Highlights

“We put on this event to get leaseholders in touch with the experts that can help them with these problems as well as give them the confidence to challenge agents or freeholders if something is wrong. The event is also an excellent chance for leaseholders to network and make connections they otherwise wouldn’t have in the leasehold sector.” 

Ben Taylor, Managing Director of Save my Service Charge 

The residential property management company wanted to educate and empower leaseholders by providing them with the right information. Whether it is building insurance, property management, or fire safety standard maintenance. So, the company decided to host a virtual event with home management companies, leaseholders, and homeowners to bring them all together. Moreover, the company also got a remarkable opportunity to publish and spread informative resources for fire safety, how to read your lease, EV Guide, and other resident information brochures. The webinars were the highlight of the event that got over 500 views.

The Challenge

“Aside from those extraordinary issues like the Cladding Crisis, there are the more everyday ones that leaseholders face, like extending a lease or challenging service charges, which are often swathed in legal jargon.” – Ben Taylor

Save My Service Charge is a first of its kind innovative service and they wanted to make lease management procedures hassle-free for homeowners through this event. The home management companies in the industry are one too many and many leaseholders don’t fully understand what they’re paying for.

In the previous year, the company hosted an in-person event with the same purpose. Although that event was a success, they wanted to expand and reach more leaseholders at a national level.

The Solution

Going virtual made complete sense to them as most of the exhibitors operate nationally. It was next to impossible for them to set up shop at a local event and expect a remarkable outcome. They could get a much wider reach with a virtual event like the Leaseholder Expo 2022.

“We did a live event last year, which went well, but didn’t have enough reach. Moving online made complete sense.” said Ben Taylor.

Ben was directly involved in the thorough vetting process of multiple virtual event platforms. vFairs became the natural choice because the immersive virtual environment and event visuals were much more appealing to them. They were also impressed by the virtual event solution technology and their dedicated Project Manager helped them set up the event seamlessly.

Leaseholder Expo 2022: Success Factors

The event organizers incorporated multiple features from the vFairs virtual event solution to make their event a more practical and immersive experience for exhibitors and attendees.

Exhibit Hall

The exhibit hall was one of the main features at the Leaseholder Expo 2022 with 13 exhibitor booths with custom layouts and booth settings. The booth admins could upload unlimited resources to their booths that attendees could view and download. Other booth features included live booth chat, reserve chat slot functionality, external links, etc. Most exhibitors showcased who they were, what the company did, and focused on networking with the attendees. 

“The exhibit booths were a great success and most exhibitors were able to collect leads and make contacts. We will consider adding another hall next year with vFairs.” – Ben Taylor

Downloadable Resources and Video Vault

The event focused largely on educating the attendees about their lease contracts and how to manage hazards around their homes. So, the event organizers chose to upload resources like videos, brochures, presentations, newsletters, etc., for attendees to view and download. The booths at the event received more than 270 document views and 90+ video views.

Ben addressed this by saying:

“The resources that exhibitors and event organizers uploaded were received very well. vFairs made it easy for attendees to view, save for later, and download them.”

Attendee Search

Save My Service Charge used the attendee search feature in the vFairs platform to understand their audience better. The feature was vital for figuring out what the delegates wanted and were most interested in. Exhibitors were also able to find suitable attendees to approach and interact with. 

Networking Features

One of the biggest takeaways from the event was the networking opportunity for event hosts, delegates, and exhibitors. Most exhibitors were able to get in touch with their target audience through the event. Brilliant networking features like private and group chat and networking lounge were great ways for everyone to stay in touch during the event.

“Biggest positive outcome was the niche networking opportunity provided by the event to all exhibitors. Most of us generated business from the event and I see this as a huge success.” Ben commented.

Leaderboard

Event organizers wanted to make sure that the attendees would have incentive to register for the event and have fun as well. The event hosts did not want the Leaseholder Expo to become a sales event. So, the leaderboard became a great way for them to reinforce that policy. Attendees could report being approached by an exhibitor or other attendee to get points for the leaderboard. Leaderboard winners could also win exciting sponsored prizes which was another way to offer more visibility to sponsors.

Photo Booth

Event organizers also added in a Photo Booth contest with sponsored prizes for the winners. This gamification tool from vFairs improved attendee count and engagement. The prizes were a great incentive for attendees to maximize engagement.

In The Spotlight: Semi-Live Webinars

The MD of Save My Service Charge, Ben Taylor, said that the semi-live webinars were the highlight of the event for delegates and exhibitors. There were multiple webinar sessions lined up throughout the day with leading industry experts. Most of them were followed by live Q&A sessions and attendees found value for their time.

The Result

Event hosts were looking to educate leaseholders from around the country and bring together leaseholder sector professionals to make meaningful connections. The event was branded as “UK’s Biggest National Leaseholder Event of the Year” and the event organizers saw a jump in leads as compared to last year’s physical event. 

Going virtual for the expo turned out to be a great decision for all stakeholders as the event was highly interactive and informational. Attendees were able to watch videos, view documents, and attend webinars which were the highlight of the event. 

The virtual exhibit hall was a great success as the host was able to bring national level vendors on board as sponsors and exhibitors. Exhibitors who offer their services across the country made important sales connections as their reach expanded through the virtual event.

Highlights

This virtual summit was an internal event at ALPLA that brought together two of their regions, East and West. This was a great opportunity to network between regions and enjoy informative sessions together. This was a two-day event with a total of 1193 booth visits and with more than 1000 webinar views. 

