IDEX Health & Science 2021 Virtual Global Summit
Challenge
Like many live-event organizers, our client, IDEX Health & Science, was faced with the difficult decision of pivoting their annual in-person employee conference to another platform, but lacked the resources and knowledge to develop a way forward. Having partnered with V2Works for many years to help support their in-person gatherings, they quickly engaged with us to determine possibilities and devise a game plan. Our team quickly jumped in to adapt the event strategy and presentation model to find the best way to bring IDEX Health & Science’s team together virtually so they could keep their company connected, and more importantly, conduct business.
Solution
Our approach to planning a virtual meeting was in many ways similar to executing an in-person event. Starting with purpose and content are important. However, for this particular situation, we needed to overlap that with finding a platform that would support our goals. Our Brandgineers embraced the challenge and started exploring technology options in tandem with working on the event’s name, theme, messaging, and design. Our team carried out multiple project strategies for the entire virtual event, including all elements for brand, creative, and marketing, as well as timelines, project lists, results, event metrics, and testimonials. The complex virtual event included the following: Event Name & Theme For the event’s name and theme, we needed something compelling to set the tone and spark interest. We also wanted the name to relay to attendees the full switch to an on-line platform, and inspire them with a theme that would outshine the reasons for the change: COVID-19. After much masterminding, we changed the meeting title from the usual Global Commercial Meeting to the new Virtual Global Summit. The fresh name not only directly told the attendees that the meeting was going to be hosted online, but by purposely excluding the Commercial reference, the event instantly became much more accessible to employees who weren’t invited to participate in the past due to budget constraints. Technology Platform We compared the capabilities of more than 20 top platforms and selected one for its ability to deliver and, where possible, support and even enhance the event’s outcomes. We chose a platform that provided live webcasting, interactive agendas, engagement activities, and had scalability and potential for future customer-centric events. Video & Content Creation We enhanced the user experience to keep our attendees focused and informed by constructing a series of videos and on-demand content to be released strategically before and during the event to make it fresh and appealing. In addition, our team inserted videos into livestream broadcasts with other functionality, such as built-in chat, Q&A, polling, and branded overlays, to deliver an interactive attendee experience. Video topics included: event teasers, event tours, welcome from the president, facility tours, accomplishments, voice of customer, and more. We also worked closely with the IDEX Health & Science team to develop and create a number of comprehensive brochures to debut as downloadable items at the Virtual Global Summit. Promotional Campaigns We created a detailed project plan and timeline to cover the development of all content and event assets for a full schedule of promotional communications. These aimed to keep presenters on track with content development as well as boost attendee excitement leading up to the event. Live Event Management & Support For the Virtual Global Summit, V2Works centrally managed all aspects of producing the live event in conjunction with the IDEX Health & Science marketing and event team. This included training, technical management, show calling, directing, and queuing 31 presenters across two continents as well as managing slide decks and participant interaction, such as real-time Q&A. Attendee Tracking Once registered, event attendees were authenticated in the event platform while their usage was tracked and provided for analysis post event. The platform was easily accessible via the web or mobile app, and once users were logged in, they saw a series of promotional banners to access and interact with different types of content. We were able to take a deep dive into the event metrics and user movements to gain valuable insights such as popular content and interactions.
Results
Moving to a virtual platform proved to be a huge success. Using a web- and mobile-app platform, we were able to transform valuable content and learning opportunities into a high-quality virtual networking experience for the global audience. The outcome was a smooth meeting experience that made the content fully accessible and engaging. The all-digital event was able to expand the attendee list to host more than twice the number (245%) of attendees that the in-person event could accommodate. Not only was IDEX Health & Science able to invite more employees, the virtual event proved to be a major cost-savings advantage over an in-person gathering, reducing the out-of-pocket expenses by 72%. 72% Cost Savings Overall 245% Increase in Attendees 23,000 Event Game Points Collected 120,000 Minutes of Content Consumed 1.14M Engagement Actions Across All Users 99% Increase in Content Lifespan
Want fresh marketing stories in your inbox?
Get the weekly email that makes you a marketing genius.
Stay informed and inspired, for free.