Are All Virtual Events the Same?

Greetings PM Family,

We trust that your August has started reasonably well, and we stand with you as we all try to make the best of current situations and work together to improve things daily. 

Today we'll be diving a bit deeper into virtual events, the different types, and what we think will make Podcast Movement Virtual so unique this October. This is part 1, with part 2 coming next week. So don't miss either one!

Finally, we have a reminder to submit your session idea for PM Virtual this October…this is your one-week deadline warning!

---

Conferences, Summits, and Webinars…
OH MY!

If you're anything like us, over the last several months you've spent more than your fair share of time on Zoom calls and online learning. So when we announced the decision to host our annual conference this year virtually instead of in-person, it was a decision we did not take lightly.

Our challenge: How do we take an in-person event that is equal parts educational conference, networking event, and trade show, and bring the entire experience to an online-only environment?

We identified a few things that we were not willing to sacrifice:

• The educational component could not suffer. We needed a platform where the speakers would have the opportunity to present their content either as effectively, or better than, they could in person.
  
• The networking component, including networking events and opportunities for “chance encounters,” had to be better than ever.
  
• The expo, where over 100 exhibitors show off podcasting equipment and services annually, HAD to go on. It needed to be an experience that was great for attendees and exhibitors alike.

With those three simple, but extremely important, guidelines, the search began for a platform that could meet or exceed all of these minimum expectations.

• There were lots of events who were doing their sessions on Zoom or similar platforms. While those are fine for one-way learning, it is extremely difficult to bring the viewers into the sessions.
  
  We needed a platform that allowed attendees to give real-time feedback through an advanced Q&A portal, polls, and session-specific chats with those in their same sessions. PLUS, with over 100 sessions, things would get really confusing really quickly!
  
• We quickly learned about the dozens (maybe hundreds) of bargain-basement, thrown-together platforms that had sprung up out of nowhere to suddenly be hosting online events.
  
  While the prices are right, the user experience is not. We attended many events across these different platforms, and learned that you get what you pay for. We could not justify doing that to our attendees.
  
• Several other mainstream platforms checked one or two of the important boxes, but they all lacked something. Some had awesome learning platforms, but made it difficult to discover, meet, and make connections with your fellow attendees. Others had great matchmaking abilities, but the expo hall experience was not up to snuff.

But after months of searching, testing, demo'ing, testing again, and maybe even some crying…WE FOUND THE PERFECT FIT!

Next week, we'll share with you the platform we've picked, and why we think it's going to be a great home for the biggest and best virtual podcast event EVER, Podcast Movement Virtual. If you can't wait, click here to learn more about the platform, and the event.

---

In the Air Tonight:
Open Speaker Submissions for PM Virtual

You've been waiting for this moment (but maybe not all of your life). The speaker submissions for PM Virtual this October continue to come in. We encourage you to share your session idea. The deadline is this coming Wednesday, August 19.  

We can feel it coming in the air tonight,
Team PM

“Well, I remember, I remember, don't worry, how could I ever forget?” — Phil Collins, “In the Air Tonight”