Blog

RainFocus On Demand: Rodney Hart Answers Top Questions on the New Immersive Learning Experience

RainFocus On Demand is an online event industry resource where insights and best practices are shared with site visitors who want to up-level their event experiences and achieve winning results. It offers a comprehensive library of content that is designed to build career skills, provide expert analysis of the latest industry trends, and help users increase their event success. We recently sat down with Rodney Hart, VP of events at RainFocus, to discuss some of the most important information about this exciting new learning portal.

To start, what is RainFocus On Demand? What can a first-time viewer expect to find on their screen when they first log in?

Hart: RainFocus On Demand is a free resource designed to help anyone who is involved with events and wants to be at the forefront of industry trends and innovation. When people log in, they’ll see presentations from INSIGHT packaged in a way that helps them discover sessions that they didn’t attend or that they likely want to rewatch. The full library is also available to people who haven’t participated in our events before. We plan to continually add new materials, including exclusive content that was not featured at any of our events.

How does this complement session attendance at INSIGHT? What are users who attended the event getting that’s different?

Hart: We created RainFocus On Demand especially for event industry leaders interested in lifelong learning who want a single resource that helps them navigate our ever-changing industry. It doesn’t just host sessions from our annual events but also features fresh new content posted regularly. Additionally, users are given personalized recommendations of sessions they may have missed during the live event.

Our plans also include hosting product webinars as well as producing other valuable resources. We’re making RainFocus On Demand a constantly evolving destination that learners can visit any time. They can come back to the library and reliably find new videos to watch as well as favorite items to watch later. Visitors will find everything from RainFocus platform instruction to guidance on important industry trends. This will ultimately be the go-to environment for all RainFocus-exclusive content.

What market trends did you and the team note that indicated the time was right for a resource library like this?

Hart: We definitely saw a need. Many virtual events remained “open” after their traditional event period and saw new registrations and re-watching afterward. Attendees who didn’t attend wanted to watch content and some who did attend wanted to view sessions they missed or re-watch their favorite sessions. These attendee trends pointed to the opportunity to promote content through new marketing channels to attract new audiences over the course of the year.

With so many digital-only events over the past couple of years, there has been so much great content produced — more than anyone could consume over the course of several hours or even a few days. This always-on and continuously updated experience allows people to consume information at their own pace and is designed to complement attendance at any of our in-person, virtual, or hybrid events.

RainFocus On Demand looks and feels like the personalized portals that we interact with in our everyday lives. There’s an expectation that the sites we visit will provide us with personalized recommendations like Netflix or Amazon. Just about every site we visit is individualized, so we brought that experience to RainFocus On Demand. Additionally, the overall layout is simple but powerfully intuitive.

In the current era of events, we are seeing many in-person gatherings return. How has that affected interest in digital content?

Hart: RainFocus On Demand definitely won’t replace attendance at in-person events. It’s an opportunity to package sessions that we know resonated especially well at our in-person and virtual events. Digital events and online viewing will play an important role across event portfolios. From economic and corporate social responsibility perspectives, there are enduring benefits to alternatives to gathering in person.

We’re seeing some audiences shift from virtual attendance to in-person attendance, but not everyone will make that move. Digital content helps you retain audiences. It’s a great way to attract, enrich, and convert audiences — which means it will always have a place to complement and accelerate relationships with your audiences.

Plus, a continuous learning hub is a way to find expertise in one location. Of course, at some organizations, a certain volume of digital event content will wane as in-person events return, but having an always-on library is still a powerful way to keep audiences engaged. Whether it’s customers or prospects visiting the library, it can deliver value to people who otherwise would not have seen it.

Finally, what’s in the plans as RainFocus On Demand grows?

Hart: We’ll continue to improve upon the user experience by providing greater personalization, more exclusive content, and continuing education credits. Value always comes from great learning that helps build event leaders’ knowledge and improve their performance in their respective roles.

Overall, the industry is moving away from hosting a “disposable” event and providing content that exists only at a single point in time. Through a personalized, continuous learning hub like this, the value of the content is increased for both creators and viewers.

The debut of RainFocus On Demand is only the beginning. We are excited to launch this new resource and continue expanding the library of available content. We want to inspire innovation and enable you to think through the challenges of event marketing and management — any time, anywhere.

Check out RainFocus On Demand here!

May 31, 2022
Give Your Audiences What They Want: Six Steps to Developing a Hybrid Event Engagement Strategy

The results of our recent State of Events study suggest that engaging attendees is event organizers’ number-one goal for hybrid events. According to the Virtual Event Tech Guide, published by EventMB Studio, “Engagement features are up across the board, and even old standards like live chat grew from 85.9 percent in 2021 to 93.4 percent in 2022, with surveys (up 18.5 percent) and Q&A tools (up 7.4 percent) both topping over 90 percent for the first time.” With so many organizations stepping up their virtual and physical engagement, setting a comprehensive engagement strategy has never been more important.

