An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Planning: Having a clear strategy and selecting the right platform for the meeting is crucial. An event is as successful as the clarity with which its objectives are agreed upon. A detailed plan should outline immersive experience offerings, speakers, timings of the sessions, and preferred tech applications.
As a part of our series about “5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Run a Live Virtual Event”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lalit Mangal.
Lalit Mangal is the co-founder and CEO of Airmeet. Heading strategy, product design and development, Lalit considers the internet to be a milestone achievement in human history and believes that there is still a lot that can be achieved with it. Prior to co-founding Airmeet, Lalit co-founded CommonFloor, India’s leading online real estate platform and later sold it to Quikr. He’s held multiple advisory positions including the one at Unacademy, a 4th ranked LinkedIn top start-ups. Apart from that, Lalit is an engineer at heart and holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from IIT Roorkee.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?
I was born in India and grew up with my parents. My father retired as a diligent government officer overseeing the construction of roads and public infrastructure. My mother was a lawyer who came from a family of entrepreneurs. My parents were an inspiration for me to mix diligent studies and hard work along with risk-taking.
I have always been interested in building products since an early age. The first time I got my hands on a computer was when I entered college. From that day on I developed a special passion for computers and programming. While I was in college I started to build products and I even built some for my college website. Since then I have been determined to help people with technology.
Can you tell us the story of what led you to this particular career path?
Events have the power to generate new ideas. They give like-minded individuals the ability to learn by leveraging the sheer presence of others who share similar pursuits. During a brief break after my previous startup, I was yearning to go to conferences that were taking place in different countries but couldn’t because of time commitments. That is when this idea of remote or virtual-only events germinated in my mind.
As the co-founder and CEO of Airmeet, today I lead product design and development for the company which has enabled 120,000+ event organizers to stream around 150 million minutes of video to audiences around the globe in 2021.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
We have always used our product as a customer. Let me expand on what this means.
In the first 20 events, I was the host myself. The funny mistake was that I did not buy a power backup for my internet connection and in one of these events there was a power cut for 10 mins and of course, I was disconnected. That was very embarrassing. Fortunately, the speaker was kind enough to engage with the audience via Q and A.
The lesson learned is that events do not have to be perfect but preparing ahead of time is the best way to prepare for success.
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
I loved the Joe Rogan and Naval podcast. I have listened to them both quite a few times and soaked up a lot of the wisdom shared in the conversations. I am a perfectionist when it comes to my work so some of the thoughts that were shared in the podcast changed my perspective and made me bring a long-term perspective to progress. This also helped me bring down my stress levels and look at the bigger picture.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Surround yourself with people who know about the things you don’t.
As a leader, I learned early on what my personal strengths are and learned to surround myself with a well-rounded group that balanced out other areas. It’s why I co-founded my latest company and why we all emerged into different leadership roles. When you can focus on what you can be the very best at, it allows others around you to grow, provides autonomy at even more levels, and offers a glimpse of humility not always found in top leadership. I love learning — and I actually use our platform to participate in learning moments so that I’m always challenging myself.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. For the benefit of our readers, can you tell us a bit about your experience organizing events in general?
In my previous startup, my team had done quite a few events and I had experienced struggles in organizing and driving attendance to a well-crafted event. The friction of travel and asking for a substantial time commitment is sometimes so high that it surpasses the motivation to attend the event.
I look at formal events as a bundle of three core value propositions: content, connections, and camaraderie. In my experience, only Camaraderia-focused events are best done in person. The value of connections and content can be delivered so much more in a digital format, plus the advantage of getting global experts and audiences is unmatched.
Can you tell us a bit about your experience organizing live virtual events? Can you share any interesting stories about them?
An increase in virtual experiences has led companies to explore new channels through which they can improve business applications that increase engagement, create more meaningful interactions, seamlessly share feedback and build lasting relationships with customers. I have worked with hundreds of companies and showed them how their hybrid or virtual event can truly make a difference for their business or company.
