This section focuses on best practices and logistical set up for self-service virtual events with or without promotion. Review the self-service virtual event promotion guide for help promoting your own event.
To provide feedback on the Self-service virtual events process please kindly fill out this survey. Everyone can contribute, so feel free to also open an MR to suggest improvements to this page.
Self-Service Virtual Event Promotion Guide
Once you have an idea and abstract for a self-service virtual event with or without promotion:
Virtual Event - Event Title - [3-letter Month] [Date], [Year]. Once created, edit the epic and paste one of the below snippets (based on whether Marketing is supporting promotion) to the description.<--- Name this epic using the following format, then delete this line: Virtual Event - Event Title - [3-letter Month] [Date], [Year] --->
* **[Best practices for setting up your own virtual event](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/virtual-events/self-service-virtual-events/#best-practices)**
* **[Best practices for promoting your own virtual event](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/virtual-events/#self-service-virtual-event-promotion-guide)**
* **[Step-by-step instructions](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/virtual-events/self-service-virtual-events/#logistical-set-up)**
## :notepad_spiral: Key Details
* **Project Owner:**
* **Coordinator:**
* **Type:** Self-service
* **Event Date:** [MM-DD-YYYY] (this is the date the event goes live)
* **Campaign Tag:**
* **Sales Segment (choose primary):** `Large, Mid-Market, or SMB`
* **Sales Region (choose one):** `AMER, EMEA, APAC`
* **Sales Territory (optional, if specific):**
* **Goal:** `Please be specific on the metric this is meant to impact.`
* [ ] [main salesforce program]()
* [ ] [main marketo campaign]()
* [ ] Campaign UTM - Project owner to fill in (Format: campaign tag - change to all lowercase, no spaces, hyphens, underscores, or special characters)
## Manage presenters and create calendar event (DRI: Requestor)
* [ ] Secure date/time/presenters and add event to [Self-service virtual event calendar](https://calendar.google.com/calendar?cid=Z2l0bGFiLmNvbV9uMnNibXZmMjlqczBzM3BiM2ozaHRwa3FmZ0Bncm91cC5jYWxlbmRhci5nb29nbGUuY29t). Instructions on how to add to the calendar can be found [here](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/virtual-events/self-service-virtual-events/#adding-your-self-service-virtual-event-into-the-calendar).
* [ ] Block presenters calendars (starting 30 minutes prior to start) by sending them an invite with the zoom links from your personal Gcal
* [ ] Schedule dry run (optional)
## Create Zoom meeting for the event and add to /events (DRI: Requestor)
* [ ] Make sure your zoom account settings are customized accordingly for the event
* [ ] Add title, description, event details
* [ ] [Add GDPR language to description](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/virtual-events/index.html#gdpr-and-privacy-compliance)
* [ ] (Optional: Only if you want to track registration) Update registration required
* [ ] Update Meeting options as necessary (join before host, mute participants upon entry, enable waiting room, etc.)
