I'd like to comment on your first point - "Seeing who will be attending and having ways to connect ahead of the event". Almost all of the conference organizers that I interviewed emphasized the importance of organizing a pre-conference event and/or icebreaker activities prior to the first formal sessions. They provided many reasons:
- Events and activities taking place prior to the conference provided an opportunity for participants to become comfortable with the platform and complete any pre-configuration necessary (plug-ins, audio set-up, avatar creation, etc.)
- Pre-conference events promoted the actual conference and increased participant numbers.
- Pre-conference events provided an opportunity for participatns to familiarize themselves with the content.
- Pre-conference events and icebreaker activites ensured that the online delegates were ready to actively participate on the first day of formal events.
- Organizers felt that by making participants comfortable with the platform and each other, they increased the interaction that took place early on in the conference.