February is Black History Month and I had the honor to produce the “State of AfricaTown 2022”. The program was a big success with over 284 people logging into zoom, 39 social media shares, 600+ view and over 1,500 people reached all organically. Click to watch the entire program. I’d like to share my best learnings to help you if you are planning an engaging virtual meeting for Black History Month.
Rehearsals are a MUST – We ran a rehearsal with almost every speaker, MC and sponsor so that we could find challenges early and smooth it out long before any attendee saw it. Thank you to organizer Curtiss Calhoun who got everybody to rehearsal.
Look Good, EVERYWHERE – We worked with every speaker to improve lighting, camera angle and microphone. In addition, I used a new trick to show the slides inside a Zoom video window so that attendees ALWAYS had the best view on Zoom or Livestream (Facebook, YouTube) without having to select any controls. If you share screen in Zoom, on the livestream, the slide takes 95% of the space and the speaker is very small in the top right corner. These amazing speakers deserve virtual presence.
Amazing Virtual MC – Get a great MC. A great MC researches or knows all the speakers. A great MC knows how to make challenges look like part of the program. A great MC brings energy and respect to the program. This year’s MC is TraeAnna Holiday from the award winning Converge Media. She co-hosts a live show every day and has the technical setup and skills that everyone appreciated.
Be SMOOOOOTH! – Through rehearsal and the use of improvisation from the MC and the producer, we were able to handle any challenge fast enough so no attendee noticed. We got many positive comments on the production such as “The event was professionally managed by the tech crew. That’s the sign of a team that knows what they are doing, THANK YOU!”
SHARE the stream – Through the use of social media and RESTREAM’s new feature to share a scheduled livestream, this program was amplified organically and to the most important audiences of the viewers by asking them to share the stream.
RESPECT the Culture – This program took important steps to respect Black culture by playing the Black National Anthem, having a Libation led by an elder, and giving awards to well-deserved members of the community. One of the highlights were 2 children giving away awards to other children in the community which lit up the chat room of supporting people.
As an Asian Pacific Islander (API), I’m honored to be an ally and collaborate with the Black community more and more. Whatever virtual programs you do to celebrate your culture, these tips will help your virtual meeting be even more engaging.
For more information about Engaging Virtual Meetings, click to meet author John Chen or click to learn more about the Engaging Virtual Meetings Conference, every October.
