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4 Steps to Hosting Your Virtual Event

Online virtual events are here, and they are now the center of corporate event planning. Here are four ways to ensure that your virtual event is a success.

Virtual Event Inspiration — Volume 1

Are you looking for inspiration for your next virtual event? Our current clients leverage the 6Connex virtual environment platform for a whole host of different use cases. Take a look at some of the latest:

How to Choose a Virtual Event Platform

With a half dozen virtual event and environment software platforms on the market, how do you know which platform is the right one to go with for your virtual tradeshow or conference? This article will help you do your own homework and choose a provider wisely—considering more than just price and what’s in the brochure.

6Connex Announces Commitment to GDPR Compliance

The 6Connex virtual event platform will be fully compliant by the May 25^th deadline

Pleasanton, CA / May 22, 2018 – As the only vendor dedicated to innovation in online events, 6Connex today announced compliance with the upcoming GDPR requirements. The upgrades and modification to the virtual event and environment platform, coupled with the recent announcement of hosting inside the European Union, underscores 6Connex’s leadership as the most secure and reliable platform on the market.

The Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect May 25, 2018, taking data protection for EU citizens even further than current standards. All companies who may potentially access or capture data from EU citizens data will need to comply with the GDPR, and any company hosting a virtual event will need to ensure their platform provider is compliant.

“6Connex is committed to helping our customers and partners comply with these important regulations, no matter where their data is from or flows,” said Marc Goodell, EVP Environments & Infrastructure. “Our Legal, Trust and Privacy teams have approved key platform enhancements that ensure customer and end-user data is managed appropriately.”

The 6Connex virtual events and environment platform will capture consent when customers use the platform registration pages, a critical piece of GDPR. The platform will also track lawful basis of processing and will allow for the withdrawal of consent, access/portability, modification, and deletion.

About 6Connex

6Connex has helped many leading brands increase the effectiveness of their online programs by driving revenue growth, saving money and increased employee productivity. Our customers include Salesforce, BlackRock, GE, CDC, Ericsson, CA Technologies

Why Approach Sales Kickoff Differently

Sales kickoffs (SKOs) have evolved a lot in the last 5 years. As leading companies continue to look for an edge, SKOs need to be more than just a tradition; they need to show ROI.

“Whatever the size of your organization, a SKO typically represents a relatively significant investment due to travel expenses, meeting expenses, opportunity loss for the sales team, and productivity loss for other attendees. It’s important to make your SKO not only enjoyable but also impactful.

As we barrel toward January, this is the time to ask yourself whether your SKO is simply an event or the beginning of a well honed strategic effort that will continue to propel your sales organization to achieve your objectives for the year.

How to Get the Most out of Your SKO

How you plan your SKO is important, but thinking about how you deliver the message is just as critical. Questions you need to ask when planning an SKO include

Will attendees retain what they learn?
Who gets to attend?
What about employees hired after the SKO?
Is the entire organization prepared to support your goals?
What is the ROI?

You can have good answers to these questions if you stream live and then capture your next SKO. For around 5% of what you spend on your physical SKO, you can answer with confidence:

Will attendees retain what they learn? Yes, anyone who attends the live SKO will have access to all of the presentations on demand.
Who gets to attend? Anyone in your organization will be able to attend live or on demand. No longer do you have to decide who gets to go and who doesn’t.
What about employees hired after the SKO? New hires will be able to watch your SKO in its entirety, onboarding them in days and helping them to hit the ground running.
Is the entire organization prepared to support your goals? Yes, by attending your live or virtual sales kickoff, your company will be in total alignment with your sales plan.
What is the ROI? By adding a small amount to the SKO budget, you can increase retention of content, allowing anyone in your organization to attend, onboard new hires, and deliver your goals company wide.

SKO on a Budget

This all sounds great, but what if you are being asked to reduce your physical SKO budget?

If you are decide to stream live and create on-demand sessions, you can greatly reduce the number of individuals that attend the physical event while still giving everyone access to all of the content.

For an even greater savings, you can take the entire keynote presentation and educational content of your SKO and deliver it entirely online, using the budget you have to plan a networking-only physical event. You can use that budget to host regional happy hours, add new sales incentives, or increase the number of people eligible for President’s Club.

Check out how SonicWall took its SKO to the virtual world, facilitating live sessions and “hot topic” Q&A sessions along with a robust library of informational resources. Read the full case study.

Need assistance with your sales kickoff? Learn how 6Connex can help.

Flash vs. HTML5 for Virtual Events

Since we introduced our HTML5 Virtual Environment Platform V7, we’ve been inundated by our clients and partners running virtual events and virtual trade shows with questions about the difference between Flash and HTML5. The HTML5 specification has been around for a few years and has picked up steam since Google, Microsoft, and Apple announced last year that Adobe Flash would be blocked in their newest browsers.

6Connex To Offer Virtual Environment Hosting Inside the European Union

6Connex will be the only global provider offering virtual event hosting in the US or the EU.

Pleasanton, CA / May 08, 2018 – As the only vendor dedicated to innovation in online events, 6Connex today announced the availability of dedicated hosting of virtual events and environments inside the European Union (EU). The 6Connex platform is hosted entirely in the cloud, on Amazon Web Services, and is now available on AWS in the US or in the EU.

