Online Events for College Students: 10 Tips & Best Practices
With the world still mostly online, we wanted to share some virtual event ideas to help you continue to attract and engage prospective students.
The aim of these virtual events is to connect with your students and create a sense of belonging – providing them reassurance and guidance on their Higher Education journey. That’s peer to peer in action, so making these events digital is a great way to get started with online peer to peer.
Virtual event ideas that deliver a great experience
When done well, virtual events still deliver a great experience – and offer even more that isn’t available offline: more depth and breadth of information, a truly personalised experience and a record of those important conversations.
And, it’s completely accessible. Unlike a traditional event which attracts anyone from within travel distance, a virtual event can bring in students from across the world – including countries you may never have recruited from before.
The other advantage of going digital is the ability to provide a more personalised experience. While large-scale visit days make for a great experience, students can be overwhelmed with information and experiences – much of which is not relevant for them. In fact, the University of Exeter was able to attract eight times as many students to their virtual events as they were to in-person events.
So – with that in mind – here are some virtual event ideas you can run to start taking peer to peer online, and how you can run them.
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Choosing a peer to peer platform – the ultimate guide to virtual events and getting your ambassadors online
1. Course Q&As
Course Q&As are a great opportunity to get your future students online with a lecturer or course convenor for an informal chat about what to expect when they start.
These events take around half an hour to set up, and can run for anything from 45 minutes to a couple of hours. It could be a good idea to invite a lecturer to livestream, and answer student questions in real time, to really add a personal touch.
As with all events, having current student ambassadors in the chat will only add to it. Not only can they answer enquiries with real experiences – but they can also keep the chat going or help build student confidence if they’re a bit quiet to start with.
2. Drop-in sessions
Drop-in sessions are a great way to create an informal event that your students will really benefit from. You can set one up in less than 10 minutes, and easily duplicate it so you can run it weekly or monthly.
Almost like a virtual office hour, you can run these drop-in sessions on anything from accommodation, to course, to health on campus. Students can, as the name suggests, pop in to ask their question and get an answer and it can be easily managed by even just one member of staff.
3. Group chats
Your students are going to set up group chats on Facebook – they want to find their future coursemates, get reassurance from others in the same situation as them, and start getting ahead of the curve when it comes to making friends!
There’s no reason to try and stop those groups and group chats, but by adding an official channel you can make sure they are meeting their cohort, their teaching staff and current students in a way that is safe, and where you can make sure the information being exchanged is accurate. Nobody will end up buying a £300 textbook they didn’t really need.
The advantage of Unibuddy Live is that you can organise events that run for weeks and months. That means you can start a Live event and just keep it running until term starts, for students to drop in and out of.
4. Virtual campus tours
There are lots of virtual campus tour solutions out there, from 360 tours to interactive videos. Unibuddy Live is not that. But it does focus the attention on what the real benefit of a campus tour is: the chance to speak to a current student.
Get a student set-up in their student accommodation with Unibuddy Live videostreaming, and they can share their experience of accommodation. Then, you can easily cut to another student streaming from the library.
All you need to stream live video is a laptop and an internet connection, so if students can move around there’s no reason a more traditional campus tour wouldn’t be possible.
But – the most important aspect of this is the fact that it’s live. You can have other students in the chat answering questions in real time, or engaging students further in the virtual tour.
Our brand new guide to choosing a peer to peer platform contains even more ideas for virtual event ideas, as well as detailed advice on how to set them up and real case studies from universities that have run them. Download your free copy here!
In an internet-obsessed world, we wanted to share some online event ideas to help you continue to attract and engage prospective students.
The aim of these online events is to connect with your students and create a sense of belonging – providing them reassurance and guidance on their higher education journey. That’s peer-to-peer in action, so making these events digital is a great way to get started with online peer-to-peer.
Online event ideas deliver a great experience
When done well, online events deliver a great experience – and offer even more that isn’t available offline: more depth and breadth of information, a truly personalized experience, and a record of those important conversations.
