monetization tools, analytic reports, tech support, and more. 

Market Your Livestream

Before you host your livestream, it’s important to build awareness for it. You can do this by creating excitement on your social media pages, sending informational emails to your list, and having viewers pre-register for your livestream. 

Within your marketing material, make sure to include specific details on how to join the event, what time the event will begin and end, and what to expect during the livestream. 

To create anticipation, you can include exclusive sneak peek videos, hint at potential discounts, and ask users to submit questions and ideas for the event. It’s also helpful to include reminder emails, push notifications, or texts leading up to the livestream. 

Optimize Lighting and Audio

To create an exceptional livestream presentation, make sure your lighting and audio is optimized. 

Lighting

First, ensure all presenters are wearing solid colors and simple fabrics. Colors that are too bright or shiny, and patterns that are too complex are less optimal for your camera. 

You should also be careful if filming outdoors. The sun can often be too bright and make it difficult for your presenter to be seen. When in doubt, film inside a well-lit room. 

Finally, avoid backlighting your presenter. If the dominant light source is coming from behind your presenter, it can display a silhouette of him or her. Instead, have your primary light source in front of the presenter to ensure the best lighting. 

Audio

First, beware of adding music that you aren’t permitted to use. There are laws that require you to receive permission from the artist before playing their music for a public performance. When in doubt, leave out licensed music. 

Second, always keep in mind when a mic is on. If someone accidentally says something irrelevant or inappropriate with a live mic, it can come off as unprofessional. Make sure everyone who is not presenting remains quiet throughout the streaming event.

Finally, use a lapel mic if you’ll be streaming on the go. A lapel mic easily attaches to your shirt, reducing the need to hold one up to your mouth. Lapel mics can also reduce background noise from cars and planes. 

Do a Test Run before Going Live

It is critical to do a test run and practice before launching your livestream. Start by defining a clear goal for your livestream. Do you want to grow your audience, build a stronger relationship with your customers, or sell a product or service?

Once you have a clear goal for your stream, create an outline of key topics you aim to cover. Next, ensure everyone on your team is informed about the event and its timeline. Ensure your Wi-Fi is strong enough to support your stream, and you can run a speed test to measure your bandwidth. 

Finally, test all equipment including microphones, cameras, and computers to ensure everything runs smoothly. You can also conduct recorded practice runs to make sure you’re ready for the live event. 

Incorporate Engagement and Monetization Tools

Once you start your livestream, use tools that let your audience engage in real-time and that let you monetize your stream. The best ways to do this are through a live chat or a live blog. 

Live Chat

A tool like Arena Live Chat lets livestream viewers interact with you and other viewers in real time. This can take the form of instant messaging, community polls, and Q&A segments. By increasing engagement through live chat, you ensure your audience is actively participating during your event and less likely to lose interest. 

Live chat tools also let you monetize your livestream event. This can be used to collect tips for a helpful presentation, donate gifts relevant to your stream, or raise funds for a charity event. Arena Live Chat integrates with PayPal and will offer integration with Stripe in the near future to collect donations, gifts, and tips during events. 

Live Blog

Live blogs are a way to share quick updates as a livestream event unfolds. A tool like Arena Live Blog lets companies and content creators send out quick, informative updates that keep users engaged during a livestream. A live blog can improve engagement during virtual business conferences, online news broadcasts, live sports streams, and more. 

Live blogs can also monetize livestream events by collecting ad revenue. Arena Live Blog can be paired with DFP, Google AdSense, and other ad platforms to monetize your livestream. Integrating ad platforms is an easy process that lets users seamlessly add additional income streams to their event. 

Conclusion

We shared these tips to help you develop the best livestream event possible. By selecting the right platform, marketing your event, optimizing lighting and audio, conducting test runs, and adding engagement and monetization tools, you’ll be able to create a superior livestream experience. 

If you want to learn more about enhancing your livestream events, download our free eBook by clicking the link below. 

Download the Enhance your Live Stream eBook for free

What’s The Difference Between SDK and API?

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Adding new capabilities to your business used to be complicated. You had to hire a small army of developers and wait months or years for a result. That’s all changed in recent years thanks to a few new critical technologies: API and SDK. Find out how SDKs and APIs work and the role play in making business more efficient.

