Digital event or no event

Prior to Covid most event organisers would never have imagined moving 80% of their events over to digital but when you have no choice but to go digital you'd be surprised by the results. Whilst pressures and responsibilities for events to become more sustainable meant that many event organisers were slowly transitioning into digital and hybrid events, Covid presented the events industry with an ultimatum. Digital event or no event. For many, migrating physical events over to digital has not been without its difficulties; however with the right team, communications and event management software providers, many organisations have found hosting digital events a huge success. Here at Evessio we're seeing success story after success story. From experience, observing patterns and attendee behaviour we've pinned down the recipe for successful digital event networking that works!

A success story

The Free From Food Awards 2021 is one of many success stories. The event not only replicated the same experience but saw higher interaction and communications between attendees. The Free From Food Awards are focused on bringing the free from community together and creating an environment in which sponsors and attendees can easily network.

In May 2021 the organisers sought a virtual solution to replicate their live awards ceremony and turned to the Awards Room, powered by Evessio to deliver it. The event has always been a stand-up reception, allowing guests to network and move around the room without being restricted by a formal table setting and this engaging format needed to be at the heart of the digital event. The event organisers expressed to Evessio that the same quality of connectivity was required from a digital event, since one of the most significant reasons for holding the awards ceremony is to strengthen long-standing relationships and discuss developments and trends within the free-from community.

The Awards Room

It was paramount to the event organisers that communications between guests be engaging and unrestrictive. With this in mind, the approach taken towards adopting the Awards Room was firmly rooted in ensuring that the platform’s networking functionality was fully utilised. The event organisers worked closely with Evessio in their strategy to allow this to happen and the results were phenomenal.

Utilising the software available

To ensure the full range of tools and functionalities within the Awards Room were fully utilised, all attendees were given a thorough grounding in the platform in advance of the awards ceremony including a guidance video and visual tour of the room provided by Evessio, outlining how they could interact and network efficiently. The amount of clear guidance from Evessio in advance, helped everyone attending familiarise themselves with the platform beforehand so that on the night, chats could happen naturally and smoothly. The software offered innovative ways for the guests to connect and the range of channels through which contact could be made enhanced the way networking was able to take place. 

Guests were encouraged to create their profiles on the platform in advance, beginning with links to their LinkedIn that would allow them to see who would be attending. This ensured their networking was as targeted and efficient during the event.

The Results

There was a significantly larger number of chats taking place throughout the event, compared to other events of a similar size, with over 2,500 chats held over both text and video amongst attendees and sponsors. Two-way conversations were common throughout the event, with almost 100 video calls, demonstrating engagement and authentic networking taking place. The data also revealed that almost all seated guests made conversation, further demonstrating higher engagement taking place than at comparable physical events. Evessio's post-event report provided graphs detailing information down to a granular level, including the number of conversations held on each table and the length each contact lasted for.

Cressida Langlands, CEO, Free From Food Awards

“The most important element of our Awards Presentation Parties has always been networking: encouraging our guests to make new connections, strengthen long-standing relationships and catch up on developments within the free from community. We were absolutely delighted that the Awards Room delivered more than we could have hoped for in this regard. The support from the Evessio team was astounding: immediate responses, never feeling like we were any trouble with our numerous questions, and taking on board any small adjustments we suggested.”

The Awards Room exceeded event organisers expectations around hosting a digital networking event. This success story is evidence that a highly successful live networking event can be replicated in a digital environment. By utilising the event management tools available and consistent communications with software providers the result can be outstanding.

Claire Singleton

Marketing Manager

Evessio

Claire is the Marketing Manager at Evessio, an industry-leading event management platform for awards, conferences and exhibitions. Claire has years of experience and specialises in marketing event software, marketing events and sponsorship. Claire has a proven track record of re-branding events and implementing strategies that doubled event participation. Claire made events that were breaking even or losing money highly profitable by increasing event participation and securing sponsorship from global brands.