And, it’s completely accessible. Unlike a traditional event that attracts anyone from within travel distance, an online event can bring in students from across the world – including countries you may never have recruited from before.
4 Key tips to connect students for online events
Online events are replacing the key conversion events in the calendar: Open Houses, Admitted Student Days, Applicant Visit Days. Why? Because when done well, they still deliver that experience – and offer even more that isn’t available offline: more depth and breadth of information, a truly personalized experience, and a record of those important conversations.
We’ve seen and facilitated a lot of digital events and wanted to share some of the best practices we’ve seen from across the sector. Whether you’re using Unibuddy, or another platform, here are some tips to help stay connected to your students during this outbreak.
1. Small, targeted online events
The advantage of going digital is the ability to provide a more personalized experience. While large-scale visit days make for a great experience, students can be overwhelmed with information and experiences – much of which is not relevant to them.
With virtual enrollment events, you can segment by a particular topic or subject. For example, you can run a subject-specific event for psychology students. Or, you could run an event for international students from a particular part of the world.
This gives students a more tailored experience, the chance to meet others like them, and creates a sense of community.
2. Utilize channels
Whether you’re running a big or a small event, you should utilize channels or feeds to ensure that students know where to find the right information.
At an Open Day, you’d have stands for Careers, Accommodation, and the Students’ Union. Replicate this in your online events with virtual ‘rooms’ where students can chat with relevant staff and student ambassadors.
Some ideas for the sorts of channels you might want to include:
- Visa and immigration
- Finance
- Residences
- Admissions/recruitment (UG/PG/International/Domestic)
- Academic
- Student support/welfare
- Sports / clubs
3. Regular contact
We’ve seen a huge spike in the number of sign-ups to our platform, particularly from countries that have been hit hardest by the COVID-19 outbreak.
It shows that students want regular reassurance and guidance, now more than ever. Honest, transparent, and engaging chat is key at this time and students are noticing a clear distinction between those institutions that are providing it and those that are not.
One of the most powerful parts of an Open House or Admitted Student Day is the ability to connect with staff members as well as current students.
Both provide a different sort of information and shared experience, so it’s essential that both are present in your virtual events.
4. Anticipate student concerns
Starting the higher ed journey for many students can be daunting. Whether it’s entry requirements, visas, or money – make sure you don’t neglect those topics in your events, because they may be the most relevant events you’ll host.
10 online event ideas for universities
The other advantage of going digital is the ability to provide a more personalized experience. While large-scale visit days make for a great experience, students can be overwhelmed with information and experiences – much of which is not relevant to them. In fact, the University of Exeter was able to attract eight times as many students to their online events as they were to in-person events.
So – with that in mind – here are some online event ideas you can run to start taking peer-to-peer online, and how you can run them.
1. Course Q&As
Course Q&As are a great opportunity to get your future students online with a lecturer or course convenor for an informal chat about what to expect when they start.
These events take around half an hour to set up and can run for anything from 45 minutes to a couple of hours. It could be a good idea to invite a lecturer to livestream, and answer student questions in real-time, to really add a personal touch.
As with all events, having current student ambassadors in the chat will only add to it. Not only can they answer inquiries with real experiences – but they can also keep the chat going or help build student confidence if they’re a bit quiet to start with.
2. Drop-in sessions
Drop-in sessions are a great way to create an informal event that your students will really benefit from. You can set one up in less than 10 minutes, and easily duplicate it so you can run it weekly or monthly.
Almost like an online office hour, you can run these drop-in sessions on anything from accommodation, to courses, to health on campus. Students can, as the name suggests, pop in to ask their question and get an answer and it can be easily managed by even just one member of staff.
3. Group chats
Your students are going to set up group chats on Facebook – they want to find their future coursemates, get reassurance from others in the same situation as them, and start getting ahead of the curve when it comes to making friends!
