Try a physical leave-behind experience with your virtual event

Live, realtime events are shared experiences…or at least they have the potential to be.

Speakers know that often attendees buy books (and don’t read them) just for the “souvenir factor.” Marketers know that some of the value of an event are the conversations that happen beyond the content sessions themselves. Trainers know that experience is part of what cements learning and commitment.

So when was the last time you went to a virtual event (e.g., webinar, webcast, virtual classroom session) that left you with an indelible memory?

In the past I (or my organization) have/has seen:

Giveaways

Autographed guitars, books, computers, branded USB drives with extra resources, and on and on and on (the list is long)

Food

Lunches expressed to participants for true “lunch and learns,” virtual wine tastings (yup, with real wine), coffee mugs with instant coffee, tea, and chocolate

Hands-on experiences

Fabric samples, physical/tangible workbooks or participant guides, cameras for shooting pictures and contributing to the discussion

The bottom lineRoger Courville Dallas ASTD

As I was packing my “trophy” from last week’s visit with the Dallas chapter of ASTD I realized that it’d sit on my shelf for a long time…and they’d be top of mind relative to the zillion PDFs I’ve downloaded as a result of participating in online events.

The possibilities are endless. What could you do to make your webinar, webcast, or virtual classroom a memorable experience?

 

 

 

 

 

4 thoughts on “Try a physical leave-behind experience with your virtual event

  1. DC

    I am sorry to be vague, but I don’t really understand this post. Are you just saying you are “leaving” them with conversations, memories, things to think about etc. after the event or are you really talking about something “physical”? I would love some examples of the “physical leave behinds” you have left to virtual participants. Thanks!

    1. TheVP

      Thx DC.

      The idea to sometimes get beyond a “PDF” or “recording” as the only artifact of the experience. Like I mentioned in the post, this could be something experienced in-session a non-computer experience like literally shipping someone a boxed lunch or a physical participant guide/workbook. Or it could be something that is physically persistent after the session (any other object).

      -R

      1. DC

        Cool – so you really are talking about shipping them something physical. I thought when you were referring to things you have seen in live sessions.

        I do think this is a great idea … another piece of the “blend” we might say. I will wait for that wine tasting event from your next webinar 😉

        Thanks for the clarification!

        1. TheVP

          Exactly! In fact, “blend” is the word I should have used. Thx for that!

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