Planning a Virtual Event
Last Modified on 09/04/2026 1:35 pm EDT
Virtual Events are a way to conduct larger gatherings with more control than a standard virtual meeting can provide. Events can be added to your account by a Wharton Computing administrator.
If you are unable to access an Events license of your own, you may have the option of being added as a host to an Events Webinar created by our Event Support team, please consult Classroom Technology for more information.
We recommend limiting your events to 1,000 participants. Events larger than this may incur charges. Contact Wharton Computing for a consultation.
When to Use Virtual Events
| Use Events for: |
Use a Meeting for: |
|---|
| Events larger than 200 participants, including presenters and moderators. |
Informal events or team meetings. |
| Controlling and tracking attendance. |
Broadcasting to a large audience, via social media streaming, without the need for closely monitored interactions. |
| Structured interaction between presenters and attendees. |
Options for informal interactions, realtime chats and breakout sessions. |
Events Features
Some of the features that are often used at Wharton include:
- Public or Private meeting invites and links
- Event registration
- Video/Audio interaction
- Chat
- Raise hand
- Polling
- Q&A
- Recording
- Chat transcripts and attendance reports
Roles
In the Virtual Events world there are four roles:
- Meeting Organizer
- Moderator
- Presenter
- Attendee
Meeting Organizer
This is the event planner. They're responsible for:
- Scheduling the Events meeting
- Inviting all participants
- Coordinating the event
- Creating the agenda and production timeline
- Overall communication for the actual event
Moderator
This role controls the broadcast, or event, from behind the scenes. There can be more than one moderator per event. Traditionally a moderator introduces the guests or asks them thoughtfully prepared questions. While you can (and probably should) still have a moderator of that type at your event, multiple people can be assigned the Moderator role. This means you can have a moderator who is focused on behind-the-scenes issues in addition to someone acting as a more traditional moderator.
Moderators can:
- Help control content
- Manage the flow of the event
- Troubleshoot technical problems
- Mute/unmute presenters
Think of your virtual Event as a carefully planned production and the moderators are the people behind the curtain.
Presenter
This is the person, or people, the audience is here to see. By design, the presenter role has a smaller subset of the moderator controls when they join the event.
Presenters can:
- Mute/unmute their audio and video
- Share their content and videos
- Chat with all participants or just the moderators
- Review and answer question posted in the Q&A
- View poll results
They will rely on the moderators for more complex tasks so they can be focused on content delivery.
Attendees
These are the people invited to attend an event. Unlike a regular meeting, attendees will not have the ability to share their audio, video, or any content unless they are invited to do so by a moderator.
Best Practices for Meeting Organizers
Below are some best practices for managing the technical aspect of your Virtual Event.
- Plan properly - Work through each section of this article, no matter the size of your event.
- Invite at least 2 moderators - There are too many details for one person to manage effectively. At least one of the moderators should be fairly tech savvy and familiar with Virtual Events. Training can be provided upon request.
- Conduct a test event - Hold a dry run with all presenters and moderators at least two days prior to the scheduled event. This will help work out all the kinks and get everyone familiar with the platform.
- Create a production timeline - A production timeline is your agenda with technical cues written in where appropriate; it is very specific and detailed. The technical cues include, but aren't limited to:
- When to mute/unmute a presenter
- Q&A Sessions
- When to initiate a poll, along with the name of the poll
- Using/recognizing verbal cues for significant transitions
- Recording the name of the moderator assigned to a planned task
- Upload videos in advance - Anyone sharing videos will need to upload them to the meeting rather than embed them into a presentation. Upload times vary depending on video length. We recommend uploading videos at least 30 minutes before your TEST event. Do not wait until the day of your event to upload videos.
- Join using the Events app - All Moderators and Presenters must join with the events app. This app is not the standard meetings app; be sure to recommend presenters and moderators download it ahead of time.
- Schedule your presenter arrivals - All presenters should not arrive at the same time. Instead schedule their arrivals in staggered 15 minute intervals before the event and have a moderator ready to help them check their audio, video, content sharing, and any video content they may present.
Before Scheduling the Event
After you've reviewed the best practices, it's time to start the planning process. Planning for a virtual event is similar to planning an on-site event in many ways, therefore, much of the event planning found in the MarComm Event Toolkit is relevant.
