This was a solid primer in a difficult time, when offering virtual events was new and novel. Helpful and well presented, with solid information.

It's a comprehensive book on shifting to virtual meetings. This is a handy guide specially for first time facilitators. Would love to have additional sources on navigating the new apps for online learning.

This is a very useful book for those unfamiliar with or uncomfortable with participating in and holding virtual meetings. Understanding virtual meetings has become essential and this book guides you on how to use online event platforms and tools effectively for a variety of purposes.

This book will be very helpful for someone who is unfamiliar with zoom, working online, or other virtual programming. If you are very comfortable in tech, you won't find much new or useful information in this book. But this would be a great book for your parent or loved one who needs to learn more.

I was so excited when I saw this book available for review on NetGalley, that I prayed I'd get accepted into the reviewer mix. Yes! Finally! A book I could (hopefully) use myself to navigate hosting complex virtual events, and one I could recommend to my online summit-running friends.

Unfortunately, this isn't the book.

Odd things stuck in my head from the very first page; the unusually small typeface, alarmist language ("COVID-19 debacle," "shocking 2020 pandemic ") and matter-of-fact explanations of things everyone forced to work from home during a pandemic, already knows.

The thing is, I've worked remotely / from home for decades. So while I'm likely not the ideal reader for this book, I had hoped it would offer up something new and exciting for me. A framework. Suggested templates. Checklists to avoid technical difficulties. Pros and cons lists for differing needs.

I didn't find any of that. Instead, there are lots of cliches (content is king), and odd assumptions ("On hearing the word virtual, many imagine something quite fantastic."). There are definitions for things like Wi-Fi and Digital Cellular Networks. There's a general, almost obsessive overuse of adverbs. Countless unnecessary sidebars spatter the text, like one that discusses uninvited guests, such as a pet. You'd think a discussion about what to do when an uninvited guest appears on screen would merit a section to itself, and it does.. but in this book, it's merely a sidebar to share (what I assume was intended as a laugh), and doesn't offer any actionable advice. Well, other than don't let your dog get used to being a YouTube star.

I could go on, but I think you get the jist: this book doesn't do what it set out to do. I cannot recommend it as a reference piece to keep in your work-at-home library, nor as a library reference material.

Subtitled "how to successfully train, facilitate, lead and present using the latest collaboration technology," this looks just the thing not only for pandemic-driven lockdown, but also for what most people thing is a permanent increase in online events, which after all do have many advantages: no travel (good for the environment), easy recording, automatic transcription, and all the features of internet technology just a click away. They can be dull and lack engagement though, so I was looking forward to learning about how to make online events work.

We start with a chapter on the importance of virtual, with which I wholeheartedly agree, but it is hardly groundbreaking. Then we get a chapter called Planning for Success which has some common-sense advice, though I was intrigued that Google Meet is missing from the list of "commonly used platforms," while both Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams get an entry. Since Skype for Business is nearly obsolete, while Google Meet has millions of users, that struck me as odd.

A paragraph in chapter two on "information sessions" hits the spot in terms of what concerns me. "Information sessions shared the problem of all virtual communication: they can be emotionally empty … rather than engaging with the presenter, participants experience a disconnect that negatively impacts their work."

I agree; but what is the solution? I did not find much here to inspire me. "Reading a prepared script verbatim is always a bad idea," it says. I am not so sure. I would much rather hear a well-written talk, than someone who is repetitive and full of ums and erms because they have been told only to use notes. The key thing, however it is achieved, is to project well and not gabble. The other thing I often see go wrong is lack of interactivity. I would like to have seen more on this; and personally I don't think emoticons (recommended here for monitoring audience reaction) are much use at all.

Chapter three is on managing meetings rather than presentations, and like chapter before it has tips on how to make virtual meetings work. There is a lot of stuff on categorising the type of meeting which I found rather redundant: most readers, I suspect, are familiar with types of meetings already, it is a question of how to make them work virtually.

Chapter four is on virtual training. How is this different from information sessions or meetings? Well it is a little bit different, in that it is more of a teacher/student relationship, but has a lot in common, I would have thought, with information sessions. Anyway, we get some tips on training sessions and a remark that "effective virtual training requires the services of a competent technical producer … it is simply outside a presenter's scope to handle the myriad details of a training or workshop event." Really? I picked up the book because I want to learn how to be a "competent technical producer", not to be told that I should go and find one, and some small organisations and budgets don't allow for this kind of specialist help.

Chapter five is about delivering results and again has tips on virtual meetings; it seems like every chapter has these tips which are quite repetitive. Chapter six, the last full chapter, is on planning for a crisis and says planning is a good idea. It also has something I heartily disagree with: "as a general rule, always use dial-in teleconferencing (as opposed to computer audio) when participating in a virtual event." No! This is a fallback; it is much better to use the audio and video (if possible) built into the platform, which will integrate with the names and the chat and the interaction.

In the end I found the book disappointing: repetitive, too often stating the obvious, and not going deep enough into the topic. There was no effort to compare the strengths and weaknesses of rival platforms like Teams and Zoom; most of the specific comments seem to be about Adobe Connect, which is perhaps what the authors use.

Personally I think putting on an effective virtual event is challenging and I have endured lots of bad ones and a few very good ones. What is the secret? After reading this, I am still not sure.

This book almost feels like 'too little too late.' If it had come out a year ago, it would have been amazing! However, in the past year, so many of us have already learned the lessons taught in this book....the hard way...and I don't feel like there's really anything new in here. For someone or a company just starting to look at virtual events, it's a good way to learn the basics, but for companies who have already powered through 2020, there are no gems of wisdom.