Ben Weinberger’s Post

FWIW we did a “pay what you can” model for a virtual Lawyer Forward event. I suggested rates (50, 100, 200) for those who wanted to contribute, and it was 0 with no questions asked for those who didn’t want to contribute. About 20% contributed. Between that and the sponsors, we grossed almost as much as our live events (typically 100 attendees) and netted way more. I don’t think I’ll host a live event again.

I attended my first virtual conference as a vendor this month. I thought they did a really great job – however, as a vendor, crickets from the actual conference attendees. As someone mentioned in this thread, the real value of attending any event as a vendor is the in-person interaction, the conversations, the networking. When all you have is a logo scrolling thru an app, it’s challenging at best. I am sure this will evolve as we find this to be more of the norm… I would still very much like to, and will continue to support, sponsor and ‘attend’ as many virtual events as possible – we are all in this together and supporting one another IMO is what is important right now. Having said that – I would love to see some more creative ways to spotlight vendor/partner participation and sponsorship. 

I really don't see the same value in virtual events for anyone. Vendors got their value from meeting current and potential clients. Many firms got value from talking to their peers, meeting with some vendors and going to some sessions that were of interest. Even those sessions they often got as much value from the peer to peer interaction before and after the session as from the sessions themselves. Though there is some value in the events it is hard to measure what it is at this point and certainly not what it was with in person events.

Moving from on-site events to virtual events will take time to get right. The cost to attend and participate in them should be extremely low until they are proven!

If it offers the opportunity to highlight and learn from more diverse perspectives that otherwise wouldn’t be possible in the usual in-person conference format, I’d pay to register. Also agree on modular registration fees- it’s difficult to peel yourself away for an entire day’s virtual event, for some reason.

Agree it is a balance. I think vitual events will grow/mature. The need to communicate up front what their targets are and the value prop with granularity (or simply convey it is a brainstorming session) is key. We don't have a fallback if content is bad like a physical event where we can network. I also think it is hard to do both strategic and tactical targets in same event unless structured properly. Those targets also tends to be different audiences. Participant interaction is huge value to us all but that challenge is raised in the virtual delivery model.

In my view the event needs to be free - any revenue if needed, should be derived from the promotion of post event downloads, collateral etc

It's a delicate balance. The content has got to be compelling, and probably have a uniqueness to it, or some type of exclusivity. The cost to attend should be commensurate with the virtual world since the costs to produce and host are likely much lower. And there has got to be a way to provide a level of networking and connection among those who do attend. Having already attended a few virtual events, if the content and the speakers don't draw me in, the distractions around me will pull me away. It is far too easy to be doing two or three or five things at the same time when attending a virtual event, and if it turns into essentially a webinar that I could get anywhere, then what is the reason to focus only on that? These events have to be more than just talking heads in a video stream.

Will expect content to need to improve to show value. Would expect the conversational, panel stuff to head to free (as it has). Keynotes have to become unique each time as we need new content, not repeats. Expect to pay for the small units and not the entire content. New channels will open for vendors that may mean no need to sponsor events - see Litera TV approach. Welcome to the Internet it’s a pretty standard pattern. Collaborative content hard to do but that drive should continue. To create more compelling content I’d suggest that speakers need to be compensated for their time more than before.