The most loved feature of this summit was vFairs’ remarkable customer service.  But what really drove the success of this event was how user-friendly the event layout was. Feedback gathered at the event showed that attendees were very satisfied with the event and found vFairs to be an extremely easy platform to work with especially for the non-tech people. 

“Our experience with vFairs was great. We had more than a 100 attendees and we weren’t expecting them to navigate the platform so well. There was almost no request for support.” 

Sabrina Korolev

The Challenges

ALPLA approached vFairs in order to deliver new updates, share new concepts and projects, and to network with the corporate from the East and West region within their organization. 

The event consisted of numerous activities during a two-day long event with informative workshops, ice-breaking sessions, exhibitions, and more. 

These were the challenges they were looking to overcome by using vFairs virtual event platform:

• Reaching all the employees within the company within the East and West region
• Bringing both the regions together for the first time, virtually to communicate and share insights and updates 

The Solution

This was the first ever internal event that was hosted virtually by ALPLA. The team however was super tensed knowing with virtual, things may go wrong. Therefore, the ALPLA team had been looking for the perfect event firm that would completely take the burden off their shoulders and host an extraordinary event that would be praised amongst the regions.  

vFairs provided the virtual summit solution and it cleared all the doubts ALPLA team had before hosting their event virtually. It also helped provide solutions to the challenges ALPLA was facing with well delivered webinar sessions, and a super user-friendly virtual event platform.

Sabrina Korolev, Operational Excellence Assistant at ALPLA quoted, 

“We really liked the product from the start. We particularly enjoyed the service offered. We got all the information needed to make our decision. It was a good match from the beginning.”

Here are some of the features that stood out and served as a solution to their challenges: 

1. Remarkable Customer Service

When it comes to customer service, there’s no one that can match our level of convenience and dedication. Our project and customer service teams know the value each client holds and therefore, give in their 100%. 

ALPLA was delighted by the customer service offered by the vFairs team and that they were super responsive, and assisted them throughout the event. 

Sabrina Korolev from ALPLA quoted, ‘We were very happy with the customer service.”

2. 3D Virtual Environment

The MQO Day was a great opportunity for ALPLA to bring together employees from the EAST and the WEST region. The event sessions were able to teach, deliver, and update attendees about quality assurance, HSE, and maintenance. 

ALPLA and their attendees truly enjoyed how immersive the vFairs platform was. This internal event being the first one hosted virtually, the 3D elements gave it a real feel. The event exterior and the interior was kept simple and realistic but the attendees really enjoyed how creative the virtual environment was. 

Sabrina from ALPLA, mentioned, “ We have only positive feedback from the attendees.”

3. Exhibit Hall

ALPLA has a total of 4 exhibit booths and a total of 1193 booth visits. Each booth had its own set of downloadable videos and documents that attendees could put in their swag bags. 

The exhibit hall had great graphics with 3D avatars of the support team on each of the booths.  The booths were fully customized with logos and branded color schemes. 

Sabrina from ALPLA, mentioned, “ We were able to brand our exhibit booths with logos and they were very simple to navigate through.”

4. Ease of Set-up & Navigation

vFairs platform is very easy to set-up, navigate, and administer. For hosts, we do provide in-depth onboarding to familiarize them with the platform. For attendees, we offer welcome videos and support chat to assist them through the event. 

The ALPLA MQO event was highly appreciated because of how easy to navigate it was for the attendees. As mentioned by Sabrina from ALPLA, most of their attendees were non-technical people and therefore their team was expecting a high need of the chat support and help desk. 

However at the event, chat support was barely needed. The platform was super easy to work with and navigate through. 

Korolev particularly mentioned, “ vFairs platform was really easy to use. We only have positive feedback from everyone.”

5. Networking Lounge

The networking lounge gave the attendees from different regions the opportunity to connect, and communicate with one another. The attendees were able to discuss any concerns related to HSE, maintenance, and operations. 

6. Swag Bag

The swag bag at the MQO event was mainly for resources such as videos and documents concerning each booth. Attendees could add the important or relevant ones to their swag bag and watch them even after the event. 

The Results

ALPLA Global MQO day proved to be a successful event and provided a great learning experience for all the attendees from both the East and West region. The downloadable resources and the webinars were super informative and the attendees loved navigating through the vFairs platform.

The event was a win with:

• 135 Total Registrations 
• 1000+ Booth Visits
• 1000+ Webinar Views

GSA is a drama school based in the South of England. They are a part of the University of Surrey. It trains actors, technicians, and theatrical producers, basically the industry’s next generation of backstage and front-stage talent. Moreover, it also conducts research relevant to the industry.

The Challenge

This was a yearly event and their second time with vFairs. The primary goal for the GSA Production Graduate Showcase 2022 was to provide a substantial outcome for students on their professional development journey. It aimed to evaluate how students market and promote themselves. 

Moreover, the event provided ample networking opportunities for inviting industry leaders and building an environment where they can look for prospective employees. In addition, students could showcase their talent to internal organizations and apply the skills they have been taught.

Why vFairs?

The GSA team had attended many online trade shows so they researched and looked at who the providers were, especially for the media and tech industry. They looked at several events, but what vFairs was offering seemed to most align with what they wanted. Therefore, they decided that vFairs was the best option according to their budget. 

The Solution

vFairs provided a number of features to the GSA Production Graduate Showcase. There were two separate exhibit halls for BA and MA students. An information desk was also present to assist attendees if they encountered any issues. Here are the key features:

User-friendly Interface

vFairs offered a flexible platform to GSA. Attendees said that it was simple to sign in and gain access to the event. In addition, students had more opportunities because international audiences could participate in the virtual event. The trade show was advantageous for both businesses and students as everyone globally could access the platform with ease. Everyone praised the platform and said they had a great time taking part in the event.

