Liven up virtual corporate events with these three activations

There are broadly two types of common virtual event:

• An Online Annual Keynote (or major announcement): These internal events are typically hosted by company management via livestream. These events can easily become dry and dull without some element of employee involvement or investment.
• The Virtual Company Retreat: A retreat often involves multiple international offices uniting online for fun and games. These events require employee involvement to work. To that end, some fun and games can generate excitement and increase participation.

How can you increase attendance and engagement for these events? Here are some ideas.

Idea #1 - Leaderboard arcade games

If you need to generate interest prior to an event, a leaderboard arcade game can be a great place to start. The goal of one of these games is to be broad and inclusive, with very little friction.

Employees compete against each other to see who can get the highest score. You can announce the winner(s) on the live stream and include rewards for the top performers.

Some common arcade-type game options are:

• Whack-a-mole
• Memory game (seen above)
• Catch-em game

Including some branding and event information within the game itself will only help with awareness, and the investment in the game itself can carry over to the upcoming event.

Idea #2 - Worldwide trivia competition

When there are multiple office locations, or even multiple large teams within an organization, running a competitive group quiz between office locations can help not only with participation, but in team camaraderie too.

The concept is simple and effective. Employees from each office take the quiz, either as individuals or a team. Their collective scores add up to a location or team-specific total. The location or team with the highest total wins.

Games like these give everyone a morale boost, and the competitive element keeps people coming back to check the leaderboard!

Idea #3 - Live keynote games

Keeping people's attention during a live stream can be challenging. An inclusive live keynote game keeps eyeballs on the event, without the need for direct participation. Here are some ideas we love:

• Bingo: Employees sign up beforehand and receive a digital bingo card. During the livestream, winning numbers are revealed and those following at home pay close attention to see if they scored a winner.
• Raffle/Lottery giveaway: Like with Bingo, raffle numbers are distributed beforehand. Before or after the livestream, winners are announced live.
• Digital scratch cards: Using a custom form, employees register for their own personalized scratch card. On the day of the event, a link is sent to their email, opening an animation where their card is “scratched,” revealing the result.

Using these mechanics, we've been able to boost engagement at a number of corporate keynotes and other internal events, with upwards of 80% of attendees taking part.