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Author: Jessica Wu

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remote work

A Guide to Establish a Professional Look for Your Next Video Meeting

It’s no surprise to anyone that the post-pandemic world operates in a vastly different way than it did prior to March 2020. We should all pat ourselves on the back for facing and overcoming what, at the time, felt like a mountain-like virtual learning curve. Email attachments used to be the most technically complex part of many of our jobs and now look at us — we’re doing live webcasts, wrestling with VPN access settings, and connecting from almost anywhere with hotspots. What was unimaginable to most of us in 2020 is now a daily reality in 2023.

However rightly deserved, these congratulations for adapting to the new virtual sphere must be short-lived. Advancements in virtual operations are racing forward and being adopted with lightning speed. Simply being able to tune in to a virtual meeting with a functioning camera and microphone is now the minimum expectation for virtual meeting and event participants. With so many industries embracing remote operations, a new set of skills are necessary to stay competitive: it’s time to shift your attention to polishing your virtual presence.

How to Craft a Polished Virtual Presence

Your virtual presence is the way you show up on camera, but it’s not just about the way you look. It’s a combination of all of the things that factor into the way you present yourself and the impression you ultimately give to those on the other side of the screen. Just as in the real world, how you conduct and present yourself in meetings has real consequences in how colleagues, audiences, or interviewers perceive you.

Here are some tips to help you establish a polished, professional virtual presence.

Familiarize Yourself With Your Video Platform

We’re all probably now familiar with the hot-under-the-collar feeling of searching frantically for a microphone button to unmute ourselves while a group of onlookers wait patiently for your response. It’s an understandable predicament, given the number of virtual meeting platforms used across different industries, but definitely something you’ll want to avoid. As mentioned earlier, advancements are happening at lightning speed — no one can know every new product out there.

The key here is preparation. When getting ready for a meeting on a new platform, take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the location of necessary tools, make sure you can connect your camera and microphone properly, and have any new software or updates installed. “Although it might feel awkward, it’s important for you to practice out loud, record yourself during your test run — and then watch it” says career coach Dr. Dawn Graham. This is going to give you a good opportunity to not only test that everything is working as it should but also how you’re presenting on camera.

Get the Visuals Right

Eye contact and camera position, lighting, your attire, and your space are all important aspects of your visual presentation to keep in mind.

Eye contact and camera position

Eye contact and camera position are closely related. Placing your computer camera at eye level, directly in front of you, will give the impression that you are maintaining eye contact with your audience or colleagues throughout the meeting. With this one adjustment, you both look attentive and are in turn, more engaging to speak with.

Looking at my other monitor without the camera in a dual screen setup versus making eye contact with the camera. The second photo shows someone much more engaged in the conversation.

Visually, having your computer at eye level with about two feet of space between you and the camera, should place you directly in the center of your screen which will create a more appealing visual experience for those viewing your feed (please, please — avoid the under chin, up-the-nose shot, for everybody’s sake!)

Camera position is almost equally as important as eye contact! Observe the difference between the three photos above:

1. Setting up a laptop flat on a desk and looking at another screen gives the impression that I am sitting back and observing a meeting rather than participating.
2. I’m making eye contact and am closer to the camera, which makes me look much more engaged. However, the angle makes it look as if I am peering down at everyone in the room and, with one wrong move, you’d be able to see directly up my nose!
3. I’m centered in the frame, closer to the computer, and making ‘eye contact’ with the camera set at eye level, giving the impression that we’re speaking face-to-face.

Lighting

Perfecting your lighting is just as important as having your camera positioned correctly. Without proper lighting, you may not be seen at all! There are a plethora of professional lights and setups you can invest in to get great lighting, but it’s not necessary for most of us. We certainly don’t disparage those who do this because they look good when all set up, but it’s a nice-to-have. Most of us will want to start with what we have, by setting a bright (read: not harsh —industrial shop lights are not necessary) lamp behind your computer so that the light falls on and highlights your face as an easy first step. 


To set your lighting, open your virtual meeting platform and observe yourself on screen to determine what light placement looks the best on your face. Depending on the light source, you may need to boost it up with a few books or try a couple of different angles behind the computer. Avoid direct overhead lighting as it can create harsh shadows underneath the eyes, nose, and chin that can cause you to look haggard.

These four photos show different lighting techniques in the same spot in my basement office.

1. Don’t just rely on the existing lighting in your space – this photo was taken with just my overhead lights on behind and beside me.
2. Avoid direct overhead lighting as it can cast unflattering shadows on your face and make your features a little more difficult to see.
3. When setting up lighting augmentations, avoid super bright lights! Too bright of light and your whole image will appear washed out.
4. This is my lighting with my overhead lights behind and beside me on and two lamps with standard soft white bulbs posted slightly behind and to the side of my laptop.

If you’re meeting during the day, setting up in front of a window so that the natural light illuminates your face is a great option for lighting — just make sure that you are facing the window instead of having your back turned to it. Being back-lit will make you appear completely in shadow on screen.

The difference between:

1. Artificial light from my computer screen, ceiling lights, and lamps on either side of my computer.
2. Natural light, facing a window with one lamp beside my computer.

If your desk is set up with your back facing the window, consider relocating for important meetings or putting blinds down and relying on artificial lighting. A bright light behind you will cause you to be backlit with your face in shadow.

Your Attire and Your Space

Expressing your style through your fashion and decorating choices are never something that we’re going to argue against. For the purpose of this guide, we will make some suggestions for things to avoid since they can be disproportionately distracting over video.

For clothing: 

Striped patterns can produce a moving/ strobing effect on camera, depending on your computer settings. Since you can’t control the setting on other people’s computers, best to avoid stripes and tight patterns on clothing altogether.
This red scarf reflects color onto my face, which a cooler more muted tone does not. Depending on the brightness of your lighting, the red ‘glow’ produced from hot colors can be very distracting.
My dark hair mixes with the background on the left, making me look like a floating head. The white shirt, white background combo produces a similar effect and looks bland on camera.
  • Jewelry that shimmers or jingles can come across as very loud or bright on camera.

For your space:

  • Tidy, neutral spaces are best. A cluttered or messy room can give the impression that you are disorganized. Take a few minutes to clear away any distracting piles that fall into your camera’s view and avoid showing artwork that may not be appropriate for professional settings.
  • When possible, minimize activity in your background (you want the focus to stay on you- Fido sitting behind you will most certainly be a distraction).
for keeping the focus on you during important meetings. Looking at the two images above and be honest – where is your attention drawn to in the first photo and where is it in the second?
  • Virtual backgrounds can be glitchy and are not the cleanest look but sometimes cannot be avoided. If you do opt for a virtual background, go for a neutral image or color that shows you in the sharpest relief possible. If you’re in a dark room, sitting against a wall or hanging a sheet behind you it makes a huge difference in how natural a virtual background looks. 
While this background is certified groovy, it is definitely distracting compared to the neutral ones shown to the right. The following pictures show the difference in using a virtual background without a sheet behind me and with one. The line between my hair and the virtual background looks much more natural when a light sheet creates a contrasting color difference between me and the background.

