Hey #Org20! Join @YasmeenSilva and I for a virtual happy hour on Friday night at 730pm EST! We're limiting the group to 15 so we can all actually chat about organizing tactics in the time of COVID! Register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwod-mhqTwrHtFOatUHhvBHDTsNHr02duxg @Organize20
ORGANIZING 2.0 How We Moved a Large Conference Online in 3 Weeks with 7X Attendance & 4X Revenue
- Community Building and Engagement
- Pivot to Virtual
Online Conference Case Study
Strategy Platform Training Support
1,683Attendees
4XRevenue
The Challenge
The abrupt onset of quarantine in March 2020 pushed Organizing 2.0, into a rushed, three-week timeline to produce its 11-year-old, in-person event as a virtual experience. Organizing 2.0 brings together hundreds of leaders, organizers, fundraisers, techies and activists to share the collective wisdom, skills, and talents of its seasoned organizers. The Friday-Saturday event promised workshops, trainings, discussions, consulting and networking opportunities, visionary speakers, and a “provocative debate” around strategy and practices.
Our Solution
This event would be more than a mainstage for talking heads. Organizing 2.0 required multi-directional engagement. We approached it as a community conversation where attendee engagement and feedback were vital to success. Dialogue needed to be ordered; participation to be open and fair. We ran multiple training sessions for speakers, moderators, vendors and even created a custom knowledge base and how to navigate infographic. We also took the lead on providing sponsor visibility throughout the event in the form of interactive vendor booths, logos on the website, videos and social posts. The event platform was configured to host polling booths, networking, breakout sessions, group & individual text/video chat, and user-friendly people-finding tools. (No one likes stealing awkward glances at name tags when they forget someone’s name.)
Results
The maiden voyage of a critical in-person event gone virtual was a startling success. It featured over 70 sessions led by 140 organizing veterans and non-profit leaders, and brought together 1,700 people to learn from one another, build movements, share stories, and strategies. We were thrilled to not only prevent them from having to cancel their event, but also to have helped increase their attendance rate by seven-fold and revenue by four-fold. The comprehensive and interactive online conference enabled Organizing 2.0 to maintain their same ticket prices as with their in-person event, offer many free tickets, and drive revenue. It featured tracks focusing on online to offline organizing, digital strategy, member engagement and much more.
What We Did
01
Platform Discovery
Evaluated top online conference software and chose a platform that best fit their needs and goals. Consulted on ideal software configuration and integrations.
02
Platform Setup
Setup registration flow, and all conference features including: sessions, schedule, networking, vendor booths, sponsors, tickets. Added live chat for registration questions.
03
Speaker Coaching
Led multiple live trainings for staff, speakers, moderators on technique and platform use.
04
Live Support
All-day phone support for staff on tech questions and troubleshooting. Answered attendee questions in live chat and ticketing system about accessing talks, recordings, browser compatibility, etc.
05
Backstage Support
Coordinated TV-style backstage with video-switcher alternating between interviews, panel discussions, single speaker welcomes and pre-recorded sponsor video.
06
1-on-1 VIP Training
Led personal training sessions for elected officials to become familiarized with the platform and the plan for their interview or panel on the main Stage.
07
In-Event Training
Organizing 2.0 also invited us to lead a session on How to Organize an Impactful Virtual Summit or Conference. You can watch a recording of our talk here.
08
Custom Knowledgebase
Custom gifs and articles educating attendees, speakers and moderators on how to have the best experience at the event.
Platform Features
Social Media Posts
Live-tweeting from home with a newborn is impossible, but shout out to the @Organize20 team for hosting a VIRTUAL #Org20 conference. Watching you adapt to new tech needs was stellar. Looking forward to day 2!
I'm kinda pumped that @Organize20 is totally virtual. I am here for All. The. Skills. Let's gooo! #Org20
📢 New/Mode’s very own Mikey Franklin will be speaking at the Organizing 2.0 virtual conference this Friday, April 17 at 3 p.m. ET.
His session, “Online Petitions that Aren’t BS,” is going to be 🔥.
Don’t miss it! Learn more and register now⬇️ https://hubs.ly/H0pzcpB0
His session, “Online Petitions that Aren’t BS,” is going to be 🔥.
Don’t miss it! Learn more and register now⬇️ https://hubs.ly/H0pzcpB0
Loved attending @Organize20's virtual conference. There's so much energy and innovation in progressive organizing. Smiling face with smiling eyes #Org20
Virtual conference on digital organizing, #Org20 is more important than ever. Register: http://organizing20.org
We can't be together in person, but that doesn’t mean we can’t socialize! Here’s a new Org 2.0 social activity for Friday night! 💯% beginner friendly.
Pssst. The schedule is up! https://conference.organizing20.org/#schedule
HAPPENING TODAY! Join us at Organizing 2.0 for “From a like to a worker leader,” with Social Media Organizer Kelcie Glass and Founder Christian Norton. Our training is a “crash course” in our online-to-offline organizing model, which merges time-tested offline organizing tactics with paid and organic digital outreach. Join in: https://conference.organizing20.org/
Featured Service
TV-Style Main Stage Production
Here is the TV-Style main stage we ran inside the plenary session, featuring organizers from the event.
Our senior editor/producer with hundreds of in-person and virtual events under his belt preps the speakers in a technical walkthrough usually the day-before, than again 30min before going live in the backstage. We add custom background graphics, your logo, animated lower-thirds and can include other features like title slides, etc.
With our expert team, you can be sure everyone is will be clear and prepared so all your live virtual plenaries look great and run smoothly.
Need Some Advice on Hosting an Online Event?
Let our online event experts help you decide which format and software is right for you, and how to attract the audience, speakers and sponsors you need to succeed.