I have seen firsthand that humanizing virtual events to augment the digital experience is something sought after. It involves replicating real-life event spaces, adding immersive functionalities, DIY customization, and extensive in-depth analytics to maintain prolonged audience engagement. Airmeet deploys these technologies to enhance its own customer experience and recently started using AI to accelerate it. Sharing these amazing tools with companies and entrepreneurs has helped them be efficient, successful, and remembered. Live virtual events can be one of the most beneficial ways to grow a business long-term. Of course, there is a possibility there can be some hiccups but we have a team of people ready to jump in and assist in a time of need. Live virtual events are exciting, exhilarating, and fulfilling for both us and the company.
We are creating a world where people will always have a place to gather and meaningfully connect from anywhere. Our mission is to empower organizations and communities in achieving effective collective progress.
In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job creating live virtual events? What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?
Dealmakers produce content and bring people together for both formal and informal networking opportunities. Before the pandemic, many of their events were primarily in-person. When the pandemic hit, the Founder & CEO of Dealmakers says it was pretty difficult to run virtual meet-ups because they were restricted and limited to certain platforms. She noted that providing one-on-one virtual meet-up opportunities, just like in physical events, to enable productive connections was a crucial must-have.
She appreciated that Airmeet offered an experience that was similar to their working style. Wendy was pleased with the event format and stated “the event hosted was not like a regular webinar; attendees were not passive listeners, but active participants.” She went on to state that Airmeet’s social lounge allowed for Q&A along with networking similar to previous in-person events Deadlmakers had hosted. I loved how she used networking tools and social webinar features. Dealmakers wanted their virtual setup to offer the audience an excellent experience that was consistent with their brand and in-person events. This is something that also helps with long-term engagement.
After the series of events, Wendy came to the realization that “Virtual Events are not a replacement for in-person events, but an added value. Most of the events are now hybrid. We see virtual events and virtual meet-ups as an add-on. In-person events are episodic; they would happen once or twice a year. But virtual meet-ups and events allow us to deliver content and connect throughout the year, generate additional leads and serve our sponsors. It helps brands to stay on top of their mind.” Wendy said, “We would expect to see virtual event attendee numbers grow here.”
She is using vertical events as a part of her annual strategy which is something most companies can also start doing to enhance their business, grow their customer base, keep employees engaged and spark creativity.
What are the common mistakes you have seen people make when they try to run a live virtual event? What can be done to avoid those errors?
There are a few things I have seen over the years that have hindered the success of an event or caused issues. Here are three mistakes that can be prevented.
- Trying to replicate an in-person event to a virtual one.
Humanizing video interactions using technologies and platforms to augment the experience involves mimicking real-life event spaces, using immersive functionalities and hyper-customization to maintain increased audience engagement. The next gen of video conferencing isn’t that at all. It’s an immersive and engaging experience built to combine both the physical and virtual ecosystems. You have to take into consideration that people have different attention spans when attending a virtual event vs an in-person one.
2. Choosing the wrong virtual platform.
Each virtual platform has its own unique set of tools to provide users. These tools are a crucial part of having a successful event. Choosing the wrong platform can limit the interactions between attendees and not properly execute an idea.
3. Not planning.
Because the event is virtual does not mean you can overlook any steps in the planning process. If anything, you need to take extra precautions to ensure everything goes on without a hitch.
Which virtual platform have you found to be most effective to be able to bring everyone together virtually?
Without trying to brag, Airmeet is the most engaging event platform on the market. Airmeet’s attendee-first platform is built to offer choice, convenience, and customization to deliver highly engaging interactions and a unique experience with every use. While there are many good virtual platforms out there, Airmeet was built to address current and future pain points with our attendees — virtual and physical ones — in mind.
Maximizing the opportunity between virtual, IRL, and hybrid events, Airmeet supercharges attendee engagement with a 360-degree engagement profile. It has DIY customization, experience closer to real-life events, contextual features to enable productive meetings, video on demand, extensive in-depth analytics & and AI-driven smart speed networking capability.
The event-led customer engagement suite offered by Airmeet can help new-age marketers engage and interact with their customers, prospects, and community via immersive content, events, and webinars. Airmeet not only helps businesses host and monetize events with ease, but also provides them with dedicated interactive, engagement spaces for lead generation, networking, and collaboration.
Are there any essential tools or software that you think an event organizer needs to know about?
