Education Technology Services
A guide to enhanced assessment: Virtual event hosting platforms
As online learning and assessment technology evolves, especially in the wake of the pandemic, new opportunities to enrich student or candidate experience are becoming a reality. Organisations are realising the benefits of digital engagement for improved assessments, such as stronger data analytics and enhanced security. Assessment technology should integrate new-age learning with digital technologies to enhance productivity and deliver cost efficiency, and virtual event platforms perform a similar function.
What is a virtual event?
A virtual event is an online alternative to in-person event, which allows individuals from all over the world to attend virtually. A virtual event is broadcast live over video on digital communication platforms. A virtual event allows individuals to interact, exchange ideas, and conduct business worldwide. A virtual event uses a sophisticated virtual event hosting platform to recreate the feel of an in-person conference, a meeting, a webinar, or a marketing event. This technology is actively used for training, online learning, and recruitment. Through interactive activities and gamification, online event platforms keep the attendees engaged and involved in the event. The advantages of hosting a virtual event include the following:
Inclusive and accessible:
Virtual events allow participants to join from the world over, encouraging greater attendance than in-person events with its restrictions related to geographical barriers.Cost-effective:
Virtual events help businesses save money that is spent on organising in-person events. Statistics indicate that with virtual events, businesses can save costs by at least 75%.Environment friendly:
Virtual events are environment friendly. They emit less than 1% of the carbon dioxide compared with live events as the former generate minimal waste and no travel and other resources.Analytics:
Online event hosting platforms yield measurable results by collecting attendee information — from location to payment methods — and generate valuable data for analysis.Time saving:
Virtual events need less time to organise than live events, allowing organisers and participants to shift their focus to more critical aspects of the event, such as online training, assessments, sales pitch, and conference content.
What is a virtual event hosting platform?
A virtual event hosting platform is a tool to plan and execute a virtual event. With intelligent technology and audio-visual or interactive elements, event hosting platforms aim to replicate the conditions of a live event in a digital environment to increase audience engagement. A virtual event platform uses engagement tools such as:
- Breakout spaces for networking
- Live streaming
- Polls and Q&A
- Fireside chats
- Virtual meetups
- Virtual booths
- Gamification
- Workshops
Virtual event hosting platforms versus videoconferencing tools
Videoconferencing tools work well for small groups and casual events. They are not immersive and cannot engage with a large number of participants. Virtual event platforms are developed considering the attendees’ engagement and promote interaction since limited screen space often deters interaction. With digital avatars and virtual venues, online event platforms create a fun environment for the participants.
How to choose a virtual event hosting platform?
The global market for virtual events is proliferating and is estimated to reach $657.64 billion by 2030.[2] The rising demand for digitally simulated events and platforms has intensified race among several virtual event companies. A company needs to identify the following attributes to choose a reliable virtual event hosting platform:
User-friendly:
Ease of use is essential for the planning team as well as the users. Virtual event platforms should simplify event hosting across devices, from login to chat rooms and post-event webinars to gamification. Moreover, the software should integrate with your existing IT infrastructure like CRM to derive value from the data you collect about the participants.Scalability:
The hosting platform should be flexible enough to meet the organisers’ needs. Without scalability, the idea of a virtual event with numerous attendees crumbles.Customisation:
Customisation can help create an immersive experience using themes, colours, tools, and games to keep users involved in the event.Support:
Virtual hosting platforms are advanced tools, and users might require support to derive the best value from them.Other tools:
End-to-end event platforms also support the planning of the online event by managing the registration and ticketing and gathering data like attendance, location, and satisfaction score from attendees.
For organisations on the digital transformation journey, agility is key in responding to a rapidly changing technology and business landscape. Now more than ever, it is crucial to deliver and exceed organisational expectations with a robust digital mindset backed by innovation. Enabling businesses to sense, learn, respond, and evolve like living organisms, will be imperative for business excellence. A comprehensive yet modular suite of services is doing precisely that. Equipping organisations with intuitive decision-making automatically at scale, actionable insights based on real-time solutions, anytime/anywhere experience, and in-depth data visibility across functions leading to hyper-productivity, Live Enterprise is building connected organisations that are innovating collaboratively for the future.