Exhibit Booths

Previously, GSA conducted two separate events for MA and BA students. However, this year they were doing a combined event for graduating students, which also increased participation. There were exhibit booths for each student representative. The exhibit booths hosted videos, photos, portfolios, and CVs. Attendees could save documents or videos, and email them to themselves for later.

In The Spotlight: 3D Virtual Environment

The team at GSA was actively looking at two other competitors when they decided to do the event virtually. However, they selected vFairs because it had an immersive and interactive environment. The attendees and exhibitors enjoyed the 3D environment immensely and found that it was conducive to productive interactions. 

The Result

Moving forward, Gareth Evans, the Teaching Fellow in Sound at the University of Surrey, said that his company thoroughly enjoyed the virtual trade show hosted by vFairs. It was easier to get on as compared to last year’s in-person event. The platform made it much more accessible to a wider audience as 103 users logged in and there were 934 booth visits. 

The virtual event was preferable as it prevented the need to travel. The international audience could also attend the event and students had more opportunities. All in all, they are looking forward to hosting more events with vFairs in the future.

Inspired by the creativity and effectiveness of our clients’ events in 2021, vFairs honored excellence in virtual & hybrid events through the vFairs Eventeer Awards. Here’s how it went.

About the Eventeer Awards

This past year vFairs helped clients host over 2000 events, which brought in over 1.5 million attendees from over 150 countries. The Eventeer Awards were created to celebrate these achievements and recognize excellence in virtual & hybrid events. Following a nomination and voting period, the  first ever virtual awards ceremony  was held on 15th February 2022. 

The vFairs platform is host to a number of innovative clients that create truly mesmerizing virtual and hybrid events. Not only do these events drive business value for their organizations, they also help contribute to the expansion of the vFairs platform! Clients continually come up with clever ideas and ask vFairs if it can be done. This challenges the vFairs team to build an even better platform! Many of the vFairs team members have their personal favorite events too! 

Yet, what truly makes a good virtual event? vFairs wanted the public to decide, and so we opened up nominations  for 20 different award categories. The nominees were then showcased and votes were opened for anyone to send in. Once the results were in, the award ceremony provided due adulation to the winners, runner ups and remaining nominees! 

With 200 nominations, 6000 votes and 700 attendees at the event, Eventeers was a huge success.

“We hosted some incredible events [in 2021]. Our clients’ events have helped them grow their businesses, provide new opportunities to marginalized communities and platforms for minority groups and helped bring people together from all walks of life to network, learn and discuss important topics” – Muhammad Younas, CEO, vFairs

Objectives

The purpose of the awards were namely: 

1. Create a platform to celebrate both vFairs and its clients’ success as an events community.
2. To give recognition to some of the amazing and versatile virtual and hybrid events held under vFairs. 
3. A way for customers, vFairs team, partners and friends to come together, to let loose and celebrate their accomplishments from the past year!
4. To bring to light the various ways vFairs features can be used to better serve individual event purposes.
5. To thank vFairs clients for working with and trusting vFairs as it continues to grow. 

Inputs

Creating a virtual awards show can be exciting! vFairs made use of its own platform in a manner that other hosts would do. Meaning, vFairs used vFairs and its own features to provide a state of the art virtual event experience.

Landing Page

Creating hype before your event is important. Thus sharing information about your virtual event is key. A landing page is the perfect place to do so. The vFairs Eventeer Awards landing page featured an event overview, the agenda, and major highlights of the event. Sugar Ray’s, Mark Mcgrath, provided the promotional video to the event singing the number one song from 1997!

Pre-Event Marketing

Using vFairs’ native pre-event marketing feature, the vFairs Eventeer Awards were marketed through an email drip campaign. By making use of an effective email marketing strategy, vFairs was able to draw in 200 nominations from within its clientele. 

The nominees were then showcased on an entirely new domain. Voting was open for about a week and closed a few days before the event. Nominees were promoted by clients via social media, emails, press releases and more to ensure they got as many votes as possible for their event!

3D Customized Virtual Environment

The virtual event venue emulated a true virtual awards show by creating a feel of the Golden Globes! 

Attendees landed ‘outside’ of the custom designed virtual venue, right onto the red carpet. Guests then entered into a lobby with chandeliers and a grand staircase. Diverse 3D avatars were standing about dressed in cocktail dresses. A step-and-repeat with camera lights flashing as they would at a red carpet event further added to the luxurious feel. From here attendees could venture into the auditorium or the halls of fame.

Virtual Auditorium

The virtual auditorium was created to replicate an orchestra auditorium with seating in the main hall as well as elevated booths. A live webinar was held with CEO Muhammad Younas’s  inaugral speech followed by emcees Candice and Carlos. The webinar was then available on demand for anyone who wished to chime in at a later time.

Virtual Hall of Fame

Attendees could visit the halls of fame to see each category and scroll through the various nominees. Attendees could either view the images and descriptions here or even hop onto the event’s URL.

Virtual Engagement

The vFairs Eventeer Awards event itself showcased how hosts can truly use the platform in an engaging and fun way, all from the comfort of one’s homes. 

Virtual Photo Booth

Attendees could take fun pictures of themselves which were then showcased on the event’s photo wall. Other attendees were free to scroll through and like each other’s images. The snazziest photo with the most likes at the end of was eligible to win a $50 Amazon gift card & a vFairs swag kit.