There’s no reason to try and stop those groups and group chats, but by adding an official channel you can make sure they are meeting their cohort, their teaching staff, and current students in a way that is safe, and where you can make sure the information being exchanged is accurate. Nobody will end up buying a £300 textbook they didn’t really need.
The advantage of Unibuddy Events is that you can organize events that run for weeks and months. That means you can start a Live event and just keep it running until the term starts, for students to drop in and out.
4. Online campus tours
There are lots of online campus tour solutions out there, from 360 tours to interactive videos. Unibuddy Events are not that. But it does focus the attention on what the real benefit of a campus tour is — the chance to speak to a current student.
Get a student set up in their student accommodation with Unibuddy video streaming, and they can share their experience of accommodation. Then, you can easily cut to another student streaming from the library.
All you need to stream live video is a laptop and an internet connection, so if students can move around there’s no reason a more traditional campus tour wouldn’t be possible.
But – the most important aspect of this is the fact that it’s live. You can have other students in the chat answering questions in real-time, or engage students further in the online tour.
5. DIY tutorials
Especially in the new world of “quarantine”, people around the world have gotten pretty crafty with “do it yourself” (DIY) crafts. Take this to the next level and host DIY tutorials online for prospective students to chime in. It’s up to you what you choose to make — whether it be DIY lanyards for dorm keys, DIY class note dividers, or DIY duct tape pencil case. Get students involved with this crafty, and seriously creative, online event that will engage prospective students from the comfort of their homes.
6. Master chef lessons
Every higher ed institution has a chef. So why not bring their skills to an online event by hosting master chef lessons!
College students get a bad rap for not being able to cook their own food, so let’s dismantle that rumor by offering students online cooking lessons that will not only fill their stomachs but engage them to learn a new recipe before resorting to microwave mac n’ cheese.
7. Career fairs
A daunting topic for many prospective students is what they are going to major in, how they can use their degree for a career, and what career sparks their interest. This can be especially daunting if a student’s degree offers several career opportunities and ventures.
Host a career fair as an online event for your higher education and break the ice around talking about careers. Most times, students get overwhelmed because they are misinformed about the numerous opportunities they will have from any degree they pursue.
This is also a great time to highlight student ambassadors to showcase the kinds of careers they are pursuing from their education at your institution.
8. Hobby webinars
Aside from the traditional sports around your university, get prospective students excited about the hobbies that they may have not heard of or seen during their initial research of your school.
If your higher ed institution has stellar chess game meet-ups, a roller-skating club, or even a group that scouts for the best pizza slice in the city, involve prospective students! These key snippets of campus life are often what get students the most excited about visiting your school and could be the deciding factor between your higher-ed institution and another.
9. MTV Cribs — Dorm edition
Yep, you read that right. Take prospective students on an MTV-style tour of a student ambassador’s dorm room!
I remember as a prospective student researching schools, one of the first things I did was search YouTube for dorm room tours throughout the school. To my dismay, there was virtually nothing online.
Uncover the best features of the dorms at your school by showing students an inside look into the way the rooms are laid out, the views from the bedroom, and even how the communal spaces look. Allowing prospective students to get a look into the dorm life will help them visualize themselves at your school, long before they’ve had an in-person visit.
10. Online scavenger hunts
The world is at our fingertips, so take advantage of that by hosting an online scavenger hunt! You can even make it competitive and give out prizes to the winners that find the answers first.
And if you want to get even savvier, send the winners of the online scavenger hunt school merchandise. What better way to promote your school around the world and get prospective students involved?
Final thoughts
With all the possibilities for online events, what’s keeping your higher ed institution from taking advantage of such a great marketing tool? The Unibuddy Event platform allows for all of these exciting ideas to come to life with just a simple line of code embedded into your website.
Interested in learning even more? Our brand new guide to choosing a peer-to-peer platform contains even more ideas for online event ideas, as well as detailed advice on how to set them up and real case studies from universities that have run them.