What Is An API?

API is a commonly used technology abbreviation that stands for Application Programming Interface. An API operates as a middle man between two different software applications. It is a common way to add new features to a business with minimal expense. There are more than 10,000 APIs in RapidAPI marketplace’s marketplace alone.

In addition, APIs come in different types, and not all of them are freely accessible. Usually, application programming interfaces (APIs) are grouped into three categories

  • Private or internal APIs. These APIs are created for internal company use only. For example, the US business unit of a company could use an API to share information with another business unit in another country more efficiently. In some cases, a software company may pilot test a new API as an internal API before offering it to other organizations.
  • Partner APIs. This type of APIs is available to only a small number of people. Typically, partner APIs are a value add to software as a service (SaaS) products. Some companies charge an additional fee for API access, while others include API access as a standard feature.
  • Public APIs. This type of APIs is available to anybody who wants to use them. For example, the US government offers multiple APIs such as the National Weather Service (NWS) API. Anybody can review the API documentation and explore adding that software to their organization.

Advantages of an API

There are several powerful advantages to using an application programming interface. The exact functionality you can obtain varies significantly between APIs, however.

Imagine you wanted to share a weather forecast with users before they booked a flight. Instead of manually checking the forecast each day, you could connect your product to the National Weather Service API instead. This type of automation saves time for the company and gives users more data.

  • Launch new products faster.

With an API, you can add new features that have already been tested quickly. As a result, there is a reduced burden on your development team to build new features. In some cases, they can simply use an API to add a new feature.

Disadvantages of an API

Like any technology, APIs have their downsides as well. Keep these points in mind as you consider whether to use any particular API in your organization.

  • Variable quality of API Documentation.

Poor quality API documentation makes life painful for developers and engineers. When the workings of the API are unclear, your team will have to spend additional time testing. In some cases, you might end up creating your internal API documentation.

Popular APIs are an attractive target for some hackers because of the wealth of data they contain. If the API provider underinvests in IT security defense, your organization’s security risk may be increased. That’s not all. Some API providers provide little explanation of how they ensure IT security protections are in place and updated. This lack of API transparency translates to a greater burden on your security staff.

What is A SDK?

An SDK is a standard technology abbreviation that stands for software development kit. In one sense, it is similar to an API. Both an SDK and an API can be helpful ways to add new features. However, there are significant differences in what these technologies can do for your company.

An API creates a connection between two pieces of software. That connection is powerful, but there are limitations to what you can achieve. In comparison, an SDK is like having access to a fully equipped technology lab. You have more choices and flexibility when it comes to adding features. That’s not all. Many SDKs also include an API to facilitate data sharing.

Advantages of an SDK

  • High level of flexibility.

A SDK can give your developers many different ways to build new features. You could use an SDK to create brand new applications nobody has ever seen before. For example, Apple offers an iOS SDK to make it easier for developers to create new apps for the iPhone and other Apple devices.

  •  Higher innovation potential.

Your ability to innovate with a modern SDK is close to unlimited. You only need the ambition to come up with a new app. You can turn features on and off and make a variety of modifications.

Disadvantages of an SDK

The main disadvantage of an SDK is complexity. It can take a lot of time to review SDK documentation and imagine what is possible. If you are in a rush to launch something new, be realistic. It takes developers time to learn their way around a new SDK.

Introducing The Arena SDK

The Arena SDK is a lightweight JavaScript capability that makes it easier to create chat applications. The SDK makes it easy to add chat users, chat reactions, and moderate chat sessions. You can use it to enhance customer support, gather feedback from users, and more. The Arena SDK also makes it easy for users to send direct messages when they want a more private conversation. You can also use it to run question and answer events internally or with your customers.

To find out more about the Arena SDK, please visit our; GitHub page.

How To Start Your Next Live Event In Less Than 24 Hours

Running a live virtual event used to be painful. Attendees had to sit through a one-way event. Asking questions and connecting with other people in the audience was tough. With Arena, you can add a live chat capability to your website in less than 10 minutes. Arena Live Chat is a lightweight technology that runs on WordPress and other popular web platforms.; Click here to try Arena free for 14 days.