Governor General's Innovation Awards
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HOW TO APPROACH VIRTUAL EVENTS DURING COVID-19
How do we pivot our in-person events to an online format? We're working with our clients on this question a lot these days. Read on to learn about our philosophy for virtual events and to see how Rain helped the Economic Developers Association of Canada to run its first virtual conference.
01.
What makes a successful online event?
WHAT PROBLEM WERE WE SOLVING?
Join Heather Buttrum, Principal of Rain Digital, in a conversation with Mark Healy, Executive Director at the Ivey Academy, as they discuss the challenge of pivoting in-person events quickly and effectively to a virtual approach. They discuss approaches to making the case to sponsors, navigating different technology solutions, and solving for engagement and networking.
The website for these prestigious awards was dated, unreliable and poorly automated. This presented a real problem for an awards program rooted in the concept of innovation.
02.
What did Rain do?
Developed a full-scale digital experience for the first ever virtual edition of the Economic Developers Association of Canada's annual conference
Design concepts and wireframes for the new website
Designed and developed a custom, standalone conference website, with complete registration flow and sign in experience
Produced and streamed live and on-demand video sessions from 36 speakers, including interactive features such as real-time Q&A and polls in live chat
Paid digital marketing campaigns, social media management and email marketing campaigns
Event support and maintenance, including training and moderation
Created virtual sponsor exhibits, and added additional sponsor value with pre-roll video ads, new digital sponsor inventory and lead generation tools
03.
What were the outcomes?
2,000 hours of digital sessions viewed (and counting!)
Design concepts and wireframes for the new website
Preserved critical revenue via digital sponsorships and multiple options for virtual conference tickets
The technology and production was handled by the Rain team, freeing up the conference organizers to focus fully on the delegate experience
Paid campaigns outperformed industry standard CPC by 47%
We had three unforgettable days of dynamic sessions with more speakers than we’ve ever hosted at an in-person conference. The online platform offers more flexibility for speakers to record sessions, and attendees can access content on-demand for 90 days post-event, letting them learn at their pace and on their schedule. The entire event was glitch-free and we have had incredibly positive feedback and testimonials from the conference delegates. We are so grateful for the expertise, research and experience of the Rain Digital team.
We've worked with Rain since 2014, and there's a reason for that. They aren't just another vendor, but a partner and an extension of our team. They care about our projects as much as we do, and we can always count on them to go above and beyond for us.
PENNY GARDINER
Chief Executive Officer
Economic Developers Association of Canada
2,000+
hours of content viewed by conference attendees to date
96%
of attendees said the platform was easy or very easy to use
80%
said the event ended up exceeding their expectations
THE WORK
THE WORK
THE WORK
THE WORK
THE WORK
