Awards season is upon us. It’s that time of year, when marketers craft their submissions for major B2B awards programmes and start planning internal employee recognition ceremonies, inspired by the glitz and glamour of the Oscars, the Brit Awards, The Golden Globes and The BAFTAs.
Except this year, several of the annual red-carpet entertainment awards have shunted their scheduling forward a few months in the faint hope of an earlier than anticipated return to in-person televised events.
Not even World War II could delay the Oscars and now it seems, ceremony planners in 'La-la-land' are banking on enough film-stars and seat-fillers to have been vaccinated by 25 April to guarantee its go-ahead.
Back in the real world, event planners know that for the show to go on, it needs to move online, at least for now and until a hybrid event format can blend virtual acceptance speeches with a socially-distanced red carpet event.
And the show must go on…. It’s a chance for employees to receive the praise and recognition they so richly deserve following such a challenging year. Plus, it’s a key opportunity to showcase important client work, alongside how you’ve adapted to business life in the age of Covid-19.
So how exactly do you stage a virtual awards event? And how does it differ from all those virtual meetings and conferences you’ve hosted over the past 12 months?
Follow these pointers for a gold-standard outcome:
Tailor categories for virtual attention spans
Let’s face it, it was always a bit of a chore sitting through an in-person awards ceremony with far too many categories, each with an associated sponsor.
We get it - the more categories, the more sponsor buy-in, the more paid submissions and the more tables sold for the big night. It’s a business formula that has worked well in the past. But it’s a formula that needs adapting for virtual audience engagement.
Fewer categories may result in a more competitive programme and a more memorable night for the winners. You can always add podium places such as ‘Diamond’ and ‘Platinum’ or ‘Highly Commended’ to provide extra reasons to pay to enter a more targeted set of categories.
Select judges who will attract entries
Judges need to be experts in their field but for a virtual awards programme, it’s also ideal if they each possess a strong social following and enough influence online to help promote your call for entries.
One option for determining how the awards should be announced is to ask each judge to video call a winner and surprise them with the news of their success.
This will give you engaging video content to distribute across social channels or use as pre-recorded acceptance speech edits for the ceremony.
The judges should therefore be well-known in the industry for the added appeal of seeing them surprise the winners. If you're hosting an internal staff awards event, arrange for the CEO to surprise the winners (maybe under the pretence of a performance review!?).
Choose your ceremony platform
The Cvent Virtual Attendee Hub® enables planners to leverage one platform for a consistent, fully branded experience at each step of the virtual event lifecycle. The platform gives planners a choice of broadcasting live, simulive, or on-demand to any user, on any device, anywhere in the world.
If you’re building an awards programme into a virtual conference, you can also give your category sponsors virtual booths, branded sessions and the ability to pre-schedule appointments.
The Cvent Virtual Attendee Hub® further provides rich attendee and digital event data including per attendee engagement scores, web analytics, and dynamic surveys for faster, smarter follow-up.
Hire an experienced host
In-person awards events often opt for a stand-up comedian or well-known TV presenter to present the trophies and pose for photos with the winners. For your virtual ceremony however, you’ll need someone with proven experience of delivering content live before a remote audience, while being able to perpetuate high-octane energy levels in virtual environments.
They will need to play the role of the television anchor - maintaining a structured flow to the remote event, passing on messages of congratulations from the event app, introducing sponsors and conveying information on each winning submission to the online audience.
Add entertainment
In a physical awards ceremony, alcohol and entertainment ensure that the audience remains engaged and supportive of everyone shortlisted for a trophy.
To translate this into a virtual awards setting, many entertainment agencies offer live streamed or pre-recorded performances from artists who can tailor their acts to communicate a brand message or or interact with the winners online.
Consider sending the sponsors (and winners if you pre-recorded surprising them with a video call) mini bottles of Champagne to help them celebrate. Or why not send registered guests personalised gifts of popcorn, party poppers and a bow-tie or tiara to help encourage engagement, fun and dressing-up for the big night.
Remember, employee recognition is vital especially for staff who have been working from home for much of the past year. By providing more opportunities to reward people’s hard work and input via a virtual awards programme, you’ll be helping to maintain motivated workforces, whilst celebrating success in a fun online environment.
