Continued restrictions on government travel and budgets for in-person conferences have prompted many agencies to turn to virtual conferences (vConferences or vEvents) as a supplement or replacement option. Drawing from literature reviews, observations, and interviews with industry organizations, this paper reviews the differences between virtual meetings and large-scale virtual events, how over-reliance and over-indulgence led to increased regulation and scrutiny of in-person events, and how vEvents are resulting in real return on investment. The authors detail the impact of social media innovations, how to apply best practice for analysis and planning, lessons learned for staffing vEvents, how to select the right platform without vendor influence, and explain where to gain access to a community of practice focused on virtual event engagements.