Broadcast AV Archives • CMMA

Something to Celebrate! Virtual Commencement and Remote Job Search Tips

AVI-SPL wants to help your teams stay connected and productive during this difficult time as most of us are working, teaching, and learning from home. Our Together We Can online learning series offers helpful ideas and resources. Below is this week’s edition. Read all Together We Can posts.

During these uncertain times, it’s heartwarming to lift our spirits with something to celebrate. While college seniors canceled internships and parties, and face a challenging job search, they don’t have to miss out on graduation. You can help them celebrate one of life’s most memorable milestones by hosting a virtual commencement.

See details below on how to host this remote event, along with tips to help seniors start a virtual job search after graduation.

Host a class of 2020 virtual commencement

Even with in-person events prohibited right now, you can still recognize your class of 2020 graduates’ hard work and commitment. Instead of canceling the commencement ceremony, deliver a virtual event that creates memories that will last a lifetime. To prepare for a remote celebration, review the 5 Keys to a Successful Virtual Event.

When you’re ready to get started with your virtual event production, choose an on-site location or a studio equipped to satisfy social distancing requirements. You’ll need cameras and microphones along with streaming and broadcasting technology. You can include a mix of live and recorded video in your virtual event to recognize graduates and awards, then present your guest and valedictorian commencement speeches.

No worries if you don’t have the in-house staff and technology you need to host a virtual commencement. The teams at AVI-SPL and our video production and broadcast arm VideoLink are ready to help you deliver a memorable experience for your class of 2020 graduates.

Three ways to help graduates start a virtual job search

After celebrating their virtual commencement, graduates must get down to the business of finding a job. Follow these tips to support their remote job search in these uncertain times:

Promote your job placement programs

Remind graduates of any job placement assistance your school provides. Promote your programs on your website and social media channels. Reach out to graduating seniors who opted-in to receive text messages or contact them via social media direct messaging or email.

Help seniors connect with counselors

Make sure seniors know how to contact job placement counselors who are working from home. Provide different ways to get in touch with staff, including mobile business numbers for calls and texts, email, and video conferencing appointments.

Remote meetings will also help graduates prepare for the next step in their job search, the virtual interview.

Share virtual interview tips

While students will connect virtually with prospective employers, the same guidelines apply as if they were meeting in person. Students should also take a few extra steps to ensure remote interviews go smoothly. Share these notes with your graduating class:

Prepare for the interview by researching the company and reviewing the job description. Have a few questions ready to ask the interviewer.
Know which meeting platform the prospective employee uses for meetings and test your device a few days before the interview to address any technical glitches. Know how to share your screen or documents. The interviewer may ask you to share your resume, your website, or your portfolio of work.
On meeting day, join the session a few minutes early. Don’t be late!
Wear earphones with a microphone or a headset to stay focused on the meeting.
Avoid the video freeze! Ask family and roommates to limit streaming movies and music, so your interview isn’t interrupted or stopped by a shaky Internet connection.
Find a quiet place with good lighting. Don’t sit with bright light behind you to avoid showing up in silhouette to your interviewer.
Turn off all mobile phone sounds, including your ringer and notifications. If you’re not using your phone for the interview, turn it off to avoid distractions.
As with in-person interviews, dress your best. Wear a complete interview outfit even though you may not be seen from the waist down. Looking your best can boost your confidence.
Send a thank you message in the meeting chatbox, then follow up with a thank you email too. To show your continued interest in the job, include a question about the company or position in your email.

After virtual commencement, prepare for summer and fall semesters

As graduates move on to their next steps, your educators must prepare for summer school and next semester. While teachers are headed back to campus, they may still be presenting virtual classes to remote students. Outfit your classrooms with online learning technology that’s easy to install and use, such as bundled lecture capture carts and room solutions.

Contact us now or call your local AVI-SPL office to learn more about hosting a virtual event. Pass on my virtual job search tips to your graduating seniors.

Don’t forget to check our Together We Can page for more online learning resources and weekly updates.

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5 Keys to a Successful Virtual Event

AVI-SPL wants to help your teams stay connected and productive during this difficult time as most of us are working, collaborating, and leading from home. Our Together We Can series offers helpful ideas and resources. Below is this week’s edition. Read all Together We Can posts.

While the COVID-19 pandemic response has sent everyone home to work, companies are also seeing their in-person employee and customer events canceled or indefinitely postponed. However, there is an alternative that can keep communication and revenue flowing in these uncertain times. Turn your all-hands meetings and customer seminars and gatherings into virtual events.

