This guide indicates the aspects that the organizers need to take into consideration one day before the event and also, during the event day.
1. Make sure your event is configured correctly
- The event needs at least one participation type set to Remote in order for the virtual meetings to take place
- There should be no tables in Meetings.
Even though in the setup of matchmaking sessions in the agenda you need a number of virtual tables, in the Meetings tab in the organizer's tool you should have none.
2. Make sure you’re aware of the virtual meetings' basics
- The participants access their meetings by logging in to the b2match platform, going to Meetings in their profile, and clicking on Start meeting.
- During the meetings, the remaining time is displayed on the top left corner.
- Meetings do not end automatically. One of the participants need to click on the End meeting button or start the next meeting.
3. Prepare all the information for the participants
- A contact page on the website is not only mandatory by law, but it will also show participants to whom they can turn to if they have uncertainties. So make sure you display the channels you would like to use to be contacted by the participants, email or phone.
For the organizers who do not have the resources to support participants themselves, or don't want to be contacted directly via phone and email, we can also integrate chat services, subject to additional charges.
- Chat between participants and b2match Support staff. The chat will be available once the participant logs in and all the support will be taken care of by the b2match Support team, so it will be chat between participants and the b2match team.
- Chat between the organizers and participants, integrated to the b2match website. This chat will be available for visitors of the website and it will happen between the organizers and the participants. This way, the organizers will offer direct support for the participants. Name your favorite provider (we implemented Pure Chat to some of our events) and we will let you know if we can implement it or not and the additional costs.
- Improve your How it works page, if you anticipate issues that we haven't tackled there. Depending on your event configuration, the scheduling and request modes might be different, hence the need to adjust it to your event. An example can be found here. A French example here.
- Remind the participants to check if they have selected their proper time-zone, more here
- Feel free to use our participant guide and send the attendees links to our articles.
4. Anticipate the participants' frequently asked questions
You can send the links below when the participants have questions or add them to the FAQ page on the website.
- I forgot my password, what do I do?
- How do I request meetings?
- Why can’t I hear or see anything?
- Where can I manage my meeting requests or scheduled meetings?
- How does the remote 1:1 networking work?
5. Let the participants know about their agenda
Punctuality remains a pivotal concept when it comes to events, untouched of the fact that the event is virtual or on-site. In order to make sure the participants adhere to their agenda, make sure you send them a reminder in which you link their agenda one day before the event.
6. Keep an eye on the meetings on the event day
- Monitor the participants' status in the meetings in real time, by keeping an eye on the virtual meetings overview.
- Join meetings and other sessions, if you think this would help the participants.
- As organizer, you can also join the sessions which are not related to 1:1, such as workshops, conferences or webinars.