Perfect Your Audio and Adjust Your Communication

While visuals are important, nailing your audio setup is vital. After all, what is the point of a call if you can’t hear or speak to the person you’re trying to connect with?  ‘Can you repeat that?, You cut out’ or ‘Do you have a fan on in the background?’ are the new phrase equivalents of ‘speak up, we can’t hear you in the back!’ There’s nothing quite like these jarring interruptions to completely throw you off your roll when talking in a meeting.

Use an external microphone

Laptop microphones have come a long way over the past few years but they pale in comparison even to the microphones built into headphones we now usually get with our smartphones. Not only is the microphone closer to your mouth, they’re also designed to sort out background noises to make your voice stand out even more clearly. If you’re seriously committed to top notch sound, there are plenty of USB microphones on the market to choose from that fit all price ranges (several people in our office use this one and love it!). There is also something to be said for the attention grabbing power of a smooth, radio-quality voice!

Tweak your communication style to fit the format 

Once you have your microphone and speaker settings optimized, it’s important to think about how communicating through video calls and chat can be different than talking in-person and how to adjust your speaking style to fit this new interactive format. 


You can control your own sound quality but not your audience’s speaker level or hearing abilities. When talking, make sure to speak directly into your microphone and pay attention to your communication speed and enunciation. What you’re saying is important – make sure everyone hears every word! A nice extra benefit of speaking in a clear, measured tone is that you will seem confident in your words. 

Though it may seem counterintuitive, nonverbal communication can sometimes be more helpful and less disruptive in video format than a constant stream of verbal contributions. Practice actively listening by looking at the person who is speaking, nodding your head, and smiling in encouragement when possible instead of unmuting to give running affirmations. This will help to keep the airwaves ‘clear’ for the speaker’s words to reach other meeting attendees unimpeded.  
Finally, take your time and leave room in the conversation to allow other people to speak. Since some people mute themselves automatically to keep their environmental noises minimized, it now may take a few extra seconds to unmute to respond to something you’ve said. Take a small pause between talking points. This small adjustment will create space for higher quality interactions in your meetings and again gives you the bonus of sounding more confident in your speech.

The Perfect Complement to a Polished Virtual Presence — Frameable Spaces

Now that we’re all familiar and hopefully more comfortable with virtual work, the next step in professional evolution is to develop a strong virtual presence. Using the guidelines listed above will help you establish a polished reputation and highlight you as a competitive candidate in remote work. 
It also helps to use a platform with useful features you can rely on. Frameable Spaces can help take your remote work to the next level with virtual backgrounds, noise cancellation, and a variety of other collaboration features. Book a demo to see how Frameable Spaces can give your distributed teams all the benefits of working together, no matter where they are.

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virtual events

Why Event Attendee Surveys Are Vital to Your Success (And What To Ask)

Your conference attendees shouldn’t feel helpless when they seek assistance or raise concerns. This may sound extreme, but it is an all-too-common experience for many conference-goers—and something I recently faced at a hybrid industry event.

Like 32 million other Americans, I have food allergies. I can usually find some safe food at events (especially large, multi-day conferences). But I always pack snacks just in case. On day one of a recent event, however, I couldn’t find any food labels or clearly allergy-friendly options, and I was unsuccessful in finding someone who could help me identify my options. Good thing I brought snacks! Day two, same problem, and I noticed numerous other attendees complaining amongst themselves. By day three, we knew we were on our own, our snack piles were dwindling, and many of us started venting our hanger-fueled frustration on social media.  

This example is just one of the many ways that a disappointing conference experience can spiral if event planners are unaware of their attendees’ needs. But there is an easy way that the event organizers could have anticipated or corrected this issue—attendee surveys! 
Although many event challenges can be unpredictable, any attendee issues can be addressed if you effectively survey them and create healthy feedback loops to correct issues in real time. Here’s how.

Why Virtual Event Attendee Surveys Are Vital To Your Success

Building a successful online event requires you to have an unwavering focus on your attendees—what they want to learn, who they want to hear from, and how they want to engage in the event experience.

As an event planner, your budget and timing will drive many decisions. It’s understandable that you cannot factor in every possible event hiccup during your planning. However, pre-event attendee surveys can help you cover your bases and address areas you may have previously overlooked (like dietary needs or accessibility considerations). 

Once your event starts, your team will be busy and urgent needs will arise—and you don’t want your team’s time to be taken entirely by attendees who are seeking help. Field surveys during your event through your event app or in the virtual event platform interface to quickly identify immediate areas of concern and fix them before they spread. You should assign two or three team members during the event whose sole responsibility is to address concerns raised in the surveys.
Post-conference surveys are the most common—and they are critical for improving your next event strategy—but the damage is already done to attendees who felt you inadequately addressed their needs during the event. Yes, you need to use post-event surveys to improve your next event. But fielding surveys before and during your event is most helpful for addressing your real-time attendee needs and keeping an urgent issue from becoming a crisis.

Sample Event Attendee Survey Questions To Help You Improve Their Experience

To help you get valuable attendee insights to strengthen your event experience, consider asking the below questions in your pre-, during, and post-event attendee surveys.

Pre-Event Attendee Survey Questions

Before the event, ask your registrants questions that will help you finalize your conference agenda and address your attendees’ needs. Automatically send a pre-event survey as soon as an attendee registers for your event, and remind your attendees to fill out the surveys through your ongoing email and social media communications. Pre-event survey questions can include:

  • What is your preferred session length at an event like ours?
  • Were you disappointed in a recent event experience? If so, what is the biggest challenge you faced that detracted from that event experience? 
  • Who would you want to hear from at the event (you can name specific people or tell us general titles or industries)?
  • What are your food or dietary restrictions? (include a fill-in field)
  • Do you have any food or dietary preferences?
  • What kind of networking events or activities do you prefer?
  • Is there anything we can do to make your time at the event remarkable?

During the Event Attendee Survey Questions

During the event, surveys give you real-time feedback on your sessions and the overall event experience. The key is to assign at least two event staff members to monitor these submissions and route concerns to the appropriate team members as soon as possible. Sample questions to ask attendees during a virtual or hybrid event include:

  • How would you rate the food and beverage options provided at the conference?
  • Are you comfortable with the temperature throughout the event space?
  • Have you faced any challenges in navigating the event experience?
  • What can we do to make your event experience even better?
  • How would you rate the quality of service provided by our event staff?

Post-Event Attendee Survey Questions

After the event, surveys are a vital way to understand if your event was successful—did your event meet its goals and fulfill your attendees’ hopes? If your event was unsuccessful, then you will have a harder time getting attendees at your future events. Consider asking these types of questions in your post-event attendee surveys:

  • On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your overall conference experience?
  • What are the three things you think we did best during the event?
  • How could we have improved your experience?
  • Would you recommend our event to a colleague? Why or why not?
  • Would you be interested in attending a future event with us?

