In-Person or Virtual Hiring Events? Get Both with Hybrid!

Here we are, basically a year into the Covid-19 pandemic and we are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Several vaccines have been rolled out, and the monumental effort of getting America vaccinated is underway.

As I write this in Spring of 2021, we have begun to see slight declines in the infection rate, and hospitalizations are coming down. Best of all the death rate is also coming down, although we recently surpassed the morbid milestone of 500,000 deaths in America.  However, there are reports of 20 states experiencing increases and the talks of a possible fourth spike in cases.

One thing is certain, Covid-19 was a virtual technology accelerant. From one day to the next the American workforce was forced to work from home, and turning to virtual is what made it possible. Without a pandemic like COVID-19, corporate America would likely have continued to do business the same old way, and just inch along the technology curve.

Now, we have giant corporations such as Google and Twitter telling their workforce, they never have to return to the office. I’ve seen many of my colleagues do the same, and now the ‘new normal is that when it comes to office work, most of us are just as capable to be as productive or even more so, working from home or remotely.

The same has happened in the career fair space. What was once an in-person-only event, has migrated to virtual events and the results have been more than impressive.

A recent statewide virtual job fair in Virginia had 350 employers who were able to fill critical open positions from over 15,000 registered job-seekers! Not only is this an amazing accomplishment, but it’s something that could have never happened in person. Think about it, in a state like Virginia would it be possible to choose one central location, and have 350 companies set up booths to meet and greet over 15,000 job seekers. Not to mention the weather was cold with terrible travel conditions!

So now what? If we return to a new-normal post-COVID-19, are we going back to an in-person career fair and abandoning the virtual career fair model?
The answer is yes and no! We believe a hybrid model that offers both is the best strategy moving forward. Just ask anyone that has hosted or participated in a virtual career fair, as an employer or a candidate. They will tell you that the virtual event was amazing, easy to navigate, and most of all, extremely efficient and effective. Here is some of the feedback we are hearing from job-seekers:

• “This was a great experience! I was able to search for openings, have my resume viewed, and communicate just with the employers I was interested in, all without leaving my desk. The idea of a virtual career fair takes the pressure off of the job seeker and employer.”

• “The career fair was super easy to navigate. I quickly saw a few employers and job opportunities that I liked and was able to apply for. The recruiter was right in the room with me and after chatting a bit, we did a quick video interview, before I knew it, I had an offer to intern.”

• “Our generation has been chatting, texting, anything of that nature for our entire lives. Being part of a virtual job fair is a natural extension of the way we are used to communicating and doing things. I liked it, and I had a few recruiters contact me right away, and one made me a job offer!”

We know that hiring managers, workforce development boards, chambers of commerce, the military, tech organizations, and large corporations all over America have also had success well beyond their expectations, and they all agree that remote hiring will remain a vital part of their recruitment strategy going forward.
So, the numbers prove remote allows for unlimited participants on both the company side and job-seeker side, resulting in more quality hires. We also know that many people still want to offer the physical ‘meet-and-greet’ if and when it becomes viable.

With a virtual hiring platform like Premier Virtual, you don’t have to choose between the two. We make it easy to add a virtual option to your in-person event so that you can offer both options, and your organization can benefit from offering a hybrid event.

We are certain that the organizations that do, will have a competitive advantage over those who don’t. These organizations will be the beneficiaries of attracting top talent, by offering a hybrid option that will not limit their events to the local population, or to those who can physically attend the day of the in-person event.
To learn how you can create hybrid events, please visit www.PremierVirtual.com

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Planning for Successful Virtual Events in 2021

There’s no doubt that Covid-19 accelerated the growth of virtual events by as much as 3 years. This is a rare phenomenon that happens when something outside of our control has such a drastic impact on events, the choice is to change (and change quickly) or go obsolete.

While we were growing steadily in 2020, after the lockdown in March our business increased 10-fold!  Many schools, organizations, and corporations were forced to look for a virtual option for hiring events in order to meet their staffing demands and remain competitive in the marketplace.

A funny thing happened through all the chaos and uncertainty, something not many people would have predicted…we started to like it.  First of all, even the most die-hard fans of in-person events and networking found virtual events to be quite enjoyable.  The learning curve was not the ordeal many thought it would be, and the engagement and outcomes were for the most part, favorable.

As the year went on, virtual events went from being a necessary evil to a welcoming option and effective tool to get business and hiring done.  In fact, it started to prove that in many ways it was better than in-person events.

Advantage number one is obviously productivity.  No one has to leave their desk or home office, which means no travel time or travel-related expenses.  These benefits also make virtual extremely efficient, as platforms offer many features that allow recruiters and job-seekers alike to find the exact information they’re looking for and act on it.  All of this while keeping everyone safe from Covid-19.

Beyond the benefits of productivity and efficiency, virtual events have the ability to scale to any size and do not have the limitations that physical in-person events have.  Participants can attend from anywhere in the world, and no one gets turned away due to over-crowded lobbies or sold out events.

