Virtual Award Ceremony: How do you Plan a Virtual Award Ceremony

Much like any other event, award ceremonies can also be carried out virtually. Virtual Award Ceremonies help organizers reward the hard work, dedication, focus, & success of worthy candidates through awarding them.

Award ceremonies are necessary events as they help lift the spirits & boost the morales of people within any kind of organization or industry.
They also set a benchmark for success & great work for others in the industry to look up to.

In the face of physical restrictions & COVID-19 induced lockdowns around the world, hosting physical award ceremonies has become a little challenging.
Getting people to assemble together in a shared space comes with a ton of collaterals, especially in this time of extended disease surveillance.

But as the saying goes, the show must go on.
Hence, even when hosting a physical awards show is not possible currently, organizers should look at virtual hosting options.

Virtual Awards Shows help organizers host award ceremonies virtually & engage their employees, members, sponsors, & other industry professionals at the same time.

Virtual Award Shows are the newest trend in the virtual world. They constantly showcase the latest developments in the world of virtual events, & put forward new things for industry leaders to learn from & emulate in their own virtual events.

In this article, we’ll tell you the top tips you’ll need to plan a virtual award ceremony.

1. Select an Award Show Theme

Award shows are unique in that they all have a different, specific theme. To set your virtual award show apart from the many others, you need to select a proper theme for it.
Try thinking in creative, out-of-the-box ways so that your virtual award show not only looks & feels different, it also excites your attendees & makes them want to attend it even more.
One amazing way to go about doing this is to conduct a pre-event polling survey on your attendees, to ask them what kind of virtual event theme would they like the awards show to have.

This not only helps you engage your audience way before the actual event but also helps you decide on a theme without brainstorming excessively.

2. Decide the Award Categories

To host an awards ceremony, you absolutely need to define the exact award categories for the same.
This is especially important if you’re hosting the virtual awards ceremony for the first time ever, & there is no previous blueprint for you to refer to.
Select appropriate award categories that reflect the hard work, passion, & focus of the professionals. They must also reflect the complete variety of work that goes into the final product/service of the specific industry that you’re in.
This is important because you will need to showcase the entire variety of work that your entire workforce & industry professionals put into the final product/service & the industry.

3. Select the Jury

Just as it’s important to select the appropriate award categories for your awards show, you also need to select the right judges for your awards show.
Choose the right people, preferably industry experts & leaders that are prominently situated in your industry.
The right jury will help your audience feel confident in their judgment & also allow them to wholly look forward to & accept their final decisions.

It’s important to steer clear of any personal preferences you might have while selecting the right jury for your virtual awards show.
You should only select the people that fit into your awards show agenda, & enjoy a certain kind of reverence & respect in your particular industry.
Having the wrong kind of jury at your awards show is a sure way to get the disapproval & disengagement of your attendees, something you wouldn’t want for your virtual awards show.

4. Select the Actual Prize

Just as how it’s important to select the right jury, award show categories, & award show theme, it’s also important to select the actual memento that you’ll be giving as the award itself.
And much like your awards show theme & award categories, your award memento/item should be equally as important, creative, & relevant to your industry.
Try to stay away from generic items like trophies, gift vouchers, packed personalized items, & certificates if you want your virtual awards show to be unique & memorable.

Instead, spend time designing your own personal award item that truly reflects the nature of your particular industry, & the perseverance, dedication, & hard work of the industry professionals.
Remember, the more unique & creative your award show memento is, the more excited & engaged your audience, nominees, & sponsors will be.

5. Select the Right Virtual Awards Show Platform

Selecting the right virtual awards show platform is also important for ensuring the success of your virtual awards show.
The choice of the right virtual awards show platform will depend on the exact kind of features, virtual environment, networking capabilities, & audience entertainment features you need for your virtual awards show.
Usually, a well-thought-out & exemplary virtual awards show consists of a realistic, 3D virtual environment, 360-degree tours of the entire virtual venue, top-notch audience interaction & networking capabilities, clap, hoot, emoji reaction, & like reaction features, & in-event voting options for the audience.

This allows the audience to participate in the voting process(in the case of a public award category), interact with the other attendees, & react to any entertainment sessions in real-time with the appropriate emoji reaction feature.
You need to decide the kind of virtual awards show platform you want for your virtual event carefully, & only after vetting all of your options against each other based on adequate criteria.

6. Encourage your Guests to Dress up for the Virtual Awards Ceremony

Just because the award ceremony is being held virtually, it doesn’t mean that you need to give up all the unique flamboyant aspects of a physical awards show.
Aside from designing a fully immersive award show environment with 3D visuals, booths, seating arrangements, & out-of-the-world entertainment opportunities, you can ask your guests to dress up for the event as well.
Even better, you can set a dress code for the virtual awards show that closely relates to the theme that you’ve decided for your virtual awards show.
This way, your attendees can dress up in their best clothes for the virtual award show, & also keep up with the theme of your virtual awards show.

7. Send Personalized Goodies/mementos to Your Attendees

By sending personalized goodies & mementos to your virtual awards show guests, you open the doors to new connections, networking opportunities, & also provide your attendees with something to remember your virtual event by.
You can also go a step further and include sponsorship opportunities in these personalized goodies & mementos.
You can include sponsored stuff, goodie bags, sponsored vouchers, &/or some specific sponsored materials for your attendees to make them feel included/involved in your virtual awards show.
This helps your sponsors get more leads, sales support, & customer retention with your virtual awards show, which will further enrich your relationship with them.