Virtual events let you stay in touch with employees through live-streaming Town Halls, and host customer seminars to showcase strategies and solutions. Before you get started, though, consider these five keys to a successful virtual event.

1. Make your virtual event interactive

Start by building choosing your presenters and building your agenda. Try to select a host who is comfortable using online tools and can engage a virtual audience. For example, someone with experience leading webinars is a desirable choice for your virtual events. If your team hasn’t presented online in the past, just allow time for practice so they can get comfortable with the technology and engaging the audience online.

Since your attendees will be remote, it’s essential to work interactive elements into your virtual event agenda to encourage participation. You’ll also discourage participants from attending in listen-only mode while multitasking. Some ideas include:

Allow attendees to ask or submit questions on the materials
Take polls about activities related to the presentation
- The presenter can ask the question and ask attendees to respond in the chatbox
Include an open Q&A Session
Share downloadable content via the chat window
Add a mix of material such as a live speaker with slides, and recorded video

For smaller events, include a live Q&A session where you can turn the audience’s mics on. For larger meetings, ask participants to submit written questions in the chat or Q&A boxes. Allow the presenter to focus on presenting while another team member monitors the chat and Q&A window and passes questions on to the host. Add a few minutes at the beginning of the session for the host or event coordinator to review the question procedure with attendees.

End your session by thanking everyone for attending and reviewing how you will follow up with the audience.

2. Encourage virtual event or Town Hall attendance

Once you have your virtual event plan, it’s time to invite guests to register and attend your event. Your plan can include sending out regular communications, ensuring invites have your contact information, and offering incentives to attendees.

Schedule a regular cadence of invitation and reminders emails

While everyone has good intentions to attend your event, they may forget or lose motivation when other issues consume their day. It’s helpful to build an email invite and reminder schedule to encourage people to attend your virtual event. It may look something like this:

Invite 1: four weeks prior
Invite 2: one week prior
Invite last chance: one week prior
Confirmation email with session instructions: ongoing upon registration
Reminder to attend 1: one week prior
Reminder to attend 2: one day prior

Include contact information

Potential attendees may have questions about your event content or technical issues with the online registration. Include a contact email and phone number in all your email communications. Assign a team member to answer calls and check emails to respond to questions quickly. Be prepared to take phone registrations if need.

Office incentives to participate

If your budget allows, consider offering an incentive to attend the event. Use items that are easy to deliver electronically after the event. Some ideas include:

e-gift cards for coffee or online shop
Long-form, value-added content such as an eBook or White Paper

3. Choose your virtual event solution

For complex sessions, such as an all-hands virtual Town Hall live stream, you may want to enlist the help of a video production partner such as VideoLink. Your partner can manage the production and quickly resolve any technical issues.

You can host smaller events on your preferred meeting platform like Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, or Zoom. Be sure to activate all privacy features for your meeting, such as requiring a meeting password and restricting who can share content on the screen. Also, check your app subscription to ensure you can host the expected number of attendees and record the event. Upgrade your platform if needed.

4. Hold a dress rehearsal

It’s helpful to do a complete run-through of the presentation before your live virtual event. Have all presenters and staff ensure all technical elements are working. A dress rehearsal will help you:

Show the host and presenters know how to log on, take control of the session, and share content and video
Learn how to mute and unmute all attendees to avoid noise
Test everyone’s mics, cameras, speakers, and Internet connections
Time each part of the session to see if you need to streamline your content, and ensure you allow time for audience Q&A

5. Follow up after the online seminar or live stream

As with any event, it’s essential to follow up with attendees after the session to keep the conversation flowing. Town Hall virtual events can include a survey or an email with the recording. Customer event follow-up can be managed by marketing or by sending qualified leads to your sales team.

Provide email templates with any slides and content that the host shared during the event. Offer attendees the option to subscribe to your e-newsletter program and send content relevant to the event presentations. If your virtual event promoted a solution, consider adding an incentive to purchase in your follow-up communications.

Follow these ideas to hosting successful virtual events that help you connect with remote staff and drive customer revenue. If you need assistance with a company Town Hall or another virtual event, the AVI-SPL team is ready to help. Contact us now or call your local AVI-SPL office to get started today.

Don’t forget to check our Together We Can web page for updated work-from-home resources.