* [ ] Add alternate hosts as needed to support your event
* [ ] (Optional: Only if you enabled registration tracking) Once event is created, customize the registration form to include complete contact info
* [ ] Once event is created, scroll to the bottom and click email settings, then edit your confirmation email messaging
* [ ] Once event is created, add your event to about.gitlab.com/events by following the [handbook instructions](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/events/#how-to-add-events-to-aboutgitlabcomevents)
## Issue creation for tracking
* [ ] [Program Tracking](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/marketing/demand-generation/campaigns/-/issues/new?issuable_template=request-program-tracking)
* [ ] [List clean and upload issue](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/marketing/marketing-operations/issues/new?issuable_template=event-clean-upload-list)
Add the team label to indicate the team running the event (Example: Corporate Marketing)
/label ~"mktg-status::wip" ~"Self-Serve"
<--- Name this epic using the following format, then delete this line: Virtual Event - Event Title - [3-letter Month] [Date], [Year] --->
## [Copy for emails >>]() - [template](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j43mf7Lsq2AXoNwiygGAr_laiFzmokNCfMHi7KNLjuA/edit)
* **[Best practices for setting up your event](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/virtual-events/self-service-virtual-events/#best-practices)**
* **[Step-by-step instructions](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/virtual-events/self-service-virtual-events/#logistical-set-up)**
## :notepad_spiral: Key Details
* **Project Owner:**
* **Coordinator:**
* **Type:** Self-service with promotion
* **Event Date:** [MM-DD-YYYY] (this is the date the event goes live)
* **Campaign Tag:**
* **Sales Segment (choose primary):** `Large, Mid-Market, or SMB`
* **Sales Region (choose one):** `AMER, EMEA, APAC`
* **Sales Territory (optional, if specific):**
* **Goal:** `Please be specific on the metric this is meant to impact.`
* [ ] [main salesforce program]()
* [ ] [main marketo campaign]()
* [ ] Campaign UTM - Project owner to fill in (Format: campaign tag - change to all lowercase, no spaces, hyphens, underscores, or special characters)
## Manage presenters and create calendar event (DRI: Requestor)
* [ ] Secure date/time/presenters and add event to [Self-service virtual event calendar](https://calendar.google.com/calendar?cid=Z2l0bGFiLmNvbV9uMnNibXZmMjlqczBzM3BiM2ozaHRwa3FmZ0Bncm91cC5jYWxlbmRhci5nb29nbGUuY29t). Instructions on how to add to the calendar can be found [here](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/virtual-events/self-service-virtual-events/#adding-your-self-service-virtual-event-into-the-calendar).
* [ ] Block presenters calendars (starting 30 minutes prior to start) by sending them an invite with the zoom links from your personal Gcal
* [ ] Schedule dry run (optional)
## Create Zoom meeting for the event and add to /events (DRI: Requestor)
* [ ] Make sure your zoom account settings are customized accordingly for the event
* [ ] Add title, description, and event details
* [ ] [Add GDPR language to description](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/virtual-events/index.html#gdpr-and-privacy-compliance)
* [ ] (Optional: Only if you want to track registration) Update registration required
* [ ] Update Meeting options as necessary (join before host, mute participants upon entry, enable waiting room, etc.)
* [ ] Add alternate hosts as needed to support your event
* [ ] (Optional: Only if you enabled registration tracking) Once event is created, customize the registration form to include complete contact info
* [ ] Once event is created, scroll to the bottom and click email settings, then edit your confirmation email messaging
* [ ] Once event is created, add your event to about.gitlab.com/events by following the [handbook instructions](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/events/#how-to-add-events-to-aboutgitlabcomevents)
## Issue creation (`See DRIs and assignments below`)
* [ ] [Program Tracking](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/marketing/demand-generation/campaigns/-/issues/new?issuable_template=request-program-tracking)
* [ ] [Write copy issue](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/marketing/field-marketing/-/issues/new?issuable_template=write-copy)
* [ ] [Email invitations issue created](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/marketing/demand-generation/campaigns/-/issues/new?issuable_template=request-email-invitation)
* [ ] [Follow up email issue](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/marketing/demand-generation/campaigns/-/issues/new?issuable_template=request-email-followup)
* [ ] [List clean and upload issue](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/marketing/marketing-operations/issues/new?issuable_template=event-clean-upload-list)
* [ ] [Add to nurture issue](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/marketing/demand-generation/campaigns/-/issues/new?issuable_template=request-add-nurture)
* [ ] [Organic social issue created](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/marketing/corporate_marketing/corporate-marketing/-/issues/new?issuable_template=social-gtm-organic) (*optional*) - Auto-assignments listed in template
NOTE: We do not send Marketo reminder emails for self-service events since the Zoom registration is not integrated and the registered attendees are not pulled into Marketo until your lead list is uploaded after the event.
Add the team label to indicate the team running the event (Example: Corporate Marketing)
/label ~"mktg-status::wip" ~"Self-Serve"
This section pulls all the pertinent best practices from the step-by-step instructions into a quickly reviewable format, separated by various stages of the process.
General Best Practices:
Review GitLab's general virtual events best practices for additional suggestions on how to make your virtual event a success.