If someone is running their virtual event on Airmeet there are so many fantastic tools available. Measuring hybrid event ROI for actionable business insights is one of them. We recently launched our Event Experience Cloud (EXC). The EXC includes four all-new products — AirStudio, AX360, AirControl, and AirIntel — a much-needed solution for the stagnant event landscape. Each product is designed to help B2B marketers, Event Marketing leaders, and HR leaders, host the kind of event experiences everyone deserves. These products will drastically improve virtual and hybrid event ROI, making it easier than ever for businesses, marketers, and community managers alike to interpret it for business growth.
Marketers, community managers, sales executives, and customer relationship teams leverage the engagement suite to dive deep into audience needs and update their customer engagement strategy with highly interactive touch points resulting in more effective lead generation, networking, and collaboration. The EXC reimagines the virtual and hybrid event experience, reduces friction for attendees, and increases opportunities for event organizers. Airmeet’s Event-Led Growth philosophy offers event organizers the option to host unlimited events of any size and pay only for what actually matters — the number of people who attend.
Ok. Thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our discussion. An in-person event can have a certain electric energy. How do you create an engaging and memorable event when everyone is separated and in their own homes?
The beauty of engaging in memorable personal events is those magical moments of spontaneous, informal conversations that allow people to connect with one another. Making these special moments available and accessible in a virtual setting will make the event unforgettable.
Networking and allowing your attendees the ability to connect will keep everyone engaged and excited. Building these things into the agenda in clearly structured ways helps keep everyone organized and allows for maximum time usage. Airmeet first introduced superior networking features like Q&A, emojis, live polls, dedicated network lounges, and speed networking to tackle the lack of interaction during any virtual events, conferences, and webinars. But we have also taken it a step further and have introduced Fluid Spaces, a way to revolutionize the event space.
Organizers get the flexibility with Fluid Spaces to host informal meetings and sessions that are not bound to tables. They can use the multi-purpose space to host different formats of informal sessions. This is how attendees can interact in a more informal way. This space is a catalyst for building meaningful connections, skyrocketing engagement, and improving customer experience.
Overall, we have quickly learned that the more attendees feel comfortable the more engaging it will be for everyone.
What are the “Five Things You Need To Know To Successfully Run a Live Virtual Event” and why?
Pick the right platform.
- Planning: Having a clear strategy and selecting the right platform for the meeting is crucial. An event is as successful as the clarity with which its objectives are agreed upon. A detailed plan should outline immersive experience offerings, speakers, timings of the sessions, and preferred tech applications.
- Choose compelling speakers and performers: A huge part of making an event successful and memorable are great speakers and moderators. Another way to keep attendees engaged, pending the type of event is to have a special appearance. It will encourage everyone to talk about what they saw or learned and continue the conversation well after the event is over.
- Choosing the right platform: Choosing the right virtual platform with technology applications capable of accommodating the two groups is essential. Hybrid events should integrate virtual and in-person elements, allowing the entire audience to engage digitally. Airmeet’s video-on-demand feature is great for remote attendees while the talk show format can keep in-person audiences engaged in real-time. Other popular hybrid features include versatile streaming, 360-degree attendee analytics, AI-powered networking, and an interactive stage for boosted engagement.
- Promotions Strategy: Developing a promotions strategy pre and post-event will keep attendees engaged throughout the entire process. Social media, email marketing, and owned content on the company website are all great options to both build excitement and retain engagement long after the event is over.
- Debrief and follow-up: It’s important that your event does;t end once it’s over. Following up with all attendees via email or text is a great way to continue the conversations and get feedback. Offer surveys and encourage them to share their experiences on social media.
Let’s imagine that someone reading this interview has an idea for a live virtual event that they would like to develop. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?
- Pick a platform that will work best for you and your event.
- Pick the day and time that works for everyone on the team and lock it in.
- Then you can begin to plan.
Super. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. You are a person of great influence.
If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Going back to the basics is an important part of long-term success and bringing more awareness to a solid morning routine would be a movement I would love to stand behind. We are inundated with information, tasks, projects, alerts, and societal pressure. Humans can be a lot more efficient if they pause every morning, disconnect from the deluge, work out, meditate, contemplate, organize and get their minds ready for the day. Just a few of these will help you be ready to execute the day with confidence and peace of mind.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column.Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
Paul Graham of YC. I have read his essays multiple times and have benefited from them greatly.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Lalit Mangal of Airmeet: 5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Run a Live Virtual Event was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