Data protection within the EU has always been important and the Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into effect May 25, 2018, takes further steps to make data even safer for EU citizens. While all companies who handle data will need to comply with the GDPR, European companies face greater hurdles and greater uncertainty when they deal with companies based in the US. The option to host data on AWS inside the EU will have a significant positive impact on European companies, saving both time and money for internal reviews, security audits and other processes.

“Our European clients have asked for an option to host inside the EU, and we are delivering,” said Mike Nelson, 6Connex CEO. “We are the only global provider with this option, and the only virtual event provider continuing to innovate for our clients.”

The 6Connex virtual event platform will also be fully compliant with the GDPR, helping all customers meet the GDPR for their own data collection and hosting needs.

About 6Connex

6Connex to Support First Ever National Small Business Week Virtual Conference

Pleasanton, CA / April 30, 2018 – As National Small Business Week kicks-off, 6Connex is pleased to announce support for the first-ever National Small Business Week virtual conference. Hosted by the U.S. Small Business Administration and SCORE, the virtual conference will offer small business owners the best parts of an in-person conference without the hassles of travel, at no cost to attend.

The 3-day virtual event will include live educational webinars, mentoring sessions, business resources and networking opportunities. Attendees can participate in all the webinars, or choose the topics that are of most interest. Sessions include:

How Changing Consumer Behavior Impacts Your Business – May 1 at 1:00 PM ET/ 10:00 AM PT
Addressing Discrimination and Harassment in the Workplace – May 1 at 2:30 PM ET / 11:30 AM PT
Get New and Repeat Business On Autopilot with Email Marketing – May 1 at 4:00 PM ET / 1:00 PM PT
Creating and Sustaining a Strong Social Presence – May 1 at 5:30 PM ET / 2:30 PM PT
The U.S. Economic Outlook and Its Impact on Small Businesses – May 2 at 1:00 PM ET/ 10:00 AM PT
Managing Your Finances in the Cloud – May 2 at 2:30 PM ET / 11:30 AM PT
Grow Your Business in 2018 – May 2 at 4:00 PM ET / 1:00 PM PT
Simple Steps to Choosing the Right Financing – May 2 at 5:30 PM ET / 2:30 PM PT
Hug Your Haters: How to Embrace Complaints & Keep Your Customers – May 3 at 1:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM PT
Sharing Your Story Through Video – May 3 at 2:30 PM ET / 11:30 AM PT
Pop & Play: How Opening a Pop-Up Shop Can Help Launch Your Retail Brand – May 3 at 4:00 PM ET / 1:00 PM PT
Fusion Marketing: The Next Generation of Marketing – May 3 at 5:30 PM ET / 2:30 PM PT.

“As a growing business ourselves, we’re pleased to be the platform of choice for this first-ever event,” said Mike Nelson, 6Connex CEO. “We look forward to seeing thousands of small business owners join the virtual conference to connect and learn.”

Attendance is free, and the conference is accessible on any computer or mobile device, offering small business owners the flexibility to attend from anywhere during the 3-day virtual conference. Register for free at: https://score.6connex.com/event/vc/nsbw/login

About 6Connex, Inc.
6Connex is a global software and services provider for enterprise online events. Our cloud-based product portfolio includes virtual environments, learning management and webinars Designed for marketing, sales, recruitment training and HR communications, we transform big ideas into real-world results.

For more information, visit www.6connex.com.

Content Is King, but Money Talks — Part 3

Monetizing Your Audience—One Billion Dollars (from Attendees?)

In part 1 and part 2 of this series, we highlighted ten ways event hosts can drive revenue opportunities from sponsorship of virtual events and discussed how the virtual format provides more opportunity for sponsorship revenue than physical events. Now, we turn our attention to ways to drive revenue from your audience.

6Connex Announces Industry-Leading Accessibility Features for Virtual Events

Pleasanton, CA / April 17, 2018 – As the only vendor dedicated to innovation in online events, 6Connex today announced new functionality that enables a 508-compliant version of any virtual event or virtual environment. With one-click in the platform control panel, online event producers can provide their attendees with an accessibility page that includes relevant event content and materials.

The new platform functionality presents a straightforward menu with links and titles that are recognized by assistive technologies like screen readers, which allow blind and visually impaired users to read the on-screen content. Almost all content within a virtual event can be included on the accessibility page, such as keynote webcast sessions, sponsor or partner booths and associated documents and resources.

For virtual events where accessibility is a primary goal, event producers will be guided by the 6Connex customer success team to determine how to best design an online event experience that meets the needs of all attendees.

“This level of flexibility, built into the platform, is a first for virtual events and environment providers,” said Michael Nelson, 6Connex CEO. “We think this is an important investment in the software, and we are pleased to support our clients in producing 508-compliant events.”

About 6Connex, Inc.

6Connex is a global software and services provider for enterprise online events. Our cloud-based product portfolio includes virtual environments, learning management and webinars. Designed for marketing, sales, recruitment, training and HR communications, we transform big ideas into real-world results. Lead by the most innovative and experienced leaders in online events, the 6Connex platform was built to be the most configurable, secure and reliable product on the market. Our seasoned project managers, who have experience working with companies across all industries, provide hands-on support and strategic guidance. 6Connex has helped many leading brands increase the effectiveness of their online programs by driving revenue growth, saving money and increased employee productivity. Our customers include Salesforce, Blackrock, GE, CDC, Ericsson, CA Technologies and Intuit. For more information, visit www.6connex.com.