Designing an Attendee-Obsessed Experience

Virtual and hybrid events are far more common than before, and your prospective attendees deserve an intuitive and engaging experience.

Use event attendee surveys at each stage of your event to up-level your attendee needs and identify potential issues before they escalate and destroy your attendee experience. It is impossible to host a perfect conference, but attendee surveys empower you to be truly attendee focused.
Once you understand what your attendees need from your event experience, you’ll need a virtual or hybrid event platform that can enable the dynamic spaces that allow them to mix, mingle, and engage with the event experience. We’ve built Frameable to help people make real connections at your event through a beautiful and easy-to-navigate interface. Learn more about Frameable Events and get started with us today to host your next event.

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remote work

6 Smart Ways to Ensure Remote Workers Find Work-life Balance and Prevent Burnout

Many remote workers have brought attention to their work-life balance as the separation between work and home has become smaller than ever. A 2022 Conference Board survey found that 47% of remote workers in the US are concerned about the blurred boundaries between their jobs and personal lives. While remote work can lead to a desirable work-life balance for some, it can be even more difficult to unplug and set clear boundaries for others. As the remote work workforce continues to grow, employers should focus on creating a culture of healthy work-life balance and ensuring remote employees prevent burnout. 

Read on for six ideas on how to maintain work-life balance and avoid employee burnout.

Encourage breaks

About 20% of workers say they don’t take lunch breaks because they’re worried about feeling guilty or judged when they step away from work at midday. It turns out that while these employees may have had positive intentions, they are actually doing a disservice to both themselves and the company. 94% of employees feel happier when they can take a lunch break during the workday and agree that taking a break gives them a chance to return to their work with a new perspective. These employees exhibit higher productivity levels and are more likely to stay at a company where bosses encourage employees to take breaks.

If you manage remote employees, encourage them to take full advantage of their lunch break by taking at least 30 minutes to step away from their work and from all notifications. Encourage them to go outside, take a walk, grab a bite to eat, or do something that will help them to recharge and refocus. Remind them that taking the time to refresh and reset will allow them to be more productive and successful in the afternoon.

Establish boundaries

During the virtual onboarding process, make sure that remote managers and employees discuss expectations and boundaries. 

Managers should prepare a list of guidelines regarding the following:

  • Working hours: What are the expected hours of availability, breaks, and overtime expectations?
  • Job responsibilities: Who will assign tasks, and how are deadlines communicated?
  • Communication standards: How does the organization use different communication methods? 

Employees should consider what their idea of a healthy work-life balance means and communicate any concerns.

Recognize achievements

Research has indicated that insufficient recognition can lead to burnout, with a 48% increase in employers reporting burnout when they don’t receive recognition. There are both informal and formal ways to recognize the achievements of your employees. Organizations should use a combination of the two to ensure that employees feel appreciated and motivated to continue to perform at a high level.

Informal forms of recognition are exactly that—informal. Informal recognitions are spontaneous and unplanned, and can be as simple as verbal praise, a thank you note, a celebratory team lunch, or positive feedback. These types of recognition help employees with immediate feedback and helps to build a positive company culture.

On the other hand, formal recognition is a structured program with defined processes. This type of recognition includes awards, bonuses, certificates, or promotions. It is important to note that you should save formal recognition for the most exceptional employees, and the company should clearly define—and communicate—the criteria. When employers do formal recognition correctly, it can be a powerful motivator for employees and show them that their hard work is appreciated and valued.

Look into employee recognition software such as Achievers and TINYpulse as tools to heighten employee engagement and ensure your employees are receiving the recognition they deserve. Programs like these can eliminate administrative time and effort while ensuring employees are recognized, rewarded, and heard.

Offer flex time

Flex time allows employees to work outside of the traditional 9 to 5. This can mean adjusting your day’s start and end times, or taking an extended break during the middle of the day for personal obligations. People can use flex time to accommodate different lifestyles, such as parents needing to pick up children from school, or to simply allow employees to take advantage of when they are more productive. Flex time allows employees to adapt their work schedules to their personal needs and preferences. This flexibility can help prevent burnout by enabling employees to take breaks when they need them, work when they are most productive, and manage their workloads more effectively. Clearly communicate your flex time policy in the hiring and onboarding process so that employees and potential employees can know what to expect.

Provide support

Providing support to employees can come in many forms, such as mentorship, coaching, and feedback. Mentoring programs can allow employees to develop their skills, receive guidance from experienced colleagues, and build relationships with other team members. Coaching sessions can provide more personalized support, allowing employees to discuss goals, challenges, and possible solutions in a constructive and supportive environment. Regular feedback is also important, as it enables employees to receive insights into their work performance, and gives them an opportunity to reflect on their behavior. Consider hosting virtual networking sessions within your organization or pairing new hires with current employees to establish mentorship opportunities. All these support forms can help employees feel valued, develop their skills, and contribute to a positive and productive work environment.

Invest in technology

There are many ways technology can help organizations prevent burnout. While there are obvious opportunities, such as using task management software, automating routine tasks, and streamlining processes, consider other ways your organization can use technology to improve work-life balance. Providing employees with fitness trackers or watches can remind employees to stand up, stretch, and make sure they are getting steps in throughout the day. Online wellness programs or access to virtual therapy and counseling may be another helpful resource for employees to manage stress and increase overall wellbeing.

Increase organization visibility with Frameable

We know that it can be challenging to separate your work from your personal life while working remotely. Managers must recognize burnout and make conscious efforts to ensure employees can have a work-life balance. 

Frameable Spaces takes virtual meeting software to the next level, creating a persistent virtual space where coworkers can easily see what others are working on and invite each other to collaborate outside of scheduled meetings. Our software is optimized for teams with flexible working schedules, ensuring users can communicate their availability and create a culture of shared values and mutual support. Learn more about Spaces and try it for free today.

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9 Future of Work Conferences to Attend in 2023

Explore our 2024 roundup here.

This post was updated on July 21, 2023 to include more conferences leading into 2024.

As technology continues to evolve and shape the way we work, it’s essential to stay informed on the latest trends and advancements in the world of work. Attending conferences on the future of work can be a valuable investment to meet talented leaders, identify innovative solutions, and in some cases, even showcasing your own! With so many options to choose from in 2023, we are helping you stay ahead of the curve by identifying the top nine future of work conferences you should attend.

Future of Work Expo

February 14-17, 2023 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

The Future of Work Expo 2023 in Fort Lauderdale is a conference program dedicated to helping companies navigate today’s hybrid workplace. The program will explore the intersection of technology and the human element, providing guidance on how to strike a balance between automation of work and processes and maintaining employee engagement. The conference’s goal is to help attendees reimagine their company’s workplace transformation, including implementing powerful new technologies.

Featuring keynote speakers from top companies such as Dell and EY, attendees will gain insight into how to develop and manage a successful hybrid workplace. At a lower cost than many other conferences, the Future of Work Expo is a great choice for those looking to improve productivity in the ever-evolving workforce and provide a better customer experience.