Basic Zoom Settings: These settings should be updated in your personal zoom account settings by logging into the Zoom web client
play sound when participants join or leavemute participants upon entryallow live streaming the meeting and enable YouTubepolling (basic settings)breakout room (advance setting)Setting up Zoom event: Basic recommendations when setting up your self-service Zoom event
join before host optionwaiting roomrecord meeting automatically if the event is being recordedREQUIRE registration for any event that you'd like to add registrants/attendees to Marketo/SFDC after the eventClose registration after event dateOnly authenticated users can joinenable waiting room. NOTE: This means you have to accept people into the meeting on the live event date unless you toggle this off after your practice sessionPre-Event / Live Event / Post-Event
If you have not yet identified if a self-service virtual event is the correct event type of event for you, visit the Virtual Events Decision Tree to determine which type is right for your event.
Self-service events are organized for quick turnarounds and additional support or guidance from the team is not necessary. Using personal channels to self-promote your event comes with many benefits: it’s an authentic way for you to build your personal audience, reach people beyond GitLab’s corporate channels, and boosts your credibility online. This page outlines everything that you'll need to promote your own virtual event. This checklist should take less than 2 hours.
Please consider reviewing and applying our GitLab Team Member Social Media Guidelines prior to promoting your own event. Specifically, review our GitLab Voice information.
Because this is a self-service virtual event, you'll also be creating your own image for promotion. Don't worry! We have everything you need.
Here's what you'll need to do:
The GitLab Canva Virtual Events Promotional Templates are a small series of "blanks" to use to promote your event! You may choose any or all of these for your virtual events. You will need to learn basic photo editing tactics if you don't know them already, but Canva is user-friendly software. Lost? Ask #social_media on Slack for assistance.
Now that you’ve put together the copy and creative needed to promote your event, it’s time to get the word out. Depending on how much time there is until your webcast, you may be able to promote your event more than what we’ve outlined in this section. There are more details below on a more sustained promotion for events with more than 3 days of time between promotion launch and webcast.
We recommend doing all of the following:
Promote your event on Twitter and LinkedIn. You may also do this on Facebook or other channels, but know that Twitter and LinkedIn are key. Take the copy + creative you made and send them out to your social followers. Be sure to “convert” your @handles from Twitter to tagging people and companies on LinkedIn. While you start with “@” like all social channels, you’ll want to make sure that you select the right person or company on LinkedIn. Here is how to try this out (https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/34936/mention-people-in-your-posts?lang=en).
Building personal credibility and extending reach for your event promotions is a critical part of success. Team members who work in the same space as your topic would be more likely to share on their channels than others. Here’s how to do it while living up to our values around informal communication:
Example: Your webcast is the same from our examples above, about remote DevOps. One of the topics to focus on is remote work. In addition to being a hashtag in your social posts, remote work is also the topic for a GitLab Slack channel, remote. Team members in this channel share stories and opinions on your webcast topic.
After sending out your first social media posts on Twitter and LinkedIn, copy the links to both posts. Here’s how to copy a link to your post on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/108024/finding-the-url-for-shared-content?lang=en). Here’s how to copy a link to your tweet on Twitter (https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/tweet-and-moment-url).
Take the links to your social media posts and add them to a Slack channel message. Send a variation of this message to the channel:
Hi Everyone,
I’m hosting a webcast on remote DevOps later this week. I would appreciate your support by retweeting or sharing my social posts.
Retweet My Tweet (make this a clickable link to your tweet)
Share My LinkedIn Post (make this a clickable link to your LinkedIn post)
Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to contribute to the webcast.
While sharing on your social media channels and other digital spaces should occur more than once if time allows, please do not message GitLab Slack channels more than once about your webcast promotion. Please feel free to provide an update to the slack channel about what worked well or how many people attended following the end of your webcast.
Are you a part of a tech-focused nonprofit? Do you have former coworkers who would be interested in your webcast? Are you a part of group chats, Facebook or LinkedIn groups, or some other channel where members might be interested in your topic? Share it with them as well.
It’s important to note that you should be aware of sharing practices in your groups - some groups have a strict “no advertising” policy. For all Facebook and LinkedIn groups, consider reviewing any group rules and don’t get in trouble with the moderators.
