6 Creative Virtual Event Ideas and Groundbreaking Virtual Venues

Find the Inspiration You Need for Your Virtual or Hybrid Event 

Virtual events have been around for a while, but this format exploded in popularity due to the COVID pandemic (i.e., 6Connex has been hosting virtual events for more than 11 years!). These days, many companies are even holding their annual conferences and meetings virtually. The proliferation of virtual events recently has helped both event holders and attendees realize the possibilities of this format. Not only does offering virtual component lead to nearly limitless possibilities, but it comes as a convenience in many ways to hold and attend a trade show on a virtual platform. Even in-person events can be enhanced through the use of a hybrid event solution. There are many different ways in which organizations can leverage a virtual event platform, opening up a door of greater possibilities for brand awareness, communication, collaboration, audience engagement, and attendee participation.

Create a Digital Trail for Attendees to Follow

One of the most powerful uses of hybrid events software is to offer a digital trail for attendees to follow. This structure could also be utilized for an event that’s fully digital, as well. If your company offers some kind of vehicle or a trip, you can create a trade show with booths that illustrate the features of your product or service through a sequence of stops on your virtual trip.

For example, if your company sells mountain bikes, you can create a virtual trail that illustrates the USPS of your product. If your mountain bike offers advanced suspension, you can create an image of a particularly bumpy section of a mountain biking trail and provide information about how your bike's advanced suspension could easily handle this challenge.

Send Attendees to the Moon

Consumer-facing space companies have become more and more prevalent over the last few years. Even if your company does not directly offer space travel or manufacture spacecraft parts, virtual space travel is a creative virtual event idea. For example, if your product uses an alloy that is also used in spacecraft, you could create a virtual venue to offer a space trip that highlights your product's technology.

If you want to create a virtual conference based on the idea of space travel, you’ll want to structure it in such a way that your attendees feel compelled to follow the digital path that you have laid out over your various booths. You may want to introduce your product or service as the digital spacecraft is on the launch pad. You can then expand upon it as the spacecraft launches, makes its way through the atmosphere, and orbits the Earth after reaching space. You can use the spacecraft's return to Earth to structure a call to action that requests contact information from attendees. 

Offer a Tour of Your Facilities

It’s common for companies in many sectors, especially manufacturing, to offer prospective clients a tour of their facilities. However, it can be difficult to offer a personalized tour to many clients at once. This is especially true if your company is holding an annual expo in a large conference hall far away from your facilities.

If you create a virtual event offering a tour of your facilities, each attendee can feel like you’re speaking directly to them. You can do so by offering personalized digital tours of your facilities, guided by event AI, where attendees have the opportunity to view only what's relevant to them. This way, you will be utilizing your time and resources wisely by focusing on their interests, and avoiding any parts of your facility that they are not interested in seeing.

Display Your Work in a Virtual Art Gallery

If your company sells creative work, a creative virtual venue idea is creating an art gallery. This format would likely work best for companies that offer visually stimulating creative work, like architectural firms and ad agencies. You can display multiple samples of your work in different digital "collections" that are organized by the type of work displayed. If you choose to utilize this format, it is important to include prompts that lead attendees to more of your work and eventually to a call to action. This is a great way for your company to stand out at a large conference with many other companies vying for attention.

Put On a Virtual Festival

If your company's product or service showcases different cultures, you may want to put on a festival. For example, if you run a chain of restaurants, you may want to put on a virtual food festival with booths specializing in dishes from various cultures. This approach could also work if you operate a travel agency, and you want to highlight all the different countries your customers can visit. You could even attend a large traditional festival and offer virtual trips at your sponsored booth.

Transport Attendees to an Underwater World

The great thing about virtual events is that you can transport attendees to places they would never be able to go in real life. If your company's product or service is related to the ocean, you can take attendees on an underwater trip. For example, if your company offers scuba trips, you can showcase the underwater environments that divers can visit. This approach would work well at an annual meeting of your company's shareholders, as this would provide an entertaining way to inform your shareholders of your company's capabilities.

Applying Creative Virtual Event Ideas to Your Annual Trade Show or Conference

The 6Connex virtual event platform offers limitless possibilities for both virtual and hybrid trade shows and conferences. No matter how you decide to present your virtual event, you do need to keep a few best practices in mind. It is important to structure your event so that attendees feel compelled to follow your intended path. It’s crucial to include a call to action at the end of the event that requests contact information from the client. Finally, you should ensure that the attendee feels that the virtual venue has been personalized for their needs. By leveraging matchmaking and event AI, you can offer information based on the attendee's responses to your prompts.

For a guide on how to get started with planning and creating your very own virtual event or virtual venue, download our free e-book, The 6Connex Playbook to Planning Your Virtual Event below. For more information on the 6Connex virtual platform, contact our event specialists, or request a virtual event demo today.