WorkX

February 21 – 23, 2023 in NYC and August 8-11, San Diego, CA

Formally known as Future Offices, the WorkX Conference brings together all things related to work experience. The 2023 conference will specifically explore the intersection of the future of work and workplace transformation. By offering two different tracks, attendees can explore content and presentations that are most meaningful to them. While the Future of Work track will examine challenges and issues related to most of the “people” issues, the Workplace Transformation track will look at how organizations are repurposing or utilizing their space to provide the best employee experience.

If you are looking for a multi-track conference opportunity with options to attend on each coast, this could be a great choice for you!

SHRMTech 2023

March 7-8, 2023 in San Francisco, CA

SHRM is a leading voice in the HR professional community and continues to shape how employers and employees work together. At SHRMTech, attendees will learn from and engage with HR pioneers and tech innovators who are transforming the world of work. Topics include workplace innovation, future-ready HR, disruptive technologies, ethical AI, and more.

For professionals looking to expand their HR tech knowledge and stay ahead of the curve, this conference will provide learnings, networking opportunities, and outcome-focused practices and solutions. Attendance is expected to be high as this is SHRMTech’s first U.S. event! If you are currently a SHRM credential holder, this event is also a valuable opportunity to earn Professional Development Credits towards your renewal. 

IDC Future of Work Conference

March 15, 2023 in London

International Data Corporation (IDC) is a global provider of analysis and insights, helping professionals take a data-driven approach to selecting technologies and formulating business plans. The conference aims to provide attendees with industry insights, recommendations, and valuable experiences from speakers, complete with networking opportunities. The main topics discussed will include ESG targets, democratized innovation, employee performance, and employee retention.

With a focus on data gathered from IDC’s Future of Work European Employee Survey, this conference focuses on why work is changing, from a data-driven perspective, highly focused on European trends.

WSJ Future of Everything

May 2-4, 2023 in NYC

Each year, the newsroom at the Wall Street Journal identifies who and what is changing the future to compile their Future of Everything conference. While the conference isn’t solely focused on the future of work, given the influx of news on the topic, there are dedicated sections for both technology and work. 

Hear from featured speaker T.S. Anil, CEO of Monzo, a British online bank, as he breaks down why company culture matters as much as the bottom line and what Monzo’s recent U.S. launch means for the future of online banking.

With a broader focus than other conferences listed, attendees will be able to receive a birds-eye view of, quite literally, the future of everything. 

Reworked CONNECT

May 10-12, 2023 in Austin, TX

The Reworked CONNECT conference is produced by Simpler Media Group, the parent brand of the Reworked and CMSWire professional communities. As a result, this conference is highly focused on employee experience and workplace leadership. Attendees will have the opportunity to see inside today’s most productive workplaces and make new connections within the Reworked community. 

The conference features five different tracks: 

  1. Leadership & the Modern Organization
  2. Employee Experience: Design, Build, Listen & Optimize
  3. The Digital Workplace: Intranets, Collaboration & Killer Apps
  4. Future of Work: Intelligence, Automation & Virtual
  5. Talent Development & Enterprise Learning 

The array of tracks is perfect for mid-to-senior level employees to learn how to better adapt employee experiences within their organization. 

Gartner Digital Workplace Summit

May 15-16, 2023 in London, June 12-13, 2023 in San Diego, CA, and August 29-30, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan

The Gartner Digital Workplace Summit focuses on two digital workplace trends: distributing work and enhancing the digital employee experience. The conference provides an ideal mix of insights and research-based talks to allow participants to better understand these topics and find strategies to improve their outcomes.

Attendees have the options to choose from four different tracks:

  1. Lead and Execute a Digital Workplace Strategy
  2. Optimize Technology to Get Work Done
  3. Construct Solid Infrastructure and Operations Foundations
  4. Power a Connected Digital Employee Experience

If you are an IT executive or digital workplace leader, this conference is for you! With three locations and multiple tracks to choose from, this summit will allow attendees to join peers to build their network, learn, and meet experts in the digital workplace.

Future of Work USA

June 6-7, 2023 in Chicago, IL

The Future of Work USA event launched in 2019 with the goal of focusing on the latest trends and strategies surrounding senior executives. With a smaller focus on tech, the Future of Work conference is perfect for those within the HR, communication, or employee experience realm of business. Future of Work will also host conferences in Canada, APAC, Europe throughout 2023. Attendees will have the opportunity to view panels and presentations, network, and participate in discussion groups. 

Attendees of Future of Work USA will receive great value at a competitive price, with speakers from top companies such as Coca-Cola, BP, Starbucks, and Walmart.

Forbes Future Of Work Summit

June 8, 2023 in NYC

The Forbes Future of Work Summit, hosted both in-person and virtually, centers around how to manage an increasingly distributed workforce, offering solutions for a more sustainable, profitable, and inclusive way of working.

Recently, Forbes has begun to highlight executives, organizations, and thought leaders shaping the office of tomorrow in an annual Forbes Future of Work 50 list. Expect some of these top contributors to be involved in this year’s summit.

While the agenda and speakers have not yet been announced for the 2023 summit, interested attendees can take a look at the 2022 agenda, speakers, and sponsors to get a better idea of the conference offerings and key findings.

Whether you have already embraced flexible workplaces, or you need a bit more convincing, these nine conferences are sure to provide expert insight on the future of work and help you stay ahead of the competition.

CIO’s Future of Work Summit

September 30, 2023 – Virtual

CIO’s Future of Work Summit will focus on sharing expert tips for managing a remote workforce and maintaining top talent amid a rapidly changing landscape.

Previous topics from their February summit touched on:

  • How to retain valuable team members is the face of rising inflation
  • How to approach and discuss employee monitoring
  • Ways to maximize the benefits of in-office collaboration time
  • The best and latest collaboration tools

If you are a CIO or innovative leader, you won’t be disappointed by joining this virtual summit. Previous summits have featured top leaders from Forbes, Adobe, Qualtrics, Zscaler, and more.

Future of Work Expo

February 14-15, 2024 in Fort Lauderdale, FL

Get ready for an electrifying glimpse into the future of work! The Future of Work Expo is where cutting-edge technologies, employee experiences, and ground-breaking ideas collide. This Future of Work Expo is all about empowering technology leaders, influencers, and decision-makers with game-changing strategies to maximize workplace productivity and help them to keep delivering an amazing customer experiences.

With networking events, giveaways, and an onsite start up pitch showcase, there is no shortage of exciting opportunities to interact with the leaders and future change-makers across the technology industry.

Gartner Digital Workplace Summit

March 18-19 2024 in Grapevine, TX

The Gartner Digital Workplace Summit is centered around the new and significant challenges that have evolved out of the changing work landscape. The summit’s goal is to provide workplace leaders with the tools and support as they navigate redefining their workplace culture, connectivity, and creativity in the here-to-stay world of hybrid and remote work.

