Planning to set up a social wall for your upcoming event? Setting up a social wall doesn’t have to be complicated, but you’ll want to start preparing at least a few weeks before your event date. I’ll walk you through everything you need to plan for a smooth implementation.

Your Pre-Event Checklist

Before your event arrives, make sure you’ll have:

• A reliable internet connection at the venue
• Access to your planned display screens or website
• Social media account credentials available before setting up your social wall
• At least 2-3 hours for testing before the event

Planning Your Display Method

Your implementation method will depend on where you plan to show your social wall. Let’s explore each option:

Large Screen Displays

If you’re planning for a live event, like a trade show or conferences, or displaying your social wall in an office space, you’ll need:

• A screen with HDMI input
• Computer or media player
• Internet connection (plan for wired if possible)

When the event day arrives, you’ll just need to load your unique Everwall display URL in a modern web browser. Make sure to check the venue’s screen resolution in advance for optimal display planning if they’re providing the screen, or get the details from the AV company you’re using if you’ll be renting your equipment.

Website Embedding

Planning to add your social wall to your event website? You’ll receive a code snippet to place on your site. Plan this implementation at least a week before your event so you can test thoroughly. The wall will automatically adjust to fit your website’s design, including mobile responsiveness.

When you purchase an Event Social Wall from Everwall, embedding it on your website is included in the standard pricing. If you’re not planning on showing it on screens at the event, you can also purchase just the embed (we call it a Social Media Hub).

Event App Integration

If you’ll be using an event app, here’s what to plan for:

• Get the URL for the Social Wall from Everwall in the Social Media Hubs section (if you already have a design for your website, we recommend creating another design just for the event app)
• Schedule time with your app development team, or email the URL to the person in charge of configuring the app
• Plan for integration testing before the event

Live Stream Integration

For virtual events, you’ll want to plan your stream layout in advance:

• Decide on your display layout early. You can show the social wall full screen, or have it be a lower third, or even a ticker. You can even use multiple layouts (our support team can help explain how to do this, if needed)
• Get your stream overlay URL and add it as a web source
• Test with your streaming software before the event

Planning Your Initial Social Wall’s Setup

Here’s what you’ll need to prepare:

• Wall Creation
  • Create an account on Everwall (if you’re going with our full service offering, your account manager will do this for you if you haven’t already done it).
  • Name it and add the dates event dates. In addition to the event dates that it’ll be active for, we also give you three days of testing for free for self-service events.
  • Choose what support level you need for the event. We have self service options and full service options available. More details about the pricing is here.
• Content Source Planning
  • Decide which social networks to include
  • Plan your hashtags or accounts to track
  • Prepare any needed authentication—you’ll need to be able to login to connect the social account to Everwall in most cases
  • Determine what moderation settings you want to use (more details on this are below)
• Display Customization
  • Design your layout
  • Choose your color scheme and fonts
  • Decide what engagement-based items you want to use, like Leaderboards, Polls, or Announcements

Content and Moderation Planning

Content Strategy

Develop your content plan early:

• Choose your event hashtags.
• Identify key social accounts to follow (you might want to pin their posts for additional exposure on the social wall).
• Plan any custom posts.
• If using Everwall Direct (web form), generate QR codes to put around the venue to make it easy to participate. We also recommend showing it on the social wall itself.
• If you want to use the social wall to show announcements, plan the messaging and timing.
• Create sample content for testing.

Pro tip: Create a test hashtag for your pre-event checks.

Moderation Strategy

Plan your content moderation approach:

• Decide between full moderation or filter-based moderation
• Develop your keyword block list
• Create a blocked accounts list if needed
• Assign moderation team roles and create accounts for them in Everwall

Performance Planning

Prepare for smooth operation:

• Plan what moderators will be available and when to make sure the social wall stays active
• Schedule performance testing to make sure your equipment works smoothly
• Book venue testing time so you can test on the actual equipment that’ll be showing your social wall

Preparing for Common Challenges

Connectivity Planning

Prevent internet issues by planning:

1. Scout venue internet capabilities
2. Arrange for backup internet (Everwall social walls are designed to continue working if they lose internet access, but no new content can come in unless it has internet)
3. Prepare offline content options in case the internet goes down

Prevent screen issues by planning to:

• Test browser compatibility
• Verify screen resolutions
• Check all connections
• Have backup display equipment, if possible

Content Sync Strategy

Ensure smooth content flow by planning:

• Document content source settings and make sure you team knows what content sources can show up on the social wall
• Schedule content from your social accounts on the content sources you’re planning on using so that at a minimum you’ll have some new content on the screens at all times
• Draft moderation guidelines so your moderators know what types of posts they should be approving

Event Success Planning

Here’s what to prepare for each stage:

Pre-Event

• Schedule thorough testing
• Prepare backup plans
• Train your moderation team
• Create test content

Event Day

• Plan moderation schedules
• Prepare support contact list
• Draft audience engagement strategy
• Create contingency plans

Post-Event

• Plan content archival strategy
• Prepare analytics review
• Schedule debrief meeting
• Draft improvement tracking

Technical Requirements

Verify these specifications in advance:

Browser Requirements

• Chrome 70+ (we recommend Chrome, if possible)
• Firefox 65+
• Safari 12+
• Edge 79+

Display Requirements

• Verify minimum resolution: 1920×1080
• Check refresh rate: 60Hz recommended
• Test network: 10+ Mbps dedicated

Support Planning

While your social wall setup should go smoothly with proper planning, prepare these resources:

• Bookmark our tutorials and FAQ documentation.
• Save our support team’s contact information. If you have an account manager, their direct phone, email, and whatsapp information will be shown on your dashboard.
• Consider scheduling a pre-event consultation if you’re going full service or upgrading your self-service to have premium support. We also offer training sessions if you’re doing full service.

The key to success is starting your planning early. Don’t wait until the last minute to set things up. We recommend beginning the process of setting up your social wall at least three weeks before your event (four to six weeks is even better), giving yourself plenty of time to test and refine your implementation and work out any kinks.