Looking for information on how to set up your virtual summit event schedule? Want to know a few different strategies for setting up your virtual event schedule and what's worked well for us in the past?

Good news! We're diving into those details in this blog post all about setting up the schedule for your virtual events! And as a member of The Summit Club, you've got access to all the juicy details!

Let's get started!

Virtual Summits For Virtual Business Owners

If you're a virtual business owner, online course creator, membership owner, or coach looking to scale your business and increase your authority, hosting a virtual summit can be a game-changer. Not only does it attract fresh leads, but it also boosts income from signature offer sales.

But if you never deliver the event experience your attendees so deeply hoped they'd have, you'll not only miss out on sales, but you'll probably see a mass exodus from your email list quickly, fast, and in a hurry!

So before you plan too far in advance, let's cover what you need to know about virtual event schedules, how to set them up, and the options we've found to be our favorites!

Virtual Summit Scheduling Basics

• Define Your Event Goals: Before diving into the nitty-gritty details, it's crucial to clearly define your event goals. Ask yourself: What do you hope to achieve through this virtual event? Is it to generate leads, build authority, increase sales, or all of the above? Having a clear vision of your goals will guide your scheduling decisions and enable you to create a more focused and impactful event.
• Consider Event Length: Consider the ideal duration of your virtual event. Will it be a one-day summit or spread over multiple days? Strive to find the happy place when your schedule balances engagement with your audience's availability and attention span. The length of your event can sometimes be made longer or shorter- depending on the amount of content you need to deliver. 
• Plan Your Sessions: Once you've determined the duration, it's time to think about how many sessions you'll need to deliver each day throughout the event. If you've completed the 1st 5 Steps To Planning A Virtual Summit, you'll already have a list that can be broken down into days. If not, find the 3 Big Wins Workshop + Planner Training inside your Summit Club Dashboard and get started!
• Allocate For Time Zones: Virtual events have the unique advantage of reaching a global audience. However, this also means dealing with different time zones. To accommodate attendees from various regions, allocate time slots that work for the majority of your target audience. Consider rotating session times to cater to different regions or offer recordings for those unable to attend live. Ensuring accessibility will help maximize participation and engagement.

3 Ways To Setup Your Event Schedule

• Publish All Sessions At The Same Time Daily: One of the easiest ways to publish your virtual summit content is to simply divide up the recorded sessions by the number of days you have and publish them all at the start of the day! If you plan to have live sessions, you'll then just schedule those for the times you've decided. 
  
  • We love this strategy for making larger event feels less overwhelming and creating some time accessibility for people across several time zones! 
  • We ran the 2nd Teach Me How To Summit event like this with all the recordings for the day going live for 24 hours starting at 8 am daily. Our live sessions were scattered throughout the day and we didn't need chat boxes for speakers. 
• Publish Sessions On An Hourly Basis: One of the coolest ways to publish your virtual event sessions is by the hour! This has worked really well for us, here at the Summit Host, especially for B2C events. For this strategy, you simply choose a starting and ending time for your daily event schedule and release 1-2 sessions each hour until the end of the day.
  • We love to use this strategy for events that will have speakers live in chat boxes during their sessions! This way attendees know exactly what is being published and who they can chat with live at what time. 
  • We ran the 1st Teach Me How to Summit event using this session strategy and everyone really loved it! Even though it wasn't a B2C event, and the overall attendance was lower than those events tend to be, we still saw really great numbers and feedback from the attendees! 
• Publish Everything For A Limited Time: One of the newest strategies we're using for running virtual events publishes your recorded event content all upfront and leaves it open for a limited time (72 hours). During this time, attendees can watch what they want, when they want and attend any of the live sessions at the date and times they are scheduled. 
  • We're really excited to roll this one out, which does offer the greatest flexibility for your attendees. If you have an international audience, this is an amazing strategy to allow people all around the world to watch all the sessions they need/want during hours that make sense for them! 
  • We will be running the 3rd Teach Me How To Summit Event in the Spring of 2024 using this strategy! Stay tuned for more information and details to come afterward!

Communicating The Event Schedule:

Regardless of which way you choose to publish your event sessions, once the schedule is finalized, it's crucial to communicate it effectively to your audience.

Create a visually appealing and easy-to-understand virtual event schedule page (and or PDF) that includes session titles, speaker names, and corresponding time slots. Share the schedule in your welcome emails as well as leading up to the event. And if you're hosting a community group, you should post it a few times in there as well to make sure everyone knows what's happening and when!

How to Setup Your Virtual Event Schedule

Setting up a virtual event schedule requires careful planning and consideration.

By defining your event goals, determining the duration, allocating for different time zones, and effectively communicating the schedule to your event attendees, you'll be well on your way to hosting a successful virtual summit.

Remember, a well-structured schedule sets the stage for an engaging and impactful event. Good luck, and get ready to scale your business to new heights!