At their previous summit these were the top discussion and presentation points where leaders learned how to:

  • Create a Digital Employee Experience
  • Champion Digital Skills
  • Connect Everything to Value
  • Develop Workforce Digital Dexterity
  • Focus on talent to drive the Future of Work

Previously, the conference has offered a variety of different tracks based on attendee interests and roles in their respective organizations.

The Future of Software in the Evolving Workplace

The flexible workspace will continue to be an important driver of employee satisfaction and productivity. In order to ensure success, it is essential that the software organizations use enables both remote and hybrid models.

While some executives are set on returning to the office, the reasons they’ve given for their push may not be backed by data. Developed to help with the needs of modern remote work, MultiShare offers remote and distributed teams the long-desired ability to share their screens simultaneously in a Microsoft Teams call. Discover more about what your team can do in Frameable Spaces and advance into the future of work today.

Add simultaneous screen sharing to Microsoft Teams

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remote work

Countering 7 Return to the Physical Office Benefits Myths

modern office conference room with computers and cups on the work table, but no people

Every few days, there seems to be a media frenzy around another large company’s CEO calling their workers back to their physical offices. The reasons they’ve cited include everything from productivity losses to remote work being unsuitable for inspiring creativity and innovation. 

But as someone who has worked fully remotely for the past six years—and worked from home weekly in my decade at a Fortune 500 company—something didn’t ring true. So I took a look at the data. And guess what? The data tells a different story about some of the most commonly cited reasons about the benefits of working in the physical office.

Read on for some of the most frequent reasons companies are recalling their workforce into the office and recent research that provides a different perspective.

Myth 1: Working in the office is necessary to enable collaboration and foster teamwork.

Scientific American’s review of research found that the larger the in-person group, the fewer novel ideas each person has—but the opposite is the case for electronic brainstorming. The more people included in your virtual brainstorming session, the larger number of novel ideas per person. Now that the majority of workers have access to digital collaboration tools, according to the Gartner, Inc. Digital Worker Experience Survey, there’s little reason to get the team together in person for many collaborative tasks. Still not convinced? Consider the sustained success of fully remote companies such as GitLab, Automattic, and InVision.

Myth 2: You can’t build a cohesive company culture without everyone in the office together.

SHRM’s Organizational Culture toolkit mentions numerous factors that go into creating a cohesive culture, but—spoiler alert—having your entire workforce in the same physical space isn’t one of them. Similarly, McKinsey’s research into the factors influencing last year’s Great Resignation found employees seek greater connection with leaders and aspire to be part of a cohesive team. But that didn’t mean they wanted to come into the office. To retain employees, organizations need to evolve their approach to building community, cohesion, and a sense of belonging at work. 

Myth 3: Workers are more productive in the physical office than working remotely.

Gallup research indicates that remote workers are more productive than on-site workers. That’s because workers with the opportunity to work from home are more engaged, which has been shown to improve productivity and lead to the best business outcomes. The WFH project’s ongoing research similarly found that nearly six out of 10 workers reported being more productive working from home than they expected to be, compared with 14 percent who said they got less done. On average, respondents’ productivity at home was 7 percent higher than they expected.

Myth 4: Remote workers have low morale and feel isolated.

A survey by the mental health research website Tracking Happiness found that the ability to work remotely is positively correlated with employee happiness. Those fully remote workers reported a happiness level about  20% higher than full-time office workers. A study from the ADP Research Institute — titled People at Work 2022: A Global Workforce View — agreed with those findings, finding remote employees to be more optimistic (89%) than their on-premises coworkers (77%) and have more job satisfaction (90%) compared to those that commute to the office (82%). Additionally, a mid-2020 McKinsey study found a 55% increase in job satisfaction for remote workers. So while some employees may have felt isolated or had low morale in the early days of the pandemic when Covid restrictions replaced much of their daily routines with being stuck in their homes 24/7, that doesn’t appear to have persisted.

Myth 5: Workers need to be in the office to access specific resources and equipment that is only available in the office.

Not every job lends itself to working from home. For example, if you are a machinist, you need to be on the shop floor where the machine you’re employed to run is physically located.  But many jobs—even blue-collar jobs typically associated with being on-site only—have found ways to be remote-friendly. McKinsey’s American Opportunity Survey found 58 percent of Americans who have the opportunity to work from home do so at least one day a week. Further, 35 percent of respondents report having the option to work from home five days a week. If you’re thinking they must have just surveyed coastal knowledge workers, think again. Their respondents work in a wide range of jobs across the country and include workers in jobs commonly thought of as “blue collar” positions requiring on-site work.

Myth 6: Digital work makes it harder to protect sensitive information and data.

A recent article in CPO magazine suggests that a home office might be as safe, if not more secure, than an office cubicle. Why? They hypothesized that perceived trust in physical office settings makes them less secure than many remote working environments. For example, unencrypted network protocols are extremely common on a corporate network, while most home networks have firewalls and password encryption. Then there’s the physical data theft aspect. While someone can easily tailgate employees into the company HQ and access computers or data on thumb drives, that’s pretty unlikely to happen at someone’s home office. And, if working from home was truly more of a security risk than being in the office, you’d expect to see at least one of the most significant data security incidents from 2022 in this report to have mentioned being caused by a remote worker.

Myth 7: It costs businesses more to subsidize workers working at home.

Some company leaders have said it’s costly to support allowing people to work remotely. But, in most cases, few employers are paying for much, if any, of the home office costs. So that argument may not hold much water. Also, starting in 2021, The WSJ reported companies expect to reap millions of dollars in savings in the years ahead as they scale back on office space. Global Workplace Analytics estimates companies could save over $500 billion a year in real estate, electricity, absenteeism, turnover, and productivity. And let’s not forget that those huge physical company HQs also required that companies pay for utilities, janitorial services, security, maintenance, office supplies, coffee and water service, parking spaces, transit subsidies, ADA compliance, and furniture, to name a few recurring expenses.

It doesn’t take a physical office to give your people a sense of being part of a cohesive team. But it is important to bring your remote workers together in a virtual space that inspires collaboration and interaction. See how Frameable Spaces can give your distributed teams all the benefits of working together, no matter where they are.

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remote work

How A Virtual Office Manager Can Support Your Remote or Hybrid Team

black woman working on laptop in a modern office

After three years of remote work, more than 80% of employees agree that their overall wellbeing has improved because of remote and hybrid working arrangements, and 64% would even look for a new job if their employer made it mandatory to return to the workplace full-time. 

But as many teams have learned the hard way, simply allowing employees to work remotely does not mean you are providing a great work experience. Just as with the physical office, your virtual workspace needs someone charged with making your company a great place to work. 

In this blog post, we explore a new essential company role: the virtual office manager. Read on to learn about which organizations may benefit from hiring this position, what a virtual office manager’s day-to-day job entails, and what to include in your job description to attract the right candidate to your remote team.