Social Wall

With the use of hashtags or simply scanning the QR code on the website and creating a post, all social media posts shared by nominees, hosts and their friends were then featured on the social wall. This was a great way for attendees to be engaged prior to the event. They could then see some of their hard work pay off  by scrolling through the social wall. This was another great way to get attendees to see the likes and appreciation in social media forums. This was also a way to create greater traction for the vFairs Eventeer Awards, the vFairs Platform and each individual client’s organization and event. 

Virtual Wrap Party

Dj Supermix from New York City really kept the audience engaged with wonderful music. The chatroom was full of exciting comments and even birthday wishes which DJ supermix gave a shoutout. This piece was a huge success, and a great way for attendees and the vFairs team to unwind and interact in a less formal setting than within the awards ceremony.

Takeaways

Some key takeaways from this event include the engagement with 700 attendees, 200 nominations and 6000 votes! This truly showed how engaged vFairs clients are with their events and the platform. The social media wall was a true representation of this commitment.

vFairs also set an example of how its platform can be used to the best of its ability. Including use of diverse avatars ensuring inclusivity, customizing certain features such as the red carpet, event exterior and auditorium. The virtual DJ certainly engaged the audience with shoutouts in the chat.

All in all, the event was a tremendous success. For this reason, vFairs has decided to continue the eventeer awards into the next year!

The Slovenian Tourist Board aims to promote Slovenia as a tourist destination for travelers from all around the world seeking distinctive experiences for peace, and/or personal benefits. In recent years they’ve hosted multiple activities “to increase the recognizability and reputation of the country as an authentic boutique destination for five-star experiences, which is committed to sustainability.”

Event Highlights

STB organized physical events but in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, they decided to organize a virtual event titled: FEEL sLOVEni@ Business Date in September and December 2020 using different virtual events hosting platforms. Then moving forward in April 2021, they chose vFairs as their sole virtual event hosting platform. 

The period between April and May was the “high time” for STB, therefore since April, they have hosted four virtual events with the vFairs platform. With two events in April 2021 and two events in May 2021.  

FEEL sLOVEni@ Business Date is a B2B tourism event in Slovenia that offers networking opportunities and meetings with renowned Slovenian tourism providers. Additionally, the conference offers an amazing opportunity to establish and strengthen business partnerships between foreign tour operators, tour agencies, and the representatives of the Slovenian tourism industry. 

The Challenge

We have had a chance to converse with Saša and Tanja – two members of STB’s business communication department about the event and their experience with vFairs.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the main activities of the Slovenian Tourist Board were disabled so they couldn’t proceed with organizing physical events. So, in order to keep the momentum going and “to replace the live events, [they] began looking for the best virtual event hosting solution out in the market,” commented Saša.

The main goal of the event was to “promote Slovenia as a tourist destination”, says Saša. All four of their virtual events included presentations and conferences from global tourism providers, associations, and agencies.

STB was looking for a platform that would have an interactive two-way meeting scheduling process as one of its main functions such that both attendees and tourism providers can seamlessly schedule meetings, and also the platform needed to be fully brand aware. “We wanted to have our brand and Slovenia be prominently exposed at our virtual business event,” says Saša. 

Why vFairs?

Tanja and Saša both did quite a thorough investigation of the best possible options for virtual meetings that were on the market. After doing some research, they had a clear idea of what they wanted and the kind of functionalities they were looking for in their virtual event platform. 

User-friendliness, chat options, and meeting schedulers were the top features that they preferred, and weighed each platform against them. After comprehensive market research, they finally chose vFairs and were very pleased with the results and customer support. 

“We were very satisfied with colleagues on the other side, vFairs side, with project managers – we were very surprised because there are different time zones between Slovenia and Pakistan, they were so quick in answering and helping us, whether it was a Sunday or Saturday, we always got an answer – compliments for that.” Says Tanja

The Solution

vFairs offered them an immersive and fully customizable platform. They were truly impressed by the features and here is how vFairs helped make their virtual event dreams come to life.

Meeting Scheduler 

It made connecting with buyers and delegates easier. There were 24 meeting slots available. Each meeting slot was 15 minutes long; with extra five minutes between each meeting as changed over time. 

Exhibit Booths 

Approximately 120 buyer delegates met with around 30 Slovenian tourism providers such as hotels, DMC agencies, spas & health resorts, destinations, associations, and tourist attractions. All the exhibitors had their branded booths to showcase their services and content. 

Profiles 

STB encouraged the buyers and exhibitors to create their profiles with their descriptions and interests to ensure they had the best chances of receiving a quality appointment schedule for the event. Additionally, profiles let attendees narrow down their search by applying filters to connect and network with delegates and fellow attendees.

Online & On-Demand Sessions  

STB arranged multiple sessions for the full event experience using our online conference tools. The best part was that all the conference content was available on-demand for attendees during the period of one month after the event.

Video Meetings 

Buyers and delegates were encouraged to schedule video meetings in advance to improve collaborations and make new connections to benefit their businesses. Since the entire event was virtual, attendees could participate whenever they wanted. In addition, the entire idea of 1:1 meetings was to build relationships and trust through virtual events and to strengthen them in person as soon as possible.

Swag Bags 

Our virtual briefcase feature enabled attendees to add all of the available documents to their online Swag Bag so that they can share event takeaways with colleagues and friends.

24/7 Technical Support 

According to Saša, “We didn’t have this quick administrative system before. I needed to upgrade some parts of the system and they were updated in no time which was a value addition. The technical team tried to listen to our needs as much as possible.” 

In The Spotlight: Immersive Event Platform & Event Analytics

When asked about their favorite part of the whole vFairs platform, Saša said, “I liked the backend…—- where I can see everything, because we had data that only we could access”. 

