What the WSJ learned from holding virtual events

Leigh Gilmore, general manager of live journalism and events at The Wall Street Journal, writes about how virtual events have helped the business news organization.

Gilmore writes, “As the lockdowns extended for weeks and then months, we witnessed more readers than ever gravitate to the Journal for its trusted, high-quality reporting. Members were looking to The Wall Street Journal to provide the facts and guidance they needed to make sense of this new reality. We wanted our virtual Live Journalism to be an extension of that useful, relevant, timely sharing of information.

“Our short-term objective, and perhaps the hardest task, was to re-imagine our live events as virtual experiences. We understood that Zoom fatigue would set in quickly and we knew we didn’t want a series of one-dimensional webinars.

“As with our in-person events, our virtual events must be tailored to each programme and audience, which meant there was no one-size-fits-all platform. Moreover, to compete in this space, it was necessary to look outside the events world to uncover experiences, technologies, and ideas we could map onto the event landscape to create the richest, most engaging, most immersive experiences possible.

“We have since found inspiration from dating sites, gaming sites, online education, telemedicine, social media, and other non-event spaces.”

Read more here.