Who Needs A Virtual Office Manager

If you are a team of two or three, a virtual assistant may be a better role to add than a virtual office manager. But, if you have five or more remote workers using one or more digital technologies to collaborate, it’s worth evaluating if a virtual office manager makes sense. Ask yourself these questions to decide if a virtual office manager is a good fit for your team:

  • Do our executives spend significant portions of their day on administrative tasks? 
  • Is our company growing quickly? 
  • Are we disorganized in our processes and systems?
  • Do we make it a priority to address our employees’ needs quickly and effectively?
  • Is our general company email inbox overflowing?
  • Can we bring on a new team member, given our financial situation?

If you answered no to any of these, it might be beneficial to spend some time developing your remote work policy—we share five steps to get you started here. On the other hand, if you answered yes to all the above questions, read on to uncover your path to hiring the right virtual office manager. 

What Does a Virtual Office Manager Job Entail?

Virtual office managers can complete many tasks to free up your executive team’s time and support your remote employee needs.

A virtual office manager job will greatly vary company by company. But a few things a virtual office manager can do include:

  • Handle all internal communications
  • Plan and manage company events
  • Support finance teams with billing and payroll 
  • Onboard new employees
  • Assist with tech setup and support
  • Research new office software tools and solutions
  • Coordinate the use of software tools across teams
  • Arrange executive travel
  • Book appointments and meeting spaces
  • Field and manage any inbound emails from prospective clients
  • Create guides and how-to docs to improve the employee experience

An office manager was previously seen as a luxury for smaller offices. However, one of the many benefits of remote work is it allows companies to find the right full or part-time office manager, without any geographic restrictions, to fit their budget. This makes it significantly easier to justify adding this much-needed support to your team. 

Before you bring on a virtual office manager, you need to understand how they will help your team. Align your cross-departmental leadership to understand what you’re looking for in a virtual office manager. What is your goal for hiring a virtual office manager? Will they support your executive, HR, and finance teams? What specific tasks does the team need them to handle?

Document the various responsibilities you envision for your virtual office manager and identify who they will report to. This background will help you to prepare your job posting. 

Key Elements of a Virtual Office Manager Job Description

Most of the current virtual office manager job openings are positioned as an office manager that works remotely. That works, but there’s room for the job to evolve and reflect its unique role in the future of work.

We recommend you include these elements in your virtual office manager job description: 

  • Your company description: What does your brand do, and what do you seek to accomplish? A compelling company description can help candidates understand if they connect with your company’s mission and purpose. 
  • Time commitment: Is this position full-time or part-time? When will your office manager be expected to work, and in what time zone? Be specific in this section so candidates can decide whether the time requirements are right for them. 
  • Key responsibilities: What do you expect the office manager to do? Provide as many details as possible, including possible day-to-day and recurring duties. For example, if several departments will share your virtual office manager, it could help to disclose what portion of their job will be spent on specific needs (such as 25% on executive support, 25% on HR administrative tasks, and 50% on general office management). 
  • Soft and hard skills: What are the required skills for the job? Consider both hard and soft skills, such as prior experience in your field or familiarity with specific programs, as well as ideal behavioral traits like an eagerness to learn and being a problem solver. 
  • Virtual office tools: What tools power your remote office? List any platforms the virtual office manager will need to use or champion—but remember that an ideal candidate can quickly learn how to use your tools, regardless of prior experience. 
  • Expected salary or pay rate: Some states require you to post a salary range with any published job listing. Even if a state does not require this, your candidates will appreciate it, and it can help filter out candidates seeking higher compensation. 

Give Your Team a More Engaging Virtual Workspace

The virtual and hybrid remote experience will increasingly become a competitive differentiator for brands, but there’s one team hire that could give you a serious advantage—a virtual office manager.

Virtual office managers play an integral role in orchestrating your remote work experience and ensuring your employees can thrive. The job varies across companies, and a virtual office manager can help with everything from administrative work to key culture activities that strengthen your team morale.

Having the right team for remote work is essential for protecting your business, but you can’t forget about the tools you use to connect.

We’ve built Frameable Spaces to provide online spaces for modern remote work, empowering teams to self-organize and interact just as they would in the physical office. Learn more about what your team can do in Frameable Spaces and try it for free today: https://frameable.com/spaces

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virtual events

10 Activities for a More Festive Virtual Holiday Party

Asian woman enjoying a virtual workplace holiday party

The holidays are just around the corner! Is your team planning a workplace holiday celebration?

Although many work holiday parties were curtailed in 2020, teams now have a much better understanding of how to host a fulfilling online team event—and that includes the classic workplace holiday party.

To help your company plan an online holiday party that your team will actually want to attend, let’s explore how you can adapt 10 common holiday party activities for a virtual setting. 

Online Workplace Holiday Party Activity Ideas

Before you get too far in your holiday party planning, be sure to talk to your team and understand what they are looking for in a virtual holiday celebration. Gauge the ideal day, time, and length of the party, as well as what activities everyone is interested in and how they’d like to celebrate the season with each other. 

While there certainly should be some element of mystery or holiday surprise, you should gently gather the key information to guide your virtual holiday party planning. 

Consider adding any of these activities to the lineup to make your virtual holiday party one that your team will love:

What says “I appreciate you” more than a homemade or gourmet bakery cookie? Cookie swaps are a holiday-time favorite, and you can easily host a virtual cookie swap during your workplace holiday party. 

Depending on how dispersed your team is, you can approach this a few different ways:

  • The most straightforward option is to encourage your team members to bake or buy their seasonal favorites and drop them off with a local team member. This person will collect everyone’s baked goods and then mail them out or drop them off. However, this idea works best if your team primarily works out of the same city.
  • Alternatively, your team can share holiday cookie recipes for everyone to bake before the party. Then, you can spend a portion of the get-together discussing everyone’s recipes, sharing a story associated with each recipe, and enjoying the baked goods. This option is a perfect one if you have team members with special dietary needs or food allergies.

Cooking or Other DIY Classes

A hands-on cooking lesson or similar crafting or do-it-yourself class—like painting, soap making, or creating air plant terrariums—is a naturally engaging activity for your workplace holiday party. If a member of your team is an outstanding chef with a holiday recipe they’d love to share or a hands-on crafter, ask if they would like to host or co-host the class. Alternatively, you can hire a professional chef or crafter to lead the online activity. If you choose to host this yourself, first determine what DIY activity your team is most interested in and then mail the supplies to them ahead of your party. 

Gingerbread Decorating Kits

Do you want a casual activity for everyone to work on as they celebrate the holidays? Host a gingerbread decorating party or competition! Mail gingerbread decorating kits to your team, and have everyone work on their houses throughout the online holiday party. You can create breakout rooms for people to rotate through as they catch up with their colleagues, show off their gingerbread creations, and get some well-deserved catching-up time.

Holiday Virtual Happy Hour 

Who’s ready for drinks?! Traditional in-person holiday parties often feature fun and festive drinks for everyone to enjoy. Mail your team non-alcoholic supplies (branded Yeti wine tumblers make a nice gift) plus a BevMo, Costco, or similar gift card for them to purchase alcohol or other beverages. Create recipe cards that explain how to make a few seasonal drinks. Bonus points if your team submits their seasonal favorites for everyone to try! If you need ideas, check out this list of 50 holiday cocktails or these 15 holiday mocktail recipes.