What does a comprehensive engagement strategy look like? Review the following steps to find out.

Step 1: Identify Patterns and Interests

Organizations can achieve high engagement when leaders understand what attendees are looking to learn and do at your event. Ask the following questions: What topics are trending at other events and in your industry at large? Are attendees more likely to join in person or online? How did attendees choose to spend their time at your last meeting or event? Who do your attendees likely want to meet at your event? Taking time to answer all of these questions will help you personalize experiences for your target audiences.

Step 2: Determine How You Will Measure Engagement

As you begin plotting out experiences for your target audiences, be sure to set engagement scores to simplify post-event measurement. Engagement scores will likely be different for your different audiences. For example, you may give a digital attendee a certain engagement score for viewing a session for more than three minutes while giving physical attendees a similar score for simply scanning into a session.

Step 3: Offer Informed Suggestions

When it comes to making suggestions, one size does not fit all. Some people want to attend events to receive continuing online education, whereas some want in-person networking. It is imperative to offer paths so that they all can find what they’re looking for. To do so, some teams use menus similar to those found in consumer video-streaming services. Others construct different agendas for online and offline audience segments. Whatever your method of offering suggestions, ensure your target audiences have a variety of opportunities to interact. As your event is happening, leverage real-time insights to push out notifications and recommend similar content to attendees.

Step 4: Measure Receptivity

There are multiple ways to measure hybrid engagement. You could look at session attendance, number of gamification tasks completed, survey responses, number of exhibitor leads, or the quantity of 1:1 meetings that were booked. Take your measurement to the next level by considering how closely attendees followed your suggestions. Did they complete the actions you outlined for them? Did they meet your engagement thresholds? Understanding how select audiences strayed from your suggestions not only will help you better prepare for your next event, but also can be used to inspire marketing and sales outreach.

Step 5: Leverage Enagement Metrics to Demonstrate ROI

Engagement is the primary measurement for event ROI. Demonstrating the value of your event starts with setting up integrations with your CRM and marketing tech stack. These integrations allow events to have a greater impact on the customer journey. If you have implemented engagement scoring as mentioned above, these integrations will help your sales and marketing teams quickly identify event-qualified leads.

Step 6: Put Attendee Data to Work at Your Next Event

Once all of your attendee data has been shared and your event is over, it’s time to restart the cycle. Analyze your event trends and identify new attendee interests. When you send attendees recommendations based on their behavior at past events, you remind them that they are known and offer them a continuation of their experience.

May 23, 2022
Five Hot Emerging Job Roles in Today’s Events Industry
With any big shift in an industry comes exciting new job opportunities. Roles that were less common — or never even existed at all — suddenly become critical and highly in demand.

At the onset of the massive pivot to virtual events that the industry was forced to take in 2020, leaders realized they suddenly needed expertise in many unfamiliar or changed skill areas to deliver high-quality events that provided attendee value and desired business outcomes. Many organizations initially cobbled together coverage of these areas by stretching the responsibilities of existing personnel.

However, two years of virtual and hybrid events have now shown that planning and executing is best handled by teams that include several new specialized roles. As Rodney Hart, VP of events at RainFocus, explained during his INSIGHT 2022 presentation earlier this year, the following five jobs can expect to heavily contribute to the new event experience in years to come:
1. Experience manager. This role, which is vital for in-person, virtual, and hybrid events, focuses on translating the organization’s experiential and digital event goals into a single cohesive experience for attendees. It’s a perfect job for someone who loves connecting the dots from disparate places, Hart noted. The experience manager also assists with mapping technology and supporting the customer journey. Professionals seeking this role might also see it listed as an digital experience architect, event technologist, or virtual event technologist.
2. Participant engagement manager. There is an art and science to ensuring effective, engaging attendee interactions in virtual and hybrid event spaces. This critical role handles chat moderation, polling, and other forms of real-time support that allow speakers and presenters to engage with attendees. Before the event, they deliver clear guidelines on the best way to build the infrastructure to support these interactions. A participant engagement manager is also sometimes called a chat monitor.
3. Technical production manager. Now that virtual events have long evolved from a novelty, attendees have raised their expectations significantly. Producing increasingly sophisticated events requires far more complex responsibilities than in the past, making the technical production manager role highly in demand. This person leads all technical elements of a virtual event and must map out transitions, cues, visuals, music, and more down to the second — as well as stand ready to handle or delegate immediate resolution of any technical difficulties that arise.
4. Motion graphic designer. Another role that heavily contributes to an engaging, polished virtual or hybrid experience, a motion graphic designer assists with creating a conceptual design, develops storyboards, produces final deliverables, and much more. Content remains central to any event, so bringing those stories to life will continue to be important.
5. Health ambassador. Finally, as in-person events return, both attendees and host organizations consider safety and wellness paramount. Regardless of what the future of the COVID-19 pandemic holds, a new appreciation for reducing illness in general at events and staying safe has made the role of health ambassador — also sometimes known as a compliance officer or director of infection prevent protocols — essential. Tasked with addressing health and safety questions, ensuring attendees are aware of protocols, and enforcing on-site protocols, a health ambassador stays busy.
These roles represent just a few of the new career opportunities in the events industry. Finally, Hart recommended ongoing education to keep up — particularly a digital event strategist certification. Now that comfort with event technology and data is often considered a mandatory rather than nice-to-have qualification, it has never been a better time to pursue the certification, according to Hart.

