Friday, November 13, 2009

Tips for Producing a Successful Virtual Event

As with live events, producing a successful virtual event involves extensive planning, careful content development and precise execution. Through our experience producing virtual events, we have found the following tips to be helpful in ensuring success...

1) Never underestimate the amount of pre-event planning time required for a virtual event. Build it into your schedule. You'll always wish you had more!

2) If your event is for an internal audience, engage your IT department early to ensure attendees have sufficient bandwidth and any challenges with access are resolved beforehand.

3) Like a physical event, keep the content and delivery engaging. Vary your presentation formats to keep attendees interested.

4) Consider using the virtual event platform for pre-event communication. This will test out its usability with your audience, help attendees get familiar and comfortable with its use, and get the word out!

5) If live interaction is a part of your event, don't forget to build sufficient rehearsal time into the schedule.

To learn more about One Smooth Stone's virtual event offering, watch our demo or shoot an email to Steve.

One Smooth Stone named 2010 Special Event Gala Award Finalist

The results are in...and One Smooth Stone has been named a finalist in the 2010 Special Event Gala Awards for its exquisite and elegant gala design at BMC Software's 2009 Chairman's Circle arrival lunch at the Four Seasons Lanai, Hawaii.

Released yesterday, the finalists in the competition have been posted online. Final award selections will be announced in January at The Special Event in New Orleans.


Arrival lunch at the Four Seasons golf course, overlooking the ocean


Floral and table design

Seating under an elegant canopy

Monday, November 9, 2009

All Dressed Up

October 31st was a costume-filled holiday for the One Smooth Stone kids! Take a look at some of the outfits donned by stonies’ children, nieces and nephews…

Ken Haller's boys, Tieg and Kade, were dressed as reptiles for Halloween!

Lisa Hultmark and her family teamed up to create the cast of Wizard of Oz.

Megan's Manske's daughter, Skylar, was a princess who clearly likes to get her way!

Steve Koppel's two children, Adam and Genevieve, dressed up as a pirate and a chicken

Bethany Johnson's niece and nephew, Kylie and Tyler, walked their neighborhood as a witch and Nintendo's Luigi

Brad Zulke's nephew, Jonathan, enjoyed playing the part of Scarecrow at his school festival

Stephanie Selig's daughter, Cassidy, donned a "cheerful" pink butterfly costume to celebrate