Tabletop Game or Card Game

Sometimes the best holiday party games are the most simple. Consider hosting a tabletop game or a card game for everyone to play in breakout groups. There are 12 potential board games to play in this article, while PlayingCards.io is one option for hosting a virtual card game. 

Trivia Game

Trivia is perfect for an online holiday party. Create breakout rooms in your virtual holiday party platform so that each team can collaborate. Designate one spokesperson from each team to share answers, or create Google Forms that teams will submit their answers through. You can host any theme for this trivia. You can keep it holiday-focused with a theme like classic holiday movies, name that holiday tune, or holidays around the world. Or you can explore any theme that will delight your team (and you can ask them during your pre-event planning conversations). 

Scavenger Hunt 

A virtual scavenger hunt can be a high-energy activity for teams, especially if there is a prize to win. Create a list of items that most of your team members should have at home, including some obscure or lesser-found items. Read off the item and ask everyone to go grab that item if they have it. Whoever returns the fastest wins.

Another way you can approach this game is to deliver a series of clues that will take your team across the internet or throughout locations in their homes. Then, give them 10 minutes to work through the list and take a photo or screenshot of what they think each clue is referencing. 

“Ugly Sweater” Contest

It’s not the holidays without a holiday sweater contest. Make your online workplace holiday party a little extra special by encouraging everyone to dress to a theme. Designate a portion of your party for everyone to show off their costumes. You can designate a “winner” based on team votes (just don’t let people vote for themselves).

Virtual Escape Room

Escape rooms skyrocketed in popularity over the past couple of years, especially as a go-to team-building activity. Now, you can host a virtual escape room, too! Check out this article for 24 possible rooms to explore, with details on pricing for each. 

Virtual Holiday Party Gift Exchange

A staple of most workplace holiday celebrations is the gift exchange. No matter how your team usually describes its gift-giving—Secret Santa, White Elephant, homemade gifts only—you can easily host a gift exchange during an online holiday party.

Provide pre-paid shipping labels to your team and set a deadline of no longer than 2 weeks before your party for team members to ship their gifts. During the event, take time for everyone to open their gifts, potentially in small-group breakouts if you have many people attending the party. 

Pick a Virtual Holiday Party Platform That Puts Your Team At The Heart of the Experience

The ideas we explored are just a few thought starters for hosting an engaging virtual holiday party. Consider these activities when discussing your holiday party plans with your team and gauging what they would like to do. 

Throughout your planning, remember the true purpose of an online workplace holiday party: to celebrate your team and provide an optional space to come together.

If you force everyone to attend your holiday party only to maroon them in a sub-par online meeting platform, their holiday spirits will instantly dampen. You need to pick an online event platform that gives your team the flexibility they need to hop in and out of rooms, network in small-group settings, and occasionally join as a full team for any announcements from your leadership (are bonuses on the horizon?).

We’ve built Frameable Events to host engaging online holiday parties for teams of all sizes. Our platform allows you to create fully customizable holiday events with networking spaces, full-group discussion spaces, and intuitive features that your team will love. Book a demo to see how easy it is to host your holiday party with Frameable Events.

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virtual events

Yes, You CAN Take the Author Tour Virtual—a Conversation with J.D. Netto

Author J.D. Neto

Despite decades of predictions of their demise, print books are far from obsolete, with U.S. sales up 8.9% to 825.7 million in 2021, up from an estimated 757.9 million in 2020. These figures include approximately 1 million new books (or new editions of previously published books), which traditionally would have been marketed in part through multi-city book tours and exclusive book launch parties.

But just as the Duvet has killed the top sheet, COVID-concerns have largely killed —or at least significantly scaled back — publishers’ appetites for large-scale in-person gatherings. Many publishing industry events went virtual, while others, including BookExpo, BookCon, and Unbound, were permanently retired. That left many authors looking for a new way to regain the connection with their readers and the sense of closure these parties offered.

We reached out to artist, multi-genre best-selling author, and entrepreneur J.D. Netto to find out if he could recapture some of the joy and connection of his previous book launches with the Frameable Events platform. Here are the highlights he shared with us about his experience hosting his launch party for his latest book, Immortal Crowns, online.

The Initial Transition Away From In-Person Book Events Was Disappointing 

“For my first book launch, I threw a Gothic masquerade party,” says J.D. Netto. He continued with book tours and in-person book launch events until COVID safety concerns pushed most book events virtual-only in 2021.

“One of the first virtual book events I held was on Zoom, and I felt so disconnected,” he said. “As an artist, I really enjoy meeting and interacting with my community. I enjoy talking about my work with people, and I want them to get to know me beyond the curated social stream. With a one-way video event platform, it cut out that entire aspect of what made those events meaningful for me.”

Unfortunately, many virtual event platforms require designated moderators to move people around manually to enable 1:1 networking and advance planning to give specific attendees permission to talk. While these limitations may work for some passive viewing events or very small group breakout room conversations, it significantly limits the ability to curate an event with a spontaneous flow and impromptu interactions.

How Frameable Events Brings Back That Book Launch Energy

One of the first things J.D. noticed as attendees started to arrive at his virtual book launch party was the wide array of unexpected guests who quickly found their way in the door.

“Some of the readers who attended the event shared what they were doing on their social channels, with the registration link,” he says. “So, as we were kicking things off, new people I didn’t already know were joining.”

The ability of the platform to allow spontaneity extended to changing up the flow of conversation by inviting community members to share the virtual stage and ask J.D. questions or talk about their experience with his books.

“The best part [about the platform] was, I or my co-host, author Sasha Alsberg, could invite someone up from the audience to be on stage to talk,” he says. “And as the conversation progressed, we could see the reactions from the audience and questions in the chat feed. It felt so much more natural, and like an in-person event.”

Thanks to the positive, engaging experience he and Sasha had with the platform, J.D. plans to continue hosting virtual launch events, even when large-scale, in-person book events make a comeback. Why? Because of their ability, to enable him to connect with readers around the world whom he couldn’t otherwise meet. 

“Virtual launch tools like Frameable Events will continue to be valuable, as a sustainable and attainable way to connect with the entire world,” he said. ”I’m looking forward to hosting an even bigger, more interactive virtual event next time.”

Host Your Most Engaging Book Launch yet with Frameable Events

Are you planning a book launch? Request a demo today to see how Frameable Events can make your virtual book launch party almost as fun as celebrating your book in person.

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Categories
virtual events

The Social hour Virtual Events Platform is Now Frameable Events

We’re excited to announce we’ve just completed the rebranding of our virtual events site, Social hour, to Frameable Events.  While our events platform has always been part of the Frameable family, we are making this name change so this relationship is more transparent to users across our suite of digital collaboration tools, including our Frameable Spaces virtual office platform.

