Virtual Events and Awards Ceremonies are here to stay!

It’s been an incredible year. If anything, it has shown how resilient and innovative people can be. What better year to host an awards ceremony to acknowledge people working through unique challenges? Whatever your industry, there are many benefits to acknowledging your workers’ efforts in an online awards event.

The benefits of a virtual awards ceremony

• Acknowledging the people in your company – let workers know how valued they are. Help them to feel appreciated and to have the confidence to push the boundaries of the company’s potential.
• Grow brand awareness – this is an opportunity to let your company stand out. We’ve got tips below on how to extend your industry reach with your next virtual awards night.
• Strengthen employee morale – particularly effective by highlighting and rewarding teamwork during the event. Help lift spirits and showcase your genuine appreciation for your employees – especially crucial during this pandemic.
• Celebrate successes – a lot of the time employees can be left in the dark, not on purpose, as to how their work actually benefits the company. Showcasing to your people how they have contributed to innovations and successes gives them a sense of accomplishment and purpose within your business.

Write a brief

Just like with any awards ceremony, it’s great to have a clear image of how the awards ceremony will take shape. Getting your objectives for the awards night down on paper helps to set the tone. Set an uplifting intention rather than one that’s overly competitive. No one wants a night focused on pedestals and targets. Instead, fostering healthy competition and supporting people who surpass expectations is the best aim to have.

Choose a platform

We’ve dedicated a whole article to select the best platform for your needs. Your choice will largely depend on the number of attendees and the features you might want access to throughout the event. Some options, for example, offer polls and a built-in chat feature, others won’t. You’ll also have to take into consideration how easy the platform is to use. Some can be complicated to access and use – whereas most people will be accustomed to Zoom’s controls by now.

PR coverage

Just because it’s online doesn’t mean that you can’t still use your event as an opportunity to broadcast across your industry’s press. Get in touch with magazines, blogs or journals in your field. This can be a great method for attracting new employees and amplifying your brand. Awards nights show your commitment to your employees and the opportunities to develop their career.

Also, those who bring home the trophies will naturally want to share this evidence of their hard work and talent across their own network. All in all, a virtual awards ceremony has the potential to strengthen brand awareness. However, it’s useful to orchestrate it so that your event stands out – which brings us neatly on to…

Social Reach

Create a branded hashtag, write a blog post, even create a trailer before the event. People enjoy getting a sneak peek into a company’s culture. Not only does this help with your external image, but these events can pick up team morale, which can nose dive during this time of remote working. Remoters found lack of personal interactions to be the biggest disadvantage remote workers experienced in 2019 followed by isolation/loneliness and it’s doubtful 2020 saw these figures improve.

You have a chance to make this occasion more than an event. Show your employees that you want them to enjoy their career with your brand, to feel recognised and have opportunities to express, create and develop their talents. Showcase these efforts before and after the event through your social channels.

Allow time for mixing

Events are a wonderful chance for teams to bond – especially if they are spread across multiple locations. Use this chance to strengthen the branches of your business. Many will only know colleagues in different offices by the signature of their email. Now they can put a face to a name.

Tech support time

Online events can be thrown under if things don’t run smoothly. There’s a lot to manage when hosting and we’d recommend that it can be unrealistic to be in charge of the technical side of the event too.

If it’s a smaller event, then it’s a good idea to have another person on stand by to sort out any glitches. For medium to large awards gala, having an expert team helps to ensure an enjoyable evening for your audience. At Videoworks, we do just that and are experts in protecting your event from sound and visual hiccups. We provide resources, advice, customer support and consultations. We can even be there throughout the event, helping you set up the tech and troubleshoot any problems you may run into.

Theme

This doesn’t have to be cringey – you might be eye-rolling your thinking of some kirsch 007 gala event. Instead, think about what’s going to work in your virtual event. This is the ‘going the extra mile’ part and it just makes sense to do so. Creating any event requires hard work, and it’s the final 10 per cent of putting personality into it that often gets dropped as the organisation team runs out of steam. Creating a special kit, including nibbles, to send to all attendees makes the event more glamorous even though it’s being viewed in the sitting room.

Performance

Another idea is to support a local artist. Perhaps you can hire an artist to perform during the event. Again, you can use this for social later. This is just one option – there are plenty of ways you can create a unique event. Especially if your event is taking place during large events restrictions such as concerts, you’re showing your business support the local economy and culture. Think about your company’s brand initiatives and how you can connect with these during the online event.

Practice the event

Getting your speeches together is only one part of being prepared for an online event. Have a small group to practice with, gives you the chance to iron out the schedule. Giving your team a run through helps to settle nerves, so the end result has a relaxed, natural feel to the hosting.

If you’re planning your next virtual awards ceremony and think you’d benefit from an expert helping hand – Videoworks are here to help. We’re a friendly team that offer plenty of options from sound and visual consultations to start to finish support. You can get in touch with us here.