If you ever doubted the need for adaptation for company success, 2020 will most certainly alter your opinion. Traditional tactics are generally well-tested and reliable, but you must adjust when the market and the world significantly alter.
For over two decades, IBM Business Partner Data Technology has used its annual Predictive Analytics Conference to interact with existing and future clients, as well as to support year-round sales and marketing initiatives. The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated significant changes for the 2020 conference.
New year, new conference.
Data Technology began putting in place safety features for individuals who planned to attend in person, giving participants a choice in their event experience. Mag. “We limited the number of live guests and booked other rooms for distancing,” Andrea Deltl-Gaszczyk, Sales Manager for Data Technology, says. We developed contact tracing and paid great attention to privacy and GDPR compliance. We had to fully rethink the food because it is usually a two-day event with hundreds of people. As a consequence, no one instance of COVID-19 was found. “The effort was well worth it.”
Data Technology invested in a video conferencing technology that allowed the live discussions to be streamed online for those attending the conference electronically. Off-site guests might, on the other hand, use their video feeds to pose live questions during question-and-answer sessions.
Kurzawa explains, “We needed our virtual conference to be as real and engaging as the one we had in person.” “You lose a lot of the spontaneity of an in-person gathering with virtual conferences.” I’ve been to a few virtual conferences, but you’re either viewing a pre-recorded video or typing out your questions ahead of time. “There isn’t any back-and-forth.”
“And for the two speakers who couldn’t attend in person owing to travel limitations, we filmed their sessions and made them instantly available via our live stream to answer questions,” he says.
Investing in experience
The cost of the Predictive Analytics Conference grew significantly as a result of the added safety measures and technologies. Data Technology made use of IBM Co-Marketing funding to assist mitigate these costs.
Deltl-Gaszczyk explains, “IBM Co-Marketing has always been a major component in arranging these conferences.” “It’s one of the main benefits of cooperating with IBM, and we wouldn’t have been able to pull off this hybrid conference without their help.”
Data Technology launched a multichannel advertising effort in addition to using IBM Co-Marketing funding for the event. “Because of the COVID-19 epidemic, some of our potential guests may have feared the conference would be canceled this year,” argues Deltl-Gaszczyk. “We utilized the funding to assist in creating the conference website after running a standard phone and email campaign.” For our distant participants, the site required to manage not just registrations, but also streaming and live interaction capabilities.”
A chance for the future
The hybrid Predictive Analytics Conference, which took place in October 2020, was a huge success. “While attendance was significantly down than the prior year,” Kurzawa says, “we had more people attend than we had planned.” “Many of our in-person participants expressed gratitude for being able to attend this event because it was the only live event they had been able to attend all year.” We devised a strategy that worked.”
The Predictive Analytics Conference’s hybrid edition was so well received that Data Technology decided to make the 2021 conference a hybrid event as well. Deltl-Gaszczyk adds, “By extending the virtual experience, we want to draw guests from further away — more German and Swiss participation.”
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