Moreover, the landing page was “very well designed”. It had all the relevant information for both buyers and delegates along with frictionless registration options. Visitors could scroll down the page to learn more about the event agenda, FAQs, and the registration process. The 3D interface of the event venue itself was very attractive as the visuals, the lobby, avatars, and animated options were very eye-catching and close to real events. 

“We used platforms where avatars were not that professional, more like a computer game or something. But with vFairs you have a fully brandable lobby and also, the platform was very easy to use, it was also a good thing,” says Tanja.

The Result

“Online events are more convenient to measure than live events,” says Saša “ but the common element was the satisfaction of the exhibitors and our partners in both live and online events.” Saša noticed. Additionally, in virtual events, people know beforehand with whom they’d meet, but with live events, it is not that easy.

All in all, they were deeply satisfied with the entire event. For the organizers, “satisfaction of their partners” was the most important KPI and they were very happy with what they had achieved. 

When asked about which format they will choose going forward, Saša said, “It is hard to compare virtual events with live events, because the size of the event we host live is much smaller than online. For example, during physical tourism workshops, we invite 15 tourism providers, virtually we could have around 30 and can get even more agents to join” Saša continued, “… and it was also easier to combine the markets, for example, we can have joint workshops with participants from different countries”.

We also asked if they had any trouble promoting the event among exhibitors or attendees, Saša said, “Engagement is very important for us, there are a lot of online events competing with each other these days, we tried our best to get as much engagement with buyers as possible, for example; through different presentations from the experts, and influencers, etc.” 

They hope for live events to come back again. For now, Slovenian Tourist Board doesn’t plan to have any hybrid event, but if they decide to have one, then “definitely vFairs will be their first choice”.

The Overseas Guide Company (OGC) was launched in 2017 by the Smart Currency Exchange company to help people invest in legitimate properties abroad. OGC also hosts its flagship networking event: Your Overseas Home. This event aims to provide private clients with an opportunity to meet and build a rapport with trusted property partners in several locations around the globe.

The Challenge

In 2020, OGC was unable to take their usual events to trade show venues. The pandemic forced them to consider remote solutions for their events. But the options that were widely available in the market couldn’t bring their event to life quite like they wanted. These solutions resembled webinars and conference calls. 

So, what did OGC need? OGC needed a platform that could simulate their in-person events, shine a light on their partners, and provide diverse networking opportunities to their visitors.

Why vFairs?

“How the overall platform works was just what we were looking for.”
– Josephine Harjacker 

By this point, the team had analyzed a score of different virtual trade show platforms. But the answer came almost accidentally. A member of the team had attended a virtual CIPD event. Now, this event seemed more like an event simulation and less like an online meeting. And what do you know? It was hosted on vFairs. 

That was the turning point. OGC got in touch with the team, discussed their requirements, and designed a virtual version of the Your Overseas Home event. The vFairs team connected with Josephine Harkjaer, Event Coordinator at OGC, to discuss how things unfolded and what happened next.

They called on their property experts to exhibit at the event. Convinced of the potential, the partners went ahead to sponsor it and come on as exhibitors. Each of them had their own personalized booths, ready to speak to visitors. The event went live and saw a massive turnout, engaged attendees, and trackable prospects. 

“It’s been really, really, really good for us.”
– Josephine Harkjaer

This made vFairs the tool of choice for OGC for all of their virtual events. That’s why they went ahead and did another one with the team.

The Solution

vFairs was able to bring benefits for all stakeholders of Your Overseas Home. Let’s take a closer look into how the virtual trade show won visitors, sponsors, and the organizer.

Event Visitors

1. The platform was highly intuitive and very easy to use for OGC’s higher demographic.
   
2. The trade show was vibrant and arranged by location (flags) so visitors could easily view property experts most relevant to them without wasting any time.
   
3. Property experts delivered live and interactive sessions that answered both general and highly personalized questions via the Q&A feature.
4. Your Overseas Home remained online for 30 days so visitors were able to attend the event whenever it was easier for them. They could also keep coming back! 
5. No more having to spend hours in the car just to get to the event. Or worse, fly to it. Attendees could connect with their choice of expert from the comfort of their homes.

Event Sponsors

1. The property experts got the limelight they deserved with highly customized booths, downloadables, and sales opportunities.
2. Event hosts were able to moderate and manage each track. 
3. The sponsors received highly targeted leads at the end of the event.

Event Organizer

1. The platform customizations enabled OGC to design the virtual property trade show just like they would design it in-person.
2. OGC could offer highly targeted leads to their partners by tracking event analytics, such as booth visits and resource downloads.

Conclusion

Both of OGC’s events with vFairs were seamless and went beyond their expectations. The attendance was much, much higher. From 30% for their on-site events, Your Overseas Home virtual witnessed attendance up to 50%. Considering this, OGC feels that virtual events could be the future. It’s definitely something that they’ll be sticking to during the pandemic, and then years after it.

“We’ve only done two so far, but I do know that we want to do virtual events. We want to have virtual events in the pipeline for the upcoming months and even years.”
– Josephine Harjacker

About the Client

Bernard Health is focused on solving the healthcare benefits and HR challenges faced by employers and individuals. One of their brands, BerniePortal, is an all-in-one HRIS platform for small and mid-sized employers. It promises to make managing people and building businesses easy and effortless.

This year, BerniePortal hosted its 4th annual conference, Weekdays with Bernie. This conference brings together HR industry leaders and innovative thinkers for learning opportunities, networking, and strategic solution-oriented sessions. These also provide valuable strategic advice to HR professionals. 

