Fail to budget. Budget to fail.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned after budgeting 500 virtual meetings? Fail to budget. Budget to fail.

Even with a wealth of live and virtual events experience under my belt, I found 2020 was a steep (almost vertical!) learning curve; for us and our clients. And there have been some key lessons learned that I’d love to share with you.

When it comes to virtual, the first thing to remember is that the platform is not the event. Your event, be it live, virtual or hybrid, needs crew, project management, creative, content creation, tech support and a whole bunch of logistical help to make it feel like…well…an event, and not just another zoom call. All of these things need to be taken into account in your budget.

Here are some other very important lessons regarding virtual event budgets I think are worth passing on:

Beware of ‘off-the-shelf’. OK, you might be buying a ready-built platform, but that doesn’t mean you need an off-the shelf budget. There are a vast array of platforms, plugins, extras and related costs, so there’s no such thing as one-size-fits all. Work closely with your agency to make sure that your budget matches your ambitions.

Invest in practice. It’s tempting to assume a speaker sitting at home with their notes doesn’t need to rehearse. Trust me, they do. You can’t rehearse for every eventuality, but you can budget for enough time to improve your response to the unexpected happening. Try to budget for three rehearsals: technical, content and then full run through. With a host of distractions for home workers, it’s important that your event is slick enough to keep them engaged.

Nail the detail. If you want to analyse data from your event, then budget time for it. Have you got someone to operate slides, graphics and animations to allow your speakers to concentrate fully on their delivery and reduce the risk of technical issues? The details matter, because ultimately, they improve the value of your event.

Be ready for change. The situation is changing so fast right now, so anticipate that your event could also have to change. If it suddenly has the opportunity to become hybrid or live, prices may change accordingly. Build flexibility into your budgets to allow for this and work with an agency that can adapt.

Whether the future through 2021 and beyond turns out to be live, hybrid, virtual or a mix of all three, a well thought through budget is the key to getting the result you want.