Building Expertise 2020 | Virtual Conference

BACKGROUND
Like many companies navigating the pandemic in early 2020, Learning Sciences International (LSI) needed to pivot quickly to save its flagship annual educators conference, which typically attracts 1200 attendees and drives a large portion of business for the company. With ticket sales screeching to a halt, hundreds of cancellations, and the potential for hundreds more, the firm determined to transform the in-person event to a virtual one in less than eight weeks to keep ticketholders interested and attract new sales.

TIMELINE: 7 weeks pre-production, 3 days live virtual conference production

CHALLENGE
LSI had never run a virtual event and needed help designing and producing one that would engage the audience, remove stress from presenters and moderators, and provide high-production value to attendees on a tight budget with short lead-time. Government-issued stay-at-home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic required that everyone building and participating in the event had to do so from their homes, adding layers of complexity to collaboration. In addition, the contracted platform technology provider could not provide adequate project management or training on the platform, so the LSI conference team needed to learn the platform capabilities and intricacies quickly and develop a training plan and materials for their staff and presenters.

BUSINESS GOALS

• Provide a high-value event and realize active engagement by the majority of attendees
• Maintain a tight budget to clear costs (break-even was the goal, profit was a bonus)
• 1,000 total registrations (down from the average 1200)
  • Maintain 400 registrants who did not cancel
  • Convert 400 undecided registrants to virtual
  • Attract 200 new registrations

SOLUTION
A robust program with engaging speakers, high-value content, and valuable networking opportunities structured to provide a healthy balance between the time attendees spent in sessions and elsewhere within the conference website.

• 3-day live event
• 27 live breakout sessions + 9 on-demand sessions
• 3 live keynotes
• 55 speakers
• 24 moderators
• 6 network lounge discussion boards
• 1 virtual bookstore
• 48 fully-produced videos in support of the live program and pre-event promotion

Planning and preparation included:

• Panoptic event production plan, including marketing and social media strategy
• Staffing plan and vendor management
• Comprehensive training and rehearsals for presenters and moderators
• Interactive conference website, complete with network lounge and exhibitors
• Detailed show flow and script development for plenary sessions
• Full-production support and live-show management during the three-day live event
• Mindfulness breaks to encourage respite between sessions
• Social media contests to increase engagement and brand awareness

SUCCESS METRICS

• 1800 registrations: largest ticket sales in the nine-year history of the conference
• 350% increase in registration in less than 8 weeks
• Surpassed 2020 registration goal by 180%
• Exceeded average registration benchmark by 150%
• 745 unique visits to exhibit booths
• 67% attendees engaged in one or more online activities
• 152% jump in social media traffic during the live event
• Strong bookstore sales
• Minimal number of tech support requests

ROLE: Creative director, event producer, technology trainer, marketing strategist

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