While the branding is changing, Frameable Events is still the same engaging events platform our clients have been raving about, thanks to our:

  • customizable layouts and branding that allow you to create an event that reflects your unique needs
  • intuitive UI, flexible profiles, and breakout tables that inspire real connections among event attendees and presenters
  • accessibility features included as part of every event package—not with limited availability or additional setup charges

When you host your event in one of our beautiful, interactive virtual spaces, your attendees, sponsors, and speakers will make the kind of connections they thought were only possible at in-person events. But don’t just take our word for it—see for yourself by booking a Frameable Events demo today.

Categories
virtual events

Two User Experience Experts Explain How To Design Accessible Virtual Events

Melissa Eggleston and Rachel Wendte

Do you know how to design an accessible virtual event experience? Despite the return of in-person gatherings in some areas, virtual experiences are still important for enabling as many members of your community to join and engage in your event. And after more than two years of hosting predominantly online events, companies have a solid roadmap to follow regarding virtual event accessibility.

To help you design an accessible virtual event, we connected with Melissa Eggleston and Rachel Wendte, two user experience and accessibility experts, to learn about virtual event accessibility considerations for event planners. 

Check out their advice in this post on how to design an accessible virtual event, and see their direct answers to our questions about designing accessible virtual experiences below.

What is web accessibility, and how does it come into play when you are hosting an event online?

Rachel: “Web accessibility is making your online offering as simple to use for as many people as possible. That means considering tools, your language, and your presentation so that everyone can be involved. For an online event, that may mean using a platform that enables closed captioning, or offering a transcript for attendees. It’s also ensuring that your event is hosted on a platform that’s friendly to multiple kinds of devices.”

Rachel: “On the one hand, a lot of businesses were forced to see the things they’d been missing for standard event prep. They learned new tools and adopted broader event protocols to welcome more folks. That’s a good thing! But as more events go back to in-person focus, some of these ‘just for the pandemic’ trends are falling away. People are more aware, but some companies were only offering virtual events because we were forced to be home. Now the thinking may be, ‘well my audience is back in the office, so I can be done with this.’ But SO many trends that adapted to people being homebound also applied to the millions of individuals who are already homebound for other reasons. Recognizing that this audience still exists, pandemic or not, is a great step for the companies who want to continue to embrace virtual events as part of their strategy.”

What are some of the easiest accessibility features to implement for online event platforms and their registration websites?

Melissa: “Live captioning is the obvious one for those without hearing or who can’t have sound on, but I would also encourage events with a single speaker and slides to make the slides available for download during the talk. The slides themselves need to be accessible, with alt-text for images for example. If the slides are in a PDF form, they should be saved as a reduced-file size PDF when possible so they aren’t a huge download in terms of file size. Having slides available also helps anyone who might be running into technical issues due to low bandwidth, internet connectivity problems, etc.”

Rachel: “Two simple things that are great for everyone. 1. Make sure that you add alt-text to your primary event image with the name of the event in the photo. This helps people using screen readers verify that they are on the right page. ‘People are gathered in a mixed group for the 1st Annual Discussion on Accessibility Trends, hosted by ABC Company.’ 2. For any CAPTCHA verification, make sure that the registration website offers an audio and visual version.”

Are there any web accessibility challenges event producers should keep in mind when promoting events through social media?

Melissa: “Please use hashtags that are more readable, using camel case! For example, use #DigitalMarketing instead of #digitalmarketing. The capital letters make it easier to read. Using a camel case hashtag also signals to your audience that you are paying attention to accessibility.”

Rachel: “If you have painstakingly put in the time to create a graphic that has a text overlay and you don’t populate the alt-text with what the image actually says, screen readers will skip right over it. Images with no alt-text are skipped because there’s nothing to read, so it won’t even register as being on the screen. For online ads, make sure the ad text says everything you need to and the image reinforces that. In addition, keep hashtags to the end of your posts (easier to read) and use #CamelCase when creating hashtags (capitalize the first letter of each word) so that there is a natural separation.”

If you have a limited budget, what is the most critical accessibility functionality an online event should put in place and why?

Rachel: “Every organization will have their priorities when it comes to events. For me, the easiest thing businesses can do when they create an online event is to have a replay or recording available. Sometimes people sign up for things and then at the time have limited energy. Others need to listen to things more than once to get it. Having a replay or recording is a simple way to include your largest audience share. You can offer ‘live only’ perks to encourage live attendance, but offering this as an option is a good way to be inclusive.”

How can events do a better job of making live-streamed Q&A sessions more accessible to their entire audience?

Rachel: “Have a submission form for questions ahead of time. That’s a place to start! If you do a live Q&A, have the moderator write out the question in the chat, and phrase it out loud so that everyone can hear. So if I were taking a question from the audience I’d listen and then repeat it back. For example, ‘Marcee just asked a question around captions. She said, [what the person said]. Here’s my answer.’ This ensures that everyone hears, reads, and understands what was being asked.”

Do you have any examples of virtual or hybrid events with exemplary accessibility in the design?

Melissa: “The free conference put on by Deque called Axe-Con does it great. And they should because they are accessibility consultants. This is a free virtual conference each year that you could attend to see best practices. For each speaker (this year they had Seth Godin, for example) Axe-Con had live captioning, an ASL translator, and accessible speaker slides available for download during the talk.”

Is there a common web accessibility misconception you see come up frequently? If so, how do we myth bust it?

Melissa: “The myth I see is that you can ignore accessibility without consequence. Putting aside the moral argument that it’s the right thing to do, accessibility lawsuits continue to be on the rise. Although the courts to date have been split on whether a website is a public space of accommodation, The Department of Justice recently put out guidance on compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Americans with Disabilities Act applies to state and local governments (Title II) and businesses that are open to the public (Title III). The bad PR that may come from being inaccessible is significant. Avoid promoting your organization as inclusive until you’ve made efforts in the accessibility realm or you risk looking uncaring and inauthentic.”

Rachel: “The biggest myth I see come up with accessibility is the idea that you’ll get to it when it matters to your audience. I promise you that there are people who would love to be part of your audience, and accessibility measures don’t just help those with disabilities. They help everyone. Even if your audience appears to be one without limits, who’s to say that that will still be true tomorrow? People go through phases of need, and assuming that you’ve got it all covered and ‘don’t need accessibility’ does a disservice to your future (or current) customer.”

Host Accessible Virtual Events with Frameable

Don’t let accessibility be an afterthought when planning your next virtual or hybrid event. As Melissa and Rachel pointed out, accessibility should be a top-of-mind concern that will help your event reach and engage the greatest number of people.

As you explore virtual event platforms, be sure to ask about the key accessibility features included and ways that the platform was designed for accessibility. We built Frameable Events to support many accessibility best practices, such as in-app messaging, live captioning with multi-language translation, and concurrent video streams for sign language interpreters. Check out all of Frameable Events’ accessibility features and book a demo to see how we can help you build an accessible virtual event.

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