OFF-MUTE 🔈
🔐 Our security practice is wrapping up the first-ever virtual RSA Conference (RSAC). It’s hard to believe that 2020’s event was the last major one our team members attended live.
💪 The RSAC 2021 theme, Resilience, is spot-on as we’re all searching deep within ourselves to withstand and recover from whatever adversity this pandemic has thrown at us.
😅 Speaking of resilience, have you had to coordinate, host or speak at industry events? Then you know first-hand it wasn’t easy to turn a traditional event into a digital one.
🔮 We predict that virtual event components are here to stay (even after the pandemic).
👍 Our favorite part: Being remote boosts accessibility! People who cannot travel to conferences under normal circumstances now have the chance to attend and participate.
💬 There is much to be done in the virtual world when it comes to community building, engagement and yes, lead generation.
👀 Want to earn attention from the media, keep your attendees engaged or participate as a thought leader? Here are some things to consider:
⏰ Timing is everything. Unless your company news is relevant to today’s headlines in a big way, then it’s probably best to release any announcements you have planned either before or after a large industry conference, and instead, use your presence at the show for relationship-building.
📰 Have your news ready to go under embargo. If you are set on releasing product news, user data or research findings during the show, this is critical. Remember, reporters are humans: they are attending remotely as well, while juggling other commitments (like childcare and covering breaking news). Offer to schedule a pre-briefing days before the show begins. Pro tip: Have empathy and be flexible!
✉️ “Save the date” outreach. Let reporters know if you’re speaking at a breakout session or have a keynote. Include an abstract and detailed logistics in your pitch and confirm their attendance with a calendar invite.
🎙️ Host a virtual roundtable. Beyond major events, reporters are already hard-pressed for time; virtual 1:1 briefings are a huge ask during the show. Pair one or two of your executives up for a virtual roundtable with 3-5 strategically selected reporters to have a larger conversation on a timely, relevant (read: non-promotional) topic. Have a customer who can join? Even better. This is a big draw for reporters who are always on the hunt for third party, non-vendor sources. Make the event on the record — it encourages reporters to actually write something about the conversation. Not sure where to start? Here's a list of our top recommendations.
💬 Connect on social media. Use social media to compensate for the lack of facetime with other attendees. Live Tweet takeaways from virtual keynotes. Have your CEO or another executive post key learnings on LinkedIn and Twitter after day one, and give attendees a sneak peek into day two. This will help keep attendees engaged!
📦 Think outside of the box. This year, our #client Okta changed things up at their annual user conference, Oktane21, by premiering a full-length documentary film on how its team came together to support customers and employees during the pandemic. Many traditional event organizers are also finding new ways to keep audiences engaged outside of the event itself. RSA rolled out RSAC 365, a year-round virtual program with free, on-demand webcasts, blogs, podcasts and videos with relevant, unbiased and educational content. Pro tip: Apply to become an RSAC 365 contributor if you didn’t make it into the RSAC 2021 program.