Click Read More for a list of questions you and the event planning team should think about and answer before you schedule an Event.
- How will you communicate with the speakers during their presentations? Options include:
- Direct chat via the app
- Text to mobile phone
- How restricted do you want your event?
- Public - when choosing to host a public event there are two options:
- Completely open - anyone with the event link can join. This is not a secure option and can leave your event open to exceeding the maximum participation, which can incur significant additional charges. If you want your event to be unrestricted and completely open to the public you should use a regular Virtual Meeting to stream to your social media and share the Social Media link with your audience.
- Require registration - Your event will still be open to the public but will require attendees to register and be approved before they can receive a link to the event.
- Restricted - when hosting a restricted event there are also two options:
- Penn Only - the event will only be open to those who have a PennKey AND are eligible for a Penn Zoom account. This extends to presenters, moderators and attendees. This option is ideal for events being held only for the active Penn community.
- By Invitation Only - the event link will only be sent to those you've sent an invite to. This helps to limit the audience but does not stop anyone from forwarding the link.
- Do you want your participants to be able to chat with each other? This can be enabled or disabled.
- Do you want your participants to be able to search for one another?
- How will attendees ask their questions? Options include:
- Attendees ask their questions via the Q&A
- If so, you'll have to decide if you prefer a moderator approve the questions before they are posted.
- Attendees raise their hand and the moderator invites them to interact live.
- This option promotes the attendee to a presenter until the moderator demotes them.
- How will questions be answered?
- Will the presenters read the questions directly from Q&A?
- Will there be a moderator assigned to ask presenters the questions?
- Do you have proper permission from all parties to record the event? Review the Final Notes section of the MarComm Events Toolkit or reach out to the Marketing and Communications Events team for further clarification.
- Will you send out a post-event survey?
- If so, you'll need to create one using your tool of choice ahead of scheduling the event.
- Besides name and email, are there other data points you want to gather from those who register for your event?
- How do you want to handle the registration approvals? Options include:
- Auto approve all: approves anyone who registers and sends them a join link immediately.
- This option takes less effort to manage on the front end but is also less secure than the other options. The registration link is open and can be forwarded to anyone, even if they weren't on your invite list, which may open your event up to a wider audience than the one you originally intended. It also heightens the risk of your event exceeding the maximum number of participants. Choose this option with caution.
- Auto approve users from specific domains: automatically approves anyone who registers using an email address from a domain you've specified (i.e. gmail.com or wharton.upenn.edu).
- All other registration requests will be placed in the Pending queue and require the meeting organizer to manually approve them.
- Manually approve all: requires the most effort of all the options, but allows tighter control of which registrants are sent a link to join.
- All registration requests are placed in a Pending queue and requires the meeting organizer to manually approve them. If any registration requests are left in pending status, they will not be sent a join link.
- How soon before the event do you want to remind your attendees of the upcoming event? Options include:
Before the Dry Run
Preparation is the key to running a smooth event, and we recommend you stage a dry run before your event. Click Read More for a list of tasks to complete prior conducting this dry run.
- Schedule a dry run and invite all the presenters and moderators. You can either share the existing event link to join the test or create a separate test link.
- Create a production timeline that includes pertinent verbal cues from the presenters and any technical cues.
- Invite two moderators (minimum) and assign their duties. Possible duties include:
- Performing the tech check with each presenter as they arrive.
- Approving questions.
- Starting Polls.
- Starting the broadcast.
- Stopping the recording at designated times.
- Sending out announcements during the event.
- Troubleshooting technical issues for all participants.
- Sharing content, if the presenter doesn't want to share their own.
- Inviting participants to interact live when they raise their hand and demoting them back to attendee once they're finished asking their question.
- Communicate with the presenters during the event.
- Mute/unmute audio and video for presenters at the right times.
- Inform the presenters and moderators of the best practices for Zoom events.
- Verify that anyone who has video content to be shared has uploaded it to their account ahead of time.
Before the Event
Complete these additional tasks before your event;
- Approve all pending registrations.
- Distribute a final copy of the production timeline to involved parties.
- Verify all presenters and moderators have the latest version of their content ready.
- Verify all video content that will be shared has been uploaded to the event.
- Recommend attendees test their access and log in 48 hours before the scheduled event time.
Additional Assistance
Request a consultation, training or ask additional questions by emailing class-tech@wharton.upenn.edu.