By the IIL Marketing Team
August 28, 2025
Over the past 20 years, International Project Management Day has taught us a thing or two about online events. Along the way, we celebrated triumphs — and endured a few technical meltdowns that would make any project manager weep.
The biggest lesson we learned? Don’t just believe you’re ready, make sure you are. The success of your virtual event hinges on two key decisions, your virtual platform and your speakers. Choose them carefully, and the rest of your planning will fall into place.
1. Planning with (Painful) Precision
Treat your online event like the biggest, most complex project of your life. Because it is.
Define Your Goals. Before you do anything else, define your goals. Are you trying to generate leads, build brand awareness, or provide educational value? Understanding who your event is for and why you’re creating it is the key to a successful show.
Create a Detailed Roadmap. This is more than a suggestion; it’s your lifeline. Map out every task, deadline, and responsibility—from pre-event to post-event. This roadmap ensures nothing falls through the cracks and you won’t wake up at 3 a.m. in a cold sweat wondering if you booked the virtual keynote speaker. We highly recommend using Agile techniques to find problems early and to bring in the best skill sets to manage various tasks.
Establish a Budget. Virtual events have unique costs compared to in-person ones. The biggest expense is typically the technology platform, so it’s essential to budget for it effectively. Avoid the common mistake of overspending on a platform that offers more technology than you can properly manage.
2. Capturing Attention: Content and Interaction
Online attention spans are short. To keep people from multitasking (or worse, logging off to watch cat videos), your content needs to be an absolute showstopper.
Make it Interactive. Turn passive viewing into an active party! Use polls, live Q&A sessions, and virtual lounges. We’ve seen firsthand how a lackluster presentation can turn into a lively discussion, all because attendees could chat with each other and our team in real time. It’s the digital equivalent of mingling at the water cooler, but without the awkward small talk.
Choose the Right Speakers. Your speakers are the heart and soul of your event, so choose wisely. They need to be experts, of course, but they also must be good on camera. We look for people with a true passion for what they do—the kind of passion that can leap through a screen and grab the audience by the lapels.
Keep it Visually Appealing. Nobody wants to stare at a pixelated, low-res mess. Use high-quality graphics, branded virtual backgrounds, and professional slides. A visually polished event looks credible and keeps your audience from drifting off to their phone.
Great Takeaways. We put a lot of effort into creating engaging and valuable content that our audience can take with them. This includes a variety of resources like videos, tips, toolkits, templates, a conference journal, and two free on-demand courses that will continue to provide value long after the event is over.
Collaboration with corporate sponsors is also key. They’re a great source for giveaways, so work with them to provide extra value for your attendees and make the most of the event. Vendors you work with are a great source for sponsorships.
3. Master the Technology (Before It Masters You)
The platform you choose is your virtual “venue”. Don’t get caught in the trap of “bells and whistles”.
Select the Right Virtual Platform. We’ve learned the hard way that a platform with too many extra features can be more of a curse than a blessing. They often confuse attendees and your team. Stick to a platform that is reliable and user-friendly and has exactly what you need—nothing more, nothing less.
Conduct Dry Runs (Seriously, Do It). This is a non-negotiable step. Overconfidence in technology is a recipe for disaster. Conduct a full technical rehearsal with every speaker and moderator. This is your only chance to troubleshoot audio, video, and presentation sharing issues. You do not want to learn on the live day that your CEO’s microphone isn’t working.
Pre-Film Your Speakers. Everyone loves the idea of a live video, but let’s be real—it’s a minefield of technical issues. Bandwidth problems, presentation glitches, and the hassle for attendees can turn a great session into a stressful one. We have found that pre-filming your speakers and using the “simu-live” feature is a game-changer. It lets you polish the content, eliminate risks, and deliver a flawless experience, all while still feeling live.
4. Promotion and the Art of the Follow-Up
Don’t let all your hard work go unnoticed. The promotion and post-event communication are what separate a good event from a great one.
Multi-Channel Marketing. Use everything you’ve got—email campaigns, social media, paid ads, and even your speakers and sponsors. It’s a win-win: they promote the event to their audience, and you attract new people to your brand.
Communicate Clearly. Send out “know before you go” emails with all the necessary technical information. Your attendees should know exactly where to go and what to do, eliminating any day-of confusion. A little clarity goes a long way.
Analyze and Learn. Once the event is over, send out a post-event survey to gather feedback. Analyze every metric you can get your hands on—attendance rates, engagement levels, and session ratings. Use this data to make your next event even better. Then, offer on-demand recordings to everyone who registered. It’s like a second chance for those who couldn’t make it and a great resource for everyone else.
By following this roadmap—shaped by years of successes and, honestly, a few memorable blunders that we learned from—you will be well on your way to creating an online event that’s smooth, engaging, and truly valuable. And best of all, you will likely avoid the kind of live-day mishap that’s only funny long after it’s over.
