BEST ASSOCIATION VIRTUAL OR HYBRID EVENT
Association for Project Management
In November 2021, Association for Project Management hosted its annual APM Awards. After the challenges of the pandemic, this was the first opportunity for the project management community to come together in person and so this event had to be special. The decision was made, due to COVID restrictions still being in place, to produce a hybrid event, which included the opportunity for delegates to meet face-to-face as well as the ceremony being live streamed around the world. Great teamwork, cross departmental working and creative thinking firmly re-established the APM Awards as a highlight in the project profession’s calendar, whilst also reinforcing APM’s ability to progress, adapt and innovate in a new and developing environment.
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
The CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition 2021 was our first, fully hybrid, international event, featuring over 70 speakers across three streams of paid-for conference content and two streams of free exhibition content. Our commitment was to give all delegates a flexible and inclusive experience, however they joined us, and to deliver great value to our sponsors and exhibitors. We weren’t prepared to compromise quality or interactivity to ‘keep it simple’.
Our event app brought everything together. It streamed all our content. It gave virtual delegates an exceptional viewing experience and was used in-person for all event information. It connected everyone through a chat channel. It supported branding and contact opportunities for all sponsors and exhibitors.
We attracted people who would not have attended in-person and extended our international reach. We managed complete integration between the virtual and in-person experience. We achieved a total revenue and profit that an in-person only event would not have delivered at that time. And we received high net promotor scores from our delegates and exhibitors.
We learned what a well-planned, high-quality, genuinely inclusive hybrid event can deliver, given the right investment, and we built solid capabilities for our future events.
Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy
In June 2021, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) hosted an international public finance conference with the Center of Excellence in Finance (CEF) in Skopje, North Macedonia: Supporting Accounting and Auditing Developments and Synergies.
The conference was organised in a third country (North Macedonia) remotely by an organisation based in the UK (CIPFA) and another based in Slovenia (CEF), at a time when travel restrictions and COVID-19 vaccination programmes were fluctuating constantly across various countries. This was CIPFA’s first time hosting a two-day, hybrid conference in a foreign country.
In-line with CIPFA’s charitable objectives, this event was free for all to attend, and we are proud that. The conference programme featured a range of high-profile public finance experts from various multi-lateral and international organisations, academic institutions, and government ministries.
Given the volatility linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the fact that this was the first hybrid event we conducted with this international partner, CIPFA views the fact that it was well attended as a real success. So much so that we are hosting this year’s conference again with CEF (to be held in Tirana, Albania) and have now doubled the size of the 2022 conference.
European Flavour Association
The EFFA Virtual FlavourDay was celebrated in the context of the FlavourDays that flourish in Europe since 2007. After Brussels, Paris, London, Istanbul, Copenhagen and Madrid it was turn for a full European (and therefore virtual) FlavourDay. But as always, more than an event, it was a sensorial experience…we discovered also the #FlavourofEurope thanks to our #FlavourAmbassadors and discussed trending topics in the world of food.
Federation of Master Builders
The biennial Master Builder Awards celebrate high-quality craftsmanship, exceptional customer service and building excellence delivered by Master Builders across the UK. In 2021, showcasing members’ hard work and raising the profile of their businesses, as well as the FMB, was especially important after such a difficult 18 months for our members, not only with COVID-19 lockdowns but with material shortages and prices rises throughout the industry. The 2021 awards, sponsored by Isuzu, were part pre-recorded regional ceremonies, and part live national final, with all events promoting interaction between winners and hosts, networking opportunities for members and sponsors, and exciting collateral to share via our marketing channels. We overcame several large challenges (including power outages) and the team learnt so much so quickly on how to deliver member events online, to produce a memorable and beneficial awards programme, that received positive member and sponsor feedback and strong media coverage. Members and potential members are still talking about it today! The whole national event culminated with a live truck give away for the Master Builder of the Year, where the delighted winners were presented with the grand prize, an Isuzu pick-up truck worth £37,000.
International Hydropower Association
IHA’s flagship event, the World Hydropower Congress, took place from 7 to 24 September 2021 and brought together the most influential thought leaders and decision-makers in the global hydropower community to determine priorities for future development. The event was hosted in partnership with the Government of Costa Rica and Instituto Costarricense de Electricida.
Held virtually for the first time, IHA was able to demonstrate its adaptability and resilience through delivering an engaging event which vastly surpassed delegate targets. It culminated in an industry-first sustainability certification and an internationally recognised declaration on sustainable hydropower.
National Association of Link Workers
NALW is the only professional body for Social Prescribing Link Workers in the UK In less than four years, our successful influencing and agile strategy have seen NALW grow into an independent, sustainable, and widely recognised organisation Our #LinkWorkerDay has been key to increasing awareness of our organisation and the vital role of Social Prescribing Link Workers in our healthcare system and communities As with many events, we pivoted to online in 2020 and 2021 We did this by; o Choosing an immersive/interactive online platform – which we set up to reflect our live face-to-face awards and conference- expo, brochure, host, networking inclusive o Considered how we could ensure sponsor engagement, attendee wellbeing, engagement, and offline engagement via social media We received a message of support from the Minister for Health, coverage across the media, and 4 million Twitter impressions and made the UK Twitter trend One delegate said, “this is the best virtual event I have attended; it felt like a face-to-face event ” This year #LinkWorkerDay2022 takes place on the 19th of May, in partnership with The Healthcare Show at ExCel, London, demonstrating the success of our 2021 event and impact.
Pensions Management Institute
In 2021, we ran our annual conference, Pensions Aspects Live, as a hybrid event for the first time. With the uncertainty around covid, as well as the benefits virtual events had given our members throughout the pandemic, having virtual attendance was important for us. However, many members had also expressed their desire to get back to in-person events, so we decided to move to a hybrid format without compromising on either experience. Our marketing strategy aimed to attract as many in-person delegates as possible given covid uncertainty, while also giving those who preferred to attend virtually the option to have an experience as similar to an in-person experience as possible, while giving others more of a webinar type experience. We therefore opened in-person attendance for free to members for the first time. Our virtual platform, Airmeet, offered multiple networking opportunities to allow virtual delegates to interact with sponsors as well as other delegates. Virtual delegates could interact with speakers by asking questions through the online chatbox. The virtual platform also gave sponsors accurate information on who attended their specific sessions and who interacted with the virtual exhibition booths. Our combined in-person and virtual delegate attendees were higher than past attendance.
Railway Industry Association
The Railway Industry Association (RIA)’s innovation events have built an impressive track record over the last decade; they have become key diary dates for innovators in the UK railway industry, in both the supply chain and in client / government organisations, and offer a mix of information, networking and interaction to make innovation happen.
The RIA Innovation Conference had always major in giving attendees the possibility of a full 2-day programme including overnight stay to enhance networking and giving everyone a very different experience to a usual conference. In 2021 we faced a big challenge, like many in our industry, to deliver a high-quality networking and speaker programme event, virtually, trying to replicate all aspects of the in-person event. Our Innovation Conference is an example of how a virtual event can be delivered successfully, overcoming barriers and optimizing attendees engagement.