Add your virtual event to about.gitlab events page by following instructions for adding to event master.yml
While we’re not suggesting that you spam your audiences, Twitter is not used in the same way LinkedIn is. On the day of your webcast, consider tweeting a photo of you prepping the webcast, tweeting a “thank you” to everyone that attended, and even consider linking to a recording (if available) for those who could not join live. It’s completely acceptable for a list of tweets on the day of your webcast to include 3-5 tweets. Ultimately, if you have something else to say, say it on Twitter.
If you’re planning a webcast and have more than 3 days between your first day of promotion and the actual webcast, you have time to add additional posts to your promotion.
Do not promote your event more than once a day, at most. Remember, this is your network, don’t spam them.
Consider posting about non-webcast or work-related topics between webcast promotional posts.
Take the same copy you wrote in step 1 and remix it for future posts.
This self-service virtual events calendar will be used to log all planned and scheduled self-service virtual events hosted by GitLab team members using their personal zoom accounts. The purpose of this calendar is to provide visibility and help individuals minimize topic overlap with other GitLab virtual events happening around the same time and to provide executive visibility into all self-service events GitLab team members are hosting.
DRI adding to self-service virtual event calendar: Individual hosting the virtual event.
As soon as you create the epic for your self-service virtual event, add your event to the self-service virtual event calendar by creating an event on the day you plan to host it. Make sure to also include the link to the epic in the calendar description.
For self-service events that still in planning, use the following naming convention [Hold Self-service] Event title (e.g: [Hold Self-service] How to use GitLab for project planning) and create it as an all-day event (no time slot selected).
Once the date/time of the event has been confirmed, go to your calendar event and remove Hold from the event title to [Self-service] Event title (e.g: [Self-service] How to use GitLab for project planning). Note: In the spirit of efficiency, please be sure to add all presenters (GitLab team members and external speakers), the epic or issue (if you have one) and your Zoom invite info to the calendar invite so you're not having to create multiple calendar invites.
Make sure these settings are enabled in your personal zoom account settings as needed. In your zoom web interface go to Settings.
Play sound when participants join or leave is deactivatedMute participants upon entry to active.Allow live streaming the meetings and enable YouTube to activePolling to active.Breakout room to active.Allow host to assign participants to breakout rooms when scheduling.Creating the event in Zoom
schedule a meeting on the top right navigation.Topic in the recommended format (this will be in the subject line for confirmation emails):
Event title - DD Month, 2020 - Local time (e.g: Deploy AWS Lambda applications with ease - April 9, 2020, 9 am PT).Event title (e.g: Deploy AWS Lambda applications with ease).Description with a description of what the event is about. *Note: this will be in the body for confirmation emails and landing page (if you set registration as required in step 9).When with the event date and time.Duration with the duration of the event.Timezone where the event will be held.Recurrence and specify the End date of the recurring event.Registration field as Required. Doing this will automatically trigger a landing page to be created for your event.Require a meeting password option and including the auto generated password in your invite (for events not requiring registration)/confirmation (for events requiring registration). This is useful so only the people you intend to invite attends the meeting and can help prevent hackers from taking over your meeting (Zoom Bombing).on or off.BOTH telephone and computer audio.Mute participants upon entry to prevent disruption whenever someone joins mid-presentation.Enable waiting room option if you’d like to choose some participants to join prior to others . This is useful to allow a final dry run between host and the other presenters right before the event. Activating this is recommended by zoom to prevent Zoom Bombing.Only authenticated users can join to restrict meeting only to participants that have logged in to zoom using their email address. Activating this is recommended by zoom to prevent Zoom Bombing but may impact registration due to its restrictive nature (forcing registrants to sign up for zoom before completing registration).Breakout room pre-assign if you’d like to pre-assign participants to the breakout sessions prior to the meeting. Please note that only participants/hosts with @gitlab email domain can be pre-assigned via the web interface. Participants with non @gitlab email addresses need to have zoom installed in their machine to be pre-assigned, and pre-assigning for this scenario can only be done through a CSV upload.Record the meeting automatically either on your local computer or in the cloud to automatically record the meeting when the host join.other options, check the box for close registration after event date.Save your meeting as a Meeting template.[Recommended for meetings requiring registration] Customize your registration form
Questions Tab and select Job Title and Country (Do not select Number of Employees as we will add that as a custom field in the next step.Custom Questions tab and click New Question button to add Number of Employees custom field.
