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

All Dressed Up

October 31^st 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

Production...You! Webinar

Thanks to everyone who listened and participated in "Production...You!", a webinar co-hosted by One Smooth Stone and hinton+grusich on October 22nd. The session provided best practices and tips for “producing” the business meeting.

If you missed the session, complete audio/video has been posted at the link below for viewing. Feel free to pass this link along to anyone who might benefit from the content.

www.onesmoothstone.com/Webinars/Producer-You

Slides from the webinar, as well as a producer checklist, can be downloaded here:

http://tinyurl.com/Producer-You

Producer YOU! Webinar - October 22nd

Date: Thursday, Oct 22
Time: 11am (Pacific), noon (MT), 1pm (CST), 2pm (EST)
Audience: Any meeting planner who finds themselves in the role of producer

With budgets being reduced, you may find yourself using in-house A/V a bit more and needing to fill the role of “producer” for your business meeting. If so, our October 22nd webinar is just for you! Presented by One Smooth Stone President and Principal Kevin Olsen and Associate Producer Bethany Johnson, "Producer YOU!" will provide best practices for “producing” the business meeting…. everything from tips for managing graphics and providing simple recommendations to improve a presenter’s delivery to what questions to ask the lighting designer. At the end of the webinar, a check-list will also be provided to make you a pro in no time.

Interested in registering? Just click here!

One Smooth Stone featured in Successful Meetings Magazine...

How do you impress 900 top achievers and their guests? This was the headline for a recent article in Successful Meetings Magazine featuring One Smooth Stone's work on the 2008 Field Leadership Club incentive program for BMC Software. Our answer to the headlining question? Put a stage in the water!

On the Big Island of Hawaii in May of 2008, we constructed a fully-functional 60' x 32' stage entirely in the ocean at Anaehoomalu Bay. It was the first stage in the ocean in all of Hawaii and provided a performance venue for local and major name entertainment. The result? Guests were amazed and "wowed" with a memorable and truly spectacular experience.

Take a look at the full article to learn more about what went into this ground-breaking effort.

Celebrating a Stonie!

August was a big month for One Smooth Stone Project Coordinator Emily (Green) Miller and we had a lot to celebrate!

First, Emily was named a recipient of MPI Chicago Area Chapter's "Chapter Leader of the Month" award. Her hard work as part of the chapter's Leadership Development Committee and her efforts in putting together monthly conference calls and webinars for other leaders helped her stand out among the 13 members that were nominated for the award. Great work, Emily!

But the congratulations don't stop there... Amidst her MPI chapter work, Emily was also diligently planning a wedding. Emily and Jason Miller tied the knot on August 29th in a beautiful outdoor ceremony in Geneva, IL. The whole One Smooth Stone team was there to celebrate with her!

Emily and Jason Miller pose at their reception

A flower petal send-off