With the ongoing demand for virtual events, several businesses adopted virtual venues to continue operating and growing in the market. Today, not just trade shows, exhibitions, conferences, summits, or job fairs, but virtual annual general meetings are also being accepted and organized successfully. Online AGMs allowed a large group of stakeholders across the globe to come forward and participate remotely.
What is a Virtual Annual General Meeting?
Online annual meetings are conducted over the Internet between companies and their shareholders. These meetings are held annually to discuss the overall performance of the company. The expected goals, ideas, and strategies are also reviewed during the AGMs by considering the relevant insights of the stakeholders.
When virtual events began in 2020, they had a very different perspective, but today it’s 2021, we need to look for unique tips and ideas to elevate the level of your virtual meetings or AGMs.
Here’s a list of some of the most valuable tips;
Choose the Right Virtual AGM Technology
A virtual event platform plays a significant role in offering immersive experiences and conducting impactful events. So, always look for an enterprise solution that can seamlessly conduct live polls, surveys, Q&A sessions, and voting to help replicate the experiences of an in-person meeting.
It is also vital to ensure that your platform is 100% secure and trustworthy. The matters discussed at online AGMs are supposed to be very confidential, so you should always ensure that the information in no way gets leaked.
Another important aspect that you should confirm is if your platform can let the employees and shareholders connect and interact. The platform should include a live chat feature, business card exchange feature, virtual networking tables, or B2B meetings scheduler to let people have meaningful interactions.
Look for a Reliable Internet Connection
Discontinued or pixelated video besides, the disturbing sound can get very bothersome for the attendees. It reduces the chances of offering a remarkable and immersive experience. To plan a successful virtual AGM, having a robust and stable internet connection is a necessity. With a large segment of attendees participating in an AGM from different remote locations, having a reliable internet connection has become even more essential.
A strong internet connection should also have an advanced networking speed and a large bandwidth to ensure the smooth operation of an online meeting. It reduces the chances of an attendee drop-off. Imagine visiting a meeting with a poor resolution or the one that keeps crashing in between and has a buzzing sound, does not sound thrilling right? Therefore, Internet connection holds significant importance in delivering seamless experiences to the audience.
Let Your Shareholders Connect and Interact Freely
At any online meeting, it is important to include features and tools that make way for networking. Therefore, look for an all-in-one virtual meeting software that can seamlessly offer endless opportunities to connect and interact freely in real-time;
- Virtual Networking Tables: It includes live chat, audio, and video features that allow you to communicate with multiple people at a time or have a 1:1 discussion based on your preference.
- Business Card Exchange: This functionality allows the attendees to download or view the business card of other speakers or participants.
- AI Matchmaking: You can use this tool to connect with like-minded people who share common interests and concerns.
Dreamcast, one of the leading virtual event platforms, excels in all of these tools and helps you deliver unique and impactful event experiences.
Keep Your Virtual AGMs Private
Once you decide to go virtual with your AGM, security is the most significant factor that concerns most organizations. A large section of stakeholders will attend the AGM virtually. Hence, the uncertainty of data breaching predominates in the mind of the event planners. AGMs include the discussions of the company’s confidential information and future approaches, so it is good to keep your virtual AGM settings private. Only shareholders and members with the link to the event should attend the AGM. It helps in curbing unauthorized access to third parties or meeting bombardment.
Make Way for Voting and Q&A Session
Virtual meetings have completely different aspects as compared to their in-person counterparts. So, including voting and Q&A rounds helps add a new spark to online meetings, conferences, or AGMs.
Your company will be the ‘face’ during your annual general meeting, while the virtual platform provider operates behind the scenes to assure attendees can join the meeting seamlessly, the event and platform can be easily accessed by everyone, and presenters can smoothly display the information.
Voting
- Decisions to be voted on or against are pre-determined before the event
- The operator will stimulate the online voting system for attendees who are eligible to vote and allot them a particular time frame where they can cast their vote.
- Decisions are tallied, and then the same process is replicated for each following resolution.
Q&A
- The presenter is allowed to respond to each question by conversing directly with the interrogator in the queue.
- It happens in real-time and promotes 2-way communications.
Perform a Dry-run
It is vital to remember that you do not miss out on performing a dry-run or test rehearsal. Do multiple rehearsals with the tool features, speakers, and their speeches before D-day. Figure out the glitches, if any, or analyze the areas that may drive unforeseen blunders. Test the Internet connection and perform several system checks to avoid the possibility of system crashes.
Be Ready with Plan-B
Always make a backup plan to plan a successful online AGM. Virtual meetings may lead to unexpected technical glitches at the last moment. Keeping a plan B ready or handy makes your online or hybrid event run seamlessly without any interruptions. Also, remember to keep your attendees updated regarding Plan-B prior to the event.
Wrapping Up
If you are intending to go virtual with your meetings, conferences, or AGM for the very first time, the above-mentioned tips will help you plan and execute your events successfully. But, making the shift towards Virtual Annual Meeting after ages of conventional on-site annual meetings requires the development of a mindset and several other changes. Therefore, it is necessary to wisely select a virtual meeting platform that can help you create unique and bizarre event experiences.