The Challenge

Hybrid events were new ground for everyone involved with this event. The event organizers were naturally anxious about how both delivery models will come together for the event. Their biggest challenge was ensuring the experience was similar, if not exactly the same, for both in-person and virtual attendees. 

Why vFairs?

When COVID-19 disrupted plans for the Weekdays with Bernie conference in 2020, BerniePortal was quick to move to virtual events with vFairs. Now in 2021, as the world gets vaccinated, they decided to host a hybrid conference. This meant they hosted people onsite in Nashville, Tennessee, and online on the vFairs virtual events platform.

Drew Gieseke, Content Writer at Bernard Health was extremely appreciative of the vFairs team. 

“We are grateful for all the work Hassaan Siddiq did. He was in a different time zone and was always available considering he was working nights. Hassaan was a grade-A professional. He helped us from start to finish, which was especially essential considering that I stepped in midway through the planning process. We couldn’t have done it without him—plus, I got to know him on a personal level and he was a great guy to boot! Really enjoyed my time working with him and would 100% recommend others to do the same.” 

The Solution

They understood people were still getting comfortable with traveling and hence opted for a hybrid conference to capture both sets of audiences thus increasing attendance. They added some great hybrid conference features to merge the onsite and online experiences for their attendees.

Breakout Sessions

The BerniePortal Hybrid Conference hosted breakout sessions for people attending in person. It was easier for them logistically to set that up since they were live-streaming those sessions instead of pre-recording them (as was the case with their virtual conference in 2020). 

Live Streaming Sessions

They used YouTube to directly embed the link into the vFairs platform. Attendees stayed within the platform and could easily and directly access the link. This was also the feature the team at BerniePortal enjoyed the most and made good use of. 

Sponsorship for BerniePortal Hybrid Conference

Sponsors responded favorably to the hybrid model. They were already familiar with the virtual experience since sponsors were the same as last year. However, this year they attended the event as well. 

BerniePortal fosters relationships with many of its sponsors. Even though the onsite crowd was smaller, they saw a good sponsorship turnout. They set up their booths onsite and online both, and received a good number of leads from the networking sessions themselves. 2020 served as a good practice year because now sponsors were more used to it and knew what to expect. 

Exhibit Booths

Exhibitors had booths virtually and onsite both except one. There were times allocated for networking virtually and onsite both. Attendees could view these times in the individual booths of each exhibitor. 

Engagement Opportunities

There was a boost in the engagement at the BerniePortal Hybrid Conference. Attendees who were present on site were really excited to be on the ground. The online attendees also wanted to interact with the CEO and other participants on-site. 

Speakers present on-site addressed the remote audiences. These audiences sent in their questions. These were translated live to the presenter. This again increased engagement among the hybrid audiences.

Immersive Virtual Conference Features

The virtual platform set up for the BerniePortal Hybrid Conference had a few features which not only encouraged participation but also created opportunities for engagement. Additionally, the BerniePortal team found the platform very easy to use. These features included: 

• 3D animated lobby 
• Exhibit hall with an aerial view; booths clearly displayed 
• Leaderboard to track points gained by attendees 
• Virtual auditorium for speaker sessions 
• Networking lounge (connecting with various BerniePortal via various channels)

The Result

Key takeaways of the BerniePortal hybrid conference were:

• Attendance increased. 
• There were engagement opportunities and attendees enjoyed interacting online and onsite both.
• Sponsors and attendees both responded positively to the hybrid conference. 
• Bernard Health plans to continue with the hybrid conference model for future events.

The BerniePortal Hybrid Conference was Bernard Health’s second event with vFairs. Last year, Weekdays with Bernie was an all-virtual conference. 

BerniePortal’s favorite feature was the live streaming via YouTube. 

“We tested the live stream and found YouTube to be the best platform to embed live stream videos directly with the vFairs platform”. 

With over 200 chats, 750+ booth visits, almost 1000 document views, and 600+ video views, BerniePortal considered their hybrid conference an absolute success.

The CYD team, unwavered by COVID-19, quickly recuperated from the shock and promised to deliver an event that is a spectacular celebration of children and youth.

About the Event

Children and Youth Day (CYD) is all about celebrating children and youth in a day full of interactive activities. Since 1994, CYD has been celebrated in Hawaii on the first Sunday of every October, to celebrate and honor children and youth. It is also a recognition of all the special contributions they make to our community. Since 1997 however, the entire month of October has been dedicated to the celebration of children and youth.

So when plans for the 27th annual CYD were jeopardized due to COVID-19, the planning committee immediately thought of alternative options. One option was to take a break this year, but the other was to go against all odds and explore the virtual arena for this event.

The Challenge

The event had been happening in person for a long time but the pandemic changed all the plans. The celebratory theme of the event made it difficult to replicate the event in the same spirit and zeal through an online conference platform. CYD had three clear objectives for their event:

• Provide immersive engaging activities and opportunities for the kids.
• Provide awareness to families about the resources available.
• Help participating organizations (NPOs, city, county departments) in spreading their message while also providing engaging content.

Apart from COVID-19 disrupting CYD’s plans for a physical event, there was one major challenge in store for the team: Difficulty in translating the physical activities of the event into a virtual space. At the physical event, a range of activities created an immersive learning experience for the children. Some of which include: 

• CPR training 
• Arts and crafts/coloring books 
• LEGO & STEM practices 
• Taking care of plants 
• Planting trees 

Even though the change in mediums created numerous hurdles in achieving these objectives, vFairs and CYD together made sure that these were ultimately accomplished. So how did they translate all these creative activities to the virtual landscape? 

Why vFairs?

