How to Get the Most Impact

How to Use Slack Effectively For Virtual Events

Many times, the networking and relationship-building aspects of an in-person event are the main reason people attend the event. However, there’s really no direct translation for in-person networking and introductions when it comes to planning virtual events. How do you create the right environment online to start those conversations and connections, all without meeting face-to-face? If this is a priority for your event, you’ll want to ensure you have the right setup in place for the job.

Slack is a great tool for creating a sense of community for attendees, speakers, and sponsors. It’s a fairly simple and intuitive tool for quick communication, video call integration, everyone’s favorite emojis. Their pricing plans are simple and you can get a lot on a free plan if your event is on a budget.

Creating a thriving online community requires, however, more than just setting up an account and letting things happen organically. Here are 5 key things to do to boost online engagement.

1. Use Consistent Messages

When setting up a new Slack workspace, you’ll want your URL to match your event name and include the year if this is a recurring event. If you’re using an existing workspace, make sure it is clear to new registrants that they are in the right place. For instance, make sure to customize your Slack workplace to display your event logo. This will help your attendees quickly identify your workspace among any others they have in their lists.

2. Facilitate Attendees’ Onboarding

It’s paramount to remove barriers of entry. To facilitate your attendees’ on-boarding experience, set up an #announcement channel that is read-only to non-admins and use it to post tips that make it easier for people to connect.

You may also consider adding an auto-reply to each new member with the help of Slackbot (or a similar onboarding bot) with suggested resources, people to contact, and when the event is happening. Check out this Slack guide to setting up your welcome message.

Here are a few of our favorite initiatives to create connections:

• Encourage users to fill out their Slack profile with their full name, job title, email, and any relevant contact information.
• Suggest emoji status based on what the attendee is looking for out of the conference
• i.e.: 🎧 - Here to Listen, 🤝 - Looking to make connections, 📖 - Here to Learn, 💼 - Looking for a job/Looking to hire (depending on your audience)
• Provide ice-breaker questions in the channels to encourage discussions of like-minded folks.
• Provide introductions or connections via direct messages.

In order to make sure key messages aren’t lost in the clutter, be sure to pin key instructions to the top of the channel.

3. Set up Key Slack Channels

If you’re running a multi-track event, it is important to keep conversations flowing around the topic being presented. To that effect, you’ll want to split up Slack channels by track and name them according to your schedule.

E.g.:

• Track 1 (Machine Learning/AI)
• Track 2 (DevOps)
• Track 3 (Cloud Computing)
• Track 4 (Sponsor Discussions)

Plan to include a #hallway channel for miscellaneous chatter, discussions, and general banter that doesn’t directly relate to the topics at hand. In our experience, this is one of the more popular channels that gets a lot of traffic.

Specifically for your speakers, a private #green-room channel can be a great resource. Creating a private channel means members within the workspace must be invited in, and would not be accessible to attendees or an outside audience. Using this channel allows speakers to speak freely about their talks, issues they are having with their slides, and even provides an exclusive networking opportunity to the select folks presenting at your event.

Another channel that must be created is a #support or #help-desk channel. This is where you would direct all questions (about the platform, recordings, schedule, etc.) and provide a central place for answers if/when multiple people are asking the same question.

If you are hosting any evening or special events, give them their own channel. These events might not be for everyone, so a separate channel allows free-flow conversation throughout the evening without distracting those who are not participating.

4. Have Stock Content Ready

If the chatter is slowing down, plan for your organizers or volunteers to jump in and rekindle conversations. They can start a new discussion, or ask questions or even create polls in Slack. This could include creating a welcome message in the mornings, encouraging attendees to share their swag images or favorite moments, etc. We have had great luck asking people to post an image of themselves attending the conference.

5. Integrate & Simplify

To keep things simple for everyone, you’ll want to reduce the number of standalone apps your attendees have to load up and monitor throughout the event. Ideally the event platform should be able to integrate with Slack. You’ll see a higher retention rate of conversation if attendees can keep an eye on the discussions in the same place they are watching the talk. That way, if they want to chime in, they can; or they can simply watch the conversations to provide extra value to the talk.