“Digital event certification is a great way to do a deep dive on all components of digital events,” he said. No matter what the future holds, learning more about the data and technology connected to event success can only serve anyone in the industry.

To learn more, watch the full session from INSIGHT 2022 here, and check out the full library!
May 10, 2022
Pivoting Back to In-Person Events and Meeting Attendees’ Expectations

According to our latest State of Events survey, 93% of enterprise event professionals are planning on returning to in-person events within the next 12 months if conditions allow — a strong indication that in-person events now play a major role again.

Despite professionals’ excitement to bring people back to physical venues, not everyone is ready to book their next flight to attend an event. Organizers of many major events reported in-person attendance was not at the levels seen in 2019, and virtual events will also continue. Whether attendees are still uncertain about the safety of such events or they simply prefer to watch sessions online, organizations must meet their expectations as you pivot back to in-person events.

Why Pivot Back to In-Person Events?

Certainly, digital events are cheaper, but anyone who’s been to one knows that the level of interaction is not quite the same as meeting at a physical event. Not only do physical events offer attendees more opportunities to meet, they increase the value of your event to exhibitors. Exhibitors are well aware that exhibit halls where attendees can tangibly experience their brands are much more inviting than other forms of marketing at events.

Expectation Number One: Safety Measures Will be Announced Upfront

Given all the shifts in the COVID-19 pandemic, pre-event communication is an absolute necessity. Let attendees know early what is required of them to attend your event. Are you mandating vaccinations? Do attendees need to fill out a health questionnaire the day before your event? Will you be offering plenty of ventilation and air filtering? Consider integrating with a health and safety solution to ensure everyone attending meets the event’s requirements. These solutions allow you to securely process attendees’ personally identifiable information and health information.

Expectation Number Two: In-Person Events Will be Fun

The days of live entertainment at events and cocktail hours have finally returned — and just in time. Lauren Wolf, event technology program manager at VMware explained it best during her session at RainFocus INSIGHT when she said, “In 2020, most of the world was locked down and consuming digital content was an excellent way to pass the time. But by 2021, people were no longer doing Zoom happy hours and playing online games because they were tired of it.” It’s time to remind attendees that events can be fun. Be sure to plan networking meals, on-site service opportunities, and other fun activities as part of your 2022 or 2023 event.

Expectation Number Three: Virtual Events Will Continue

“People are more comfortable engaging in multiple different formats than they’ve ever been before,” Doug Baird, founder of RainFocus, said in a recent interview. “At the end of the day, it’s not about whether events should be virtual or physical — it’s both. We want to give both kinds of experiences to attendees.” Baird further explained that attendees want the flexibility to attend some events in person and others online.

Learn more about the logistics of pivoting back to physical events by watching a recent educational session titled “Self-Serve On-Site Configuration and Execution” at rainfocusinsight.com.

May 3, 2022
In-Person Events Are Back, Virtual Fatigue Is Real, and More Findings From Our State of Events Survey

How are organizations navigating their 2022 events? There’s no substitute for hearing directly from event leaders themselves, and the results of our 2022 State of Events Survey provide an in-depth, honest look at the most common ambitions, challenges, and experiences. From the highly awaited return to in-person events to the evolving relationship between marketing and events teams, numerous important themes emerged.

Here are some of the most compelling findings:

First, more than nine out of 10 respondents said they plan to run in-person events this year (as conditions allow), with the vast majority standing up their initial in-person events in the first half of the year. With ever-improving knowledge of how to gather while minimizing risk and maximizing attendee confidence, organizations are ready to fill conference centers and meeting rooms with eager attendees once again. Virtual events deliver enormous value at numerous points in the customer lifecycle, but the unique benefits of face-to-face discussion cannot be replicated for certain interactions.