After much deliberation and thorough research on virtual events platform providers, CYD decided to proceed with vFairs for the virtual conference. According to Jeff Subee, the Chief Information Officer at Kamaania Kids, they were looking for one key factor when making their decision. In Jeff’s words, they needed “a platform that had everything we were looking for and provided familiar features based on our physical events”. 

The other providers CYD came across during their research were unable to offer a holistic platform that incorporated all solutions they were looking for, such as virtual auditoriums and exhibit halls. 

Jeff also lauds his dedicated Sales Account Manager here for the ease with which he walked them through the entire process. So vFairs, providing a comprehensive solution meeting all their requirements, was the inevitable choice. 

The Solution

A Vibrant Lobby to Attract an Audience

A colorful lobby that represented the essence of the event in Hawaii was an important consideration. vFairs offered a variety of templates for CYD to choose from, after which the entire setup was customized. 

The lobby had to resonate with the attendees. The theme for CYD 2020 was ‘strengthening a sense of belonging’, which was eventually woven into the design. This was done while ensuring the setup was eye-pleasing and reflected the setting of a family event. 

Participants stepped into a virtual 3D animated lobby. As avatars were seen roaming around the lobby, a welcome video greeted the attendees. They could start by watching it and getting into the rhythm of the event. Background music was also added to the lobby which provided a relaxing atmosphere similar to CYD’s physical event. 

Interactive Booths in the Exhibit Halls

The exhibit hall hosted a variety of virtual booths. The exhibit hall included well-known companies like McDonald’s, and booths that spread awareness about mental health issues in children. Moreover, NPOs, city and county departments set up booths related to social work, the public library, and even development programs for children. All these organizations had compelling messages that they were aiming to spread. 

The only requirement for these booths was that they had to provide video content that was interactive, educational, and engaging for the kids. The kids should remain on the site, immersed in these various activities. The setup also had to be user-friendly for it to appeal to the kids. For instance, a booth set up by Aloha Council, Boy Scouts of America added puzzles and experiments to keep the kids engaged. 

There were live audio, video, and text chat options in the exhibit booths, along with links to the exhibitor’s websites and social media pages. 

These booths even featured additional resources such as entertaining videos and some helpful documents. For example, McDonald’s had videos on Ronald McDonald’s Dream Hawaii Vacation or even his workout. These resources could be added to their ‘swag bags’ and downloaded later.

Exciting Scavenger Hunt to Keep Kids Engaged

One challenge identified by the CYD team was the short attention span of kids. Activities had to be really engaging for them to not lose interest. Along with this, they had to make sure kids visited every aspect of the virtual space. To serve this purpose a scavenger hunt was designed that ensured kids explored every nook and corner of the virtual event space to hunt down the images scattered across the platform. 

In addition to the scavenger hunt, there was also a leaderboard that gave points whenever participants visited a specific area of the online event. For instance, going to the sponsor booth would earn the participant 100 points. Whoever accumulated the most points would get a chance to win a prize. 

Both these gamification elements resulted in increased participation. 

Maximized Entertainment via Virtual Auditorium

The virtual auditorium hosted a number of on-demand and live sessions. Both the on-demand and live sessions featured dancers, singers, and comedians who put on exceptional performances. These helped them succeed in their objective to provide tremendous amounts of entertainment to the participants.

Accessible and Easily Downloadable Resources

There were additional videos available in the video vault that again featured content that would keep the participants occupied on the event site for longer. Videos about camping, preschool in a pandemic, storytime, and easy cooking recipes were available to keep both children and parents entertained.

Documents included coloring books, pre-school information, fun facts, Halloween treats and decorations, again with the sole purpose of keeping kids involved in the virtual event. 

What is Trend Micro?

Trend Micro is a software security company with over 30 years of experience in the IT and security space. With headquarters around the world and industry recognition from the likes of Gartner and Forrester, Trend Micro is truly a global leader in cloud and cyber security. Every year Trend Micro hosts their marquee event for tech leaders. 

What is the CLOUDSEC Conference?

CLOUDSEC offers Enterprise Organizations a chance to learn about trends and topics on digital transformation and cyber security, right from the experts including Trend Micro’s own leaders. It targets multiple personas within the IT security industry, including CxOs, IT executives, and DevOps professionals focused on topics such as enterprise security, detection & response, cloud security and threat research. In 2020, the theme of CLOUDSEC was “Transformation Your Way”, and focused on how every business is at a different point in their own digital security journey. CLOUDSEC was always an in-person event, prior to 2020. It’s been hosted at various locations including in India and the UK. 

The Challenge

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Trend Micro still wanted to keep CLOUDSEC going. They needed to shift to an online platform and needed to do it fast. It was difficult for Trend Micro to find a virtual events platform that had the bandwidth to help them with their virtual event. Additionally, they wanted to offer multiple event tracks and make them accessible to an audience across the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Africa region spanning multiple time zones across 3 days.  

Luckily, vFairs picked up the phone.

The Solution

vFairs offered a customizable platform that included many features that immersed the audience in the environment and added value beyond that of a simple webinar. Let’s dive into some of the features that helped Trend Micro host a successful event. 

Customization Features

CLOUDSEC has always targeted multiple attendees from countries across continents. The virtual format accommodated attendees from unique cultures, languages, and time zones attendees were used to. They created custom avatars and placed them throughout the event to visually represent the diversity of the CLOUDSEC attendees. 

Additionally, they offered multiple languages through the virtual environment. The presentations were accessible at any time to attendees across Australia, Asia, Africa, and Europe through semi-live and on-demand webinars and breakout auditoriums.

