Just because your meeting must go virtual, doesn’t mean we can’t make it fun. There are many ways to engage with your attendees and provide a great experience during your next virtual meeting. Attendees crave networking experiences that in-person meetings would provide. Make sure you tell them you will still be able to provide that for them during their virtual experience.
Here are the 7 best activities to have at your next virtual meeting:
Scavenger Hunt
A scavenger hunt is a staple activity for virtual meetings. Provide a list of items that are on your virtual platform that attendees need to look for. This could include checking out the sponsors and exhibitors, attending specific events, or completing certain tasks. Having an incentive for completing the virtual scavenger hunt will inspire attendees to complete the whole virtual scavenger hunt. Make sure you state clear rules on how the attendees should participate and be qualified for winning the prize.
Birth Map
A Birth Map is an activity where attendees can share where they are from and other aspects of their lives. Place a map on your virtual meeting platform so attendees can pin their location that they were born. Attached to their pin, the attendee can share a short story about the location and event that they might have had there. This activity showcases diversity and commonalities among the attendees that they can connect with others. One tool you can use to achieve this is Google Maps. Check out how you can do this with Google Maps here.
Community Coffee Break
Schedule community coffee breaks throughout your meeting to encourage networking and conversations among attendees. During these breaks, you provide conversation topics to make it easy to start conversations. The duration of the break is up to the meeting planner. We suggest a 15-minute community coffee break.
Icebreaker Questions
At any meeting, whether it be in-person, hybrid, or virtual, ice breaker questions are always a fun activity that can help attendees engage and get to know one another. Ice breaker questions are usually light-hearted to boost participation. When doing ice-breaker questions, avoid using yes or no questions to invoke more to the conversation. Here are 10 examples of ice breaker questions that you could use during your next virtual meeting:
Would you rather be the funniest or smartest person in the room?
What is your favorite time of the day and why?
If you could have the power of teleportation right now, where would you go and why?
What is your favorite season of the year and why?
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
What is your favorite TV show?
If you had to eat one meal every day for the rest of your life what would it be?
What is your most-used emoji?
If you had to delete all but three apps from your smartphone, which ones would you keep?
Which song can you listen to all day long?
Trivia
Trivia! Another staple activity for any meeting. This activity is where attendees can answer questions throughout the meeting. Trivia questions can be related to the sessions or about anything. The more they get correct throughout the meeting, the closer they are to winning a prize. Some categories of trivia questions could be general knowledge, pop culture, geography, history, movies, and music. The options are endless for trivia! Like the scavenger hunt make sure you let your attendees know the rules and prizes for participating.
Virtual Happy Hour
Another networking activity is a virtual happy hour! Attendees can share their cocktails recipes and socialize with other participants at your virtual meeting. The best time to host your happy hour is anytime between 4PM and 8PM. This activity should occur after all scheduled presentations are done for that day. Make a suggested drink list that your attendees can try right in the comfort of their own home.
Photo Contest
Propose a photo concept and have your attendees upload it to the virtual platform. Then, participants can vote for their favorite photo. Most liked photo wins a prize! Make sure when creating your photo contest to make a clear set of rules for your attendees to follow. Attendees can post their photo on a social media platform with a hashtag that is specific to your event to also help promote your event for greater reach. Here are a few photo contest ideas:
Seasonal
Funniest moment
Pets
Innovation
Tell a story about…
Overall, having different and fun activities at your virtual meeting is crucial to keep attendees interested in participating and engaged. There are many possibilities out there when it comes to creating an experience for your attendees. For more information and ideas, check out 9 Tips to Increase Attendee Engagement During a Virtual Meeting. If this post was helpful to you, be sure to sign up to receive our newsletter with meeting ideas, inspiration, and best practices below.