Ep 63: How to Organize an Online Event with Alexander Theuma of SaaStock

Problem: 

Today Alexander Theuma the founder of SaaStock is here to talk about going from a live event to remote events. Going from an off-line event to an online event has its own unique set of challenges.

When it came to pivoting the business, I had not read a huge amount about it […] But we did have a list of things that we needed to look at, initially.

The Steps to Run a Proper Online Event 

In this episode of How We Solve, Alexander Theuma explains how he went from running an offline event and pivoted to running a global virtual event.

Step 1: Determine how to best give value to your audience

In 2020, conferences were at a standstill until they could figure out how to pivot, in order to give value to their audience in an online setting. In March of 2020 (while there were online events), online events were more like webinars on steroids. Now, there is technology out there, which can help you better replicate live, in-person events. 

After evaluating multiple event-tech platforms, Alexander and SaaStock decided to dive into the virtual conference medium using Hopin.

What do we do to generate revenue, to generate value to our audience? What’s the fastest time to remedy, the fastest time to value?

Step 2: Bring in other tools to best bring your event to life

In order to bring their event to life, SaaStock decided to incorporate multiple different types of platforms. After all, no one company is amazing at everything. For Alexander and SaaStock, this meant utilizing:

• Hopin (an event tech platform)
• Catapult (a production company)
• Streamyard (a video live-streaming service)
• Zoom (a video conferencing service)

No one company is good at everything.

Step 3: Make sure to allow for networking

Everyone goes to conferences for different reasons. Some people go for content and speakers, others go to network and figuratively rub elbows with peers. Luckily, Hopin has a built-in meeting room that helps your audience network and talk with each other outside of designated webinar and presentation times. 

SaaStock has taken it one step further and has split their event in half, which allows for more networking options for event-goers and allows for more focused presentations and content meetings. Some platforms to help with that include:

• ConversationStarter (a networking platform)
• Speakeasy.co (a networking platform)
• Icebreaker (an online events networking platform)

Step 4: Figuring out your pricepoint

Price can be a tricky part of the process because of the sheer amount of free content online. How can you justify charging a price in the face of all that content? But the pricepoint plays more of a role than just bringing in money for your hard work. It also serves as a gatekeeper in terms of the attendees. Paid events help filter through various degrees of dedication and a different frame of mind when it comes to your audience.

We came up with a price that we thought was a fair value and in the end we came up with a price that was about a third cheaper than our in-person pricing.