As we near the end of the year, many companies have embraced virtual events and remote working to the point where it will remain the primary option going into 2021.  In fact, many are planning accordingly to support and improve their virtual strategy, exploring how to create ‘hybrid’ events that offer both in-person and virtual in order to get the most out of each event.

Below are 6 steps from Yesler, which serve as a handy checklist as you plan for 2021.

1. Strategy: Analyze your market, current plans, and KPIs from past events. After that’s complete, look at the most beneficial activities and begin to think of how you might replicate them virtually.  This could take time with your team to brainstorm or do some research to see how others are doing this.  Keep your focus on the kinds of activities that have provided the most benefit and that align with your overall goals and integrated marketing approach. Resist activities that would be just for fun or that you can’t measure.

2. Infrastructure: Assess your ‘martech’ infrastructure and digital event management tools.  The right martech infrastructure will help you run a successful virtual event from beginning to end and beyond to nurture, so you can get long-term value from your content.  This means assessing not only your marketing automation and online meeting and classroom software, but the tools you will use to analyze the event when it’s over.  And of course, it also means making sure you have the right-skilled staff to run it.

3. Operations: Consult with your marketing operations and automation teams early so they’re prepared to execute each event, deliver promotions seamlessly, and capture engagement data.

4. Promotion: Develop a targeted promotional plan for every virtual event, just as you would for any other event.

5. Digital experience: Create thoughtfully designed content and digital experiences to fully engage audiences. You can also use these assets to nurture prospects as part of an ongoing campaign.

6. Analytics: Make sure you have the right tools to manage the data you’ve captured and track leads after the event.  As mentioned above, analytics tools need to be in place beforehand and set to measure your KPIs. They are a critical part of your overall strategy and pre-event setup.  Use this data to measure your success and inform your strategy for future events.

Virtual events are not a fad or something that will go away when ‘things get back to normal’.  Virtual is the modern way of hosting events, increasing productivity, and efficiency that will give your company a competitive advantage when executed properly.  The companies that are future-focused and embrace this innovation will be far ahead of the curve in 2021 and best positioned to succeed in what has become the new normal.

Marketing Department – Premier Virtual, December 2020

Military and Veteran Focused Account List Continues to Grow!

Veteran-owned Tech Company Premier Virtual, Helping Veterans Get Back to Work!

As part of a tribute to their fellow service members, Premier Virtual is promoting ‘Veteran’s Week’ from November 9th to November 13th, 2020, to bring attention to veteran-focused virtual hiring events and increase participation from employers and veterans alike.

CEO and founder of Premier Virtual, Steve Edwards, is a U.S. Army veteran. His company is the platform provider for a growing list of military and veteran-focused organizations hosting virtual hiring events in November.

‘It’s beyond my wildest dream to have once been recruited by the Army, and now I own a company that helps so many different branches of the military and associated organizations to not only recruit others, but to create employment opportunities for veterans like myself.” Said Steve.

After completing his service to our country, Steve moved to South Florida and attended Florida Atlantic University. Once he graduated, Steve joined a local recruiting agency and began putting on in-person job fairs.

Nearly nine years in, Steve began looking for a better way to recruit, as in-person job fairs performance and effectiveness continued to decline. His quest to find a suitable option came up empty. He decided he would have to build the answer he was looking for, and Premier Virtual was born.

To launch his new venture, he partnered with his lifelong friend Gary Chambers, and together they took Premier Virtual from concept to reality…then Covid hit!

Unlike many other industries that have been decimated by the pandemic, the virtual world has increased, and that put Premier Virtual in high demand. The platform mirrors in-person job fairs that allow job-applicants to meet and interview with recruiters efficiently and safely.
Needing to scale quickly, Steve reached out to fellow veterans he served within the Army. Now they work side by side with Steve and Gary as part of Premier Virtual’s management team.

• Zach Shifflett, Director of Sales
• James Richardson, National Account Manager

Premier Virtual is not only Veteran-owned but also managed at the highest levels.
Keeping true to their pledge, Premier Virtual has secured agreements with a growing list of military and veteran-focused groups that host virtual job fairs to provide employment opportunities for Americas’ Veterans.

In November and the coming months, Premier Virtual will be powering the virtual hiring events for:
• Paychecks for Patriots – CareerSource Florida
• Red, White & You – Workforce Solutions Texas
• NC4ME (North Carolina for Military Employment)
• U.S. Veterans Chamber of Commerce
• Soldier For Life
• MassHire – State of Massachusetts
• Veterans Advantage
• The American Legion
• Maryland Dept. of Labor for Veterans
• Virginia Statewide Veterans Job Fair

“Being veteran-owned, we always take a little more pride whenever we can power military or veteran-focused virtual hiring events like these. It means that what we’re doing is truly making a difference in helping military personnel to get recruited and then to re-enter the workforce.” Said Jamie Varraso, Vice President of Business Development.

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