Scalable Platform

As planning progressed, interest in the event grew beyond what the team at Trend Micro had first projected. In response, the vFairs team was accommodating and able to scale the event to meet their requirements. 

Stani Papallo, Senior Marketing Director, Trend Micro, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, “at the time, we did not know … how big it was going to get, and vFairs was able to scale with us”.

Multiple Event Tracks 

CLOUDSEC has always targeted multiple audiences. Attendees spanned from C-level decision makers and executives to DevOps teams responsible for implementation. Additionally, the conference covered multiple topics around the topic of enterprise security. In order to make it more user-friendly, Trend Micro hosted live keynotes to kick off each day and asked vFairs to set up multiple auditoriums dedicated to various topics, featuring on-demand webinars.

This helped make navigation through the webinars much easier for attendees. Additionally, they hosted two different networking lounges — one for C-level attendees, and one for the general attendees. Each lounge had its own links to network with its peers.

Engagement Features

Trend Micro also hosted a #CLOUDSECChallenge that ran the length of the event. They included an overview document that linked to the challenge landing page right from the virtual lobby. The user-friendly design made it easy to access for any attendees who wanted to participate. 

Additionally, Trend Micro invited notable partners such as AWS and Microsoft to exhibit in their virtual exhibition halls. They hosted interactive exhibit booths where attendees could host informational documents, videos, and links to landing pages so attendees could learn more about their security products and services. 

The Result

Trend Micro had received approximately 5,000 registrations at past in-person events, and ended up receiving over 21,000 for their first virtual event! With an average attendance rate of approximately 3000 at past CLOUDSEC conferences, they almost tripled that number — clocking over 8200 unique logins at the virtual event. Additionally, what was supposed to be a 1-day online event turned into a 3-day event with over 255 content sessions. 

Trend Micro hadn’t originally planned to host CLOUDSEC 2020 virtually. However, they were able to offer a seamless virtual event experience for their target audiences. Moreover, the vFairs project management team offered an excellent experience for first-time virtual conference hosts. 

Stani noted that “it was flawless, and the event support we had as well over the three days with the crew, it was great and made that experience what it was for the delegates and sponsors …  everyone.” 

Trend Micro executes the CLOUDSEC conference on a long-term basis. Going forward, Trend Micro is interested in starting to host hybrid events. So, as countries roll out vaccinations, hybrid events offer a flexible and cost-effective option for any participants to join.

Historically, their open days have played a vital role in attracting students and helping them make the decision to attend Newcastle University. Hence, when the pandemic struck the world, they had to find an alternative to in-person open days to reach current and prospective students for their undergraduate and postgraduate programs. 

Plan your virtual open day with this FREE planning kit from vFairs.

The Challenge

The on-campus open days play a big role in bringing in students for their postgraduate programs. The main challenges for the virtual open day were to: 

• Recruit top-quality students by expanding their reach 
• Replicate the in-person event in an online setting 
• Maximize conversions (from interested students to actually applying)

Why vFairs?

With the decision made to go ahead with virtual events, the next question was who was going to be the virtual event platform provider. The university had set criteria. They required a platform that had live chat options and would allow them to host different types of content, including videos. vFairs was the perfect platform that facilitated interaction and also replicated the in-person event online.

The Solution

These challenges were addressed by carefully putting together a platform that served Newcastle University’s purpose. Let’s explore the strategy that vFairs opted for when creating Newcastle University’s virtual open-day platform. 

Animated Lobby

The lobby resembled the in-person open day. The 3D animated lobby was vibrant and colorful. A diverse range of avatars was placed, from different ethnicities to even disabilities. Images from their campuses in the UK, Singapore, and Malaysia were also displayed. The lobby overall was welcoming and attractive to incoming students. 

Accessibility Features

The platform also accommodated people with hearing and visual disabilities. It allowed people to increase the font size, use color contrast and listen to the event page description. Adding this feature helped the Newcastle University virtual open day platform to welcome in all students, and widen participation. This was something that they always intended to do with each one of their events.

Exhibit Halls

There were four exhibit halls—three for undergraduate students of humanities and social sciences, medical sciences, and agriculture. One exhibit hall was purely dedicated to postgraduate studies. The exhibit hall featured individual booths with the university backdrop. It also had an exhibitor index, so attendees could directly jump to the relevant booth of choice. Attendees could book a meeting with the booth representative via the ‘reserve a chat slot’ feature. Additionally, there was information available on fees and funding to help students get the relevant information.

Auditorium

The virtual auditorium hosted a number of on-demand and live subject webinars. These webinars covered a range of topics, from medical sciences to business school. Webinars focused on individual subjects to help students get the most out of their Newcastle University virtual open-day experience. 

Resources 

Attendees had the additional benefit of viewing various videos and documents hosted in the ‘video vault’ and ‘resources’ sections of the platform. Videos on facilities tours, and building tours along with detailed overviews of studying specific courses by university professors were available in the video vault. Resources featured guides, FAQs, subject information, etc. among other useful documents. Attendees could easily download this information in their ‘swag bag’ and even email it to themselves directly from within the platform.

The Result

The Newcastle University virtual open day turned out to be a mega success. Comparing it to the last on-campus event, attendance increased by almost 47%. Moving to a virtual venue also opened up new avenues for the university; they were able to invite international students, who previously couldn’t attend. 

Helen Clubbs, Marketing Manager at Newcastle University was happy with the extended reach. She says “The virtual event allowed greater flexibility. They hosted one postgraduate virtual open day in the morning for the Asian market and one in the afternoon for the North American market. They were able to reach two different time zones because of the flexibility this platform grants”. This itself made the event a huge success!