Type select Single answerRequired is checked field, fill in Number of Employees`1-99, 100-499, 500-1,999, 2,000-9,999, 10,000+Custom Questions tab and click New Question button to add email opt-in language
Type select Single answerQuestion field, follow this example.Yes or NoNew Question and follow the steps outlined previously to add more custom fields. Selecting type Short Answer vs. Single Answer will allow registrants to enter a free text response vs. selecting from a picklist.Save All.[Recommended for meetings requiring registration] Customize your confirmation email & trigger a reminder email
Email settings tab.Confirmation Email to Registrants section choose the email language (if not the default of English) , click edit and modify the editable Subject, Body, and Footer sections. Note: Zoom emails are text only and the layout is not editable.[Meeting Topic] Confirmation/Reminder, then click over to the Registration tab. In the Registration tab click View , select all the registrants on that page by selecting the top left checkbox and click Resend Confirmation Email. If the registration list spans across multiple pages you must repeat this for each page.[Optional for meetings requiring registration] Customize your landing page and email headers
Branding tab.Banner section or use the basic GitLab image. Image requirements are as follows:
[Optional] Add a poll to your meeting
Polling in your account settings.Poll tab.Add.Single choice or Multiple Choice (allows for participant to select more than one answer).Save.This set up is for when you are hosting a self-service webcast, but using a Marketo landing page to capture registrants.
{{my.meeting password}} and {{my.meeting URL}} with the Zoom meeting credentials. These will send in the confirmation email and the reminder email.01a Registration flow and start promoting your landing page!ABM ONLY Note: Invitation emails are set to be batched in groupings, you will be using a smart campaign to do this vs a email batch program. You'll find these smart campaigns under the invitiation folder.
Once the DRI has identified that the date will change, DRI will:
Notify registrants about changes to this meeting checkbox so registrants gets the date change email notification with their unique join link from zoom.If the date changes after the sub-issues, epic, and tracking for the event have been created, the DRI/FMC must make the following updates:
Once the DRI has identified that an event is cancelled, DRI will:
Field Marketing DRI will add requested refund info directly into the FM Cancellation Tab of the Budget Doc. Corporate Marketing DRI will track cancellation refunds in this budget doc.Send meeting cancellation email to registrants checkbox so registrants gets the cancellation email notification from zoom. You will also be able to edit the cancellation message on the body of the email.If an online event is cancelled after the sub-issues, epic, and tracking for the event have been created, the DRI/FMC will:
Aborted. No other changes.PLEASE DELETE/DO NOT USE to the title in the Marketo program and send a request in the #mktgops Slack channel to have your Marketo program deleted (remember to link to the Marketo program in the request).[Optional] Starting Livestream for your event
Livestream in your account settings.[Optional] Playing pre-recorded video during the meeting
Share computer sound and Optimize Screen Share for Video Clip. Click Share.Note: Although we can leverage this functionality for a semi-live virtual event, the audience will be able to tell that you are playing a video for them so it is good to share that information (be transparent) with them upfront.
[Optional] Downloading the registration list
Reports.Meeting. Report Type, select Registration Report.Search by time range input the date of your event, click Search.GenerateRegistration Type select All Registrants, click Continue.Download.[Optional] Downloading the attendees list.
Reports.Usage.From input the date of your event, click Search.Participants column, click the number of participants in blue fonts, select Show unique users checkbox on the top left of the pop up page, click Export.[Optional] Upload recording to the appropriate youtube channel.
Instructions on how to upload.
[Optional] Gating self-service virtual event recording
To maximize the return on time investment spent for creating gated webcasts landing pages, we will only gate post event recording for a self-service virtual event if it garners a min of 550 youtube views within the first 7 days.
If your video meets the gating criteria, please open the following issues for the marketing campaigns team (and provide screenshot of views for clarity):
Note: The 550 min threshold is based on the avg of top 10 videos on gitlab branded youtube channel between 8/11/20 - 8/18/20.
This SFDC report tracks responses produced by self-service virtual events in real time. We will link full funnel reporting with opportunities and pipeline data as they become available in Sisense.