Despite this enthusiastic embrace of in-person events, the industry will not see a wholesale return to 2019 operations. The COVID-19 pandemic has permanently shifted event strategy — in many ways by highlighting new strategies and opportunities. Most survey respondents (88%) said they had run a virtual event in the past six months, and a significant number still planned to hold webinars and other virtual events in the remainder of 2022.

A hybrid approach will remain ideal. This strategy includes virtual event programming designed to complement in-person events, increase flexibility for both host organizations and their attendees, and attract different audience segments.

For virtual event components, continued innovation and adjustment will be critical to ensure those events meet their goals now that the novelty has long worn off. “We expected virtual event fatigue from our attendees, and that is what happened,” one survey respondent stated. Others noted that it was tough to maintain attendee engagement when virtual attendance was competing against other work-related and personal priorities in attendees’ daily lives, and measuring attention levels proved difficult.

“Though it’s no one’s fault, virtual event fatigue is very real,” said one respondent, summarizing a widespread observation. “Nearly all other professionals I have networked with said that their events this year fell short even from 2020 when we were all scrambling.” Reduced engagement unsurprisingly ranked as the most common perceived risk of hosting a virtual event, followed by tech failures and lower ROI.

Fortunately, with practice comes ever-greater learning. This year, event leaders can deploy a number of powerful tactics to boost engagement and prevent virtual event fatigue and boost engagement. Survey respondents reported a wide array of tools in their virtual event toolbox, from strategically shorter content (the most popular response) to livestreamed concert performances to gamification and incentives. Many also plan to streamline the virtual experience to emphasize content consumption over networking that may be better served by other types of events.

Event success also requires accurate, meaningful measurement. Our study showed that for a hybrid event program, important metrics vary depending on organizational goals and other factors.

When asked what KPIs they will use to gauge hybrid event performance, respondents frequently mentioned client satisfaction, as measured by survey results, informal feedback from sponsors and others, and/or retention numbers. Others will closely examine registration numbers, revenue, turnout, and the number of leads or meetings secured as a result of the event.

Stay tuned for discussion of more study findings!

April 29, 2022
Conversations: Doug Baird on the Magic of Hybrid Events As Relationship Accelerators

The Conversations series features candid conversations with RainFocus executives and other thought leaders. You’ll find discussion of breaking news and trends, invaluable industry tips, and commentary on the biggest topics of current interest to events and marketing leaders.

In this post, we sat down with Doug Baird, president of RainFocus, to talk about events as unique relationship-building opportunities — and how in the modern era, a hybrid event program will best position any company to reap the full rewards of these relationships.

What’s the magic of events as a relationship-building opportunity? How should organizations create event programs to take full advantage in the modern environment?

When you’re at an event, you’re building relationships with people. Companies put a lot of effort into developing event content because they have a captive engaged audience. That setup only happens at an event. There is a different dynamic, and there’s a certain level of investment that the audience makes when they come to an event and dedicate time to participate. So you can create additional touchpoints.

Because of high-quality content and an engaged audience, the kind of relationship-building you can do is unique. At each stage of the customer journey, there are different goals. Marketing and events can stitch experiences that happen in different stages of funnel into a cohesive customer journey.

For example, you might be acquiring customers at trade shows, and at lunch and learns, you’re helping people get acquainted with the brand. At customer conferences, you might have partners who spend a lot of effort and money to create engaging experiences.

What role do virtual events serve in building these relationships? What are the potential limitations?

With purely virtual events due to the pandemic, we saw events reaching a significantly larger audience. We saw lots of people participating at events, but deep relationship building and conversion actually fell off without in-person events. Companies use in-person events as a way to drive and close business. That’s why they often put those events in the fourth quarter. It’s a big part of their conversions.

Everyone is excited about face-to-face events coming back as a part of hybrid event strategy because it drives business. Going forward, we’ll see event planners taking advantage of the best parts of virtual and combine it with physical events. The most successful companies will shift their thinking away from individual events toward portfolio strategies consisting of virtual and physical event experiences.

On the flip side, what have some primary challenges been for in-person events?

Historically, they are complicated beasts. There’s a great deal of logistical and support work required — much more than for running a digital marketing campaign. That part was historically difficult and run as a services-heavy operation through agencies. You have to consider the venue, hotel, transportation, etc.

Event professionals would often focus on the event itself instead of the content. It’s ironic because they are trying to make sure everyone has a great experience, so they focus on something like the food. But the customer is there for the content and meeting exhibitors. As a result, events were seen as a sideshow from the core customer journey.

With virtual events, it’s cheaper and easier to nurture customers. There’s more awareness from marketing that events are a core part of the customer journey. And now, with hybrid, sales is able to use the physical component to close business. Companies can nurture leads through virtual and close through in-person connections.

Successfully nurturing and closing all those leads through events typically requires a good deal of data management and tech integration — how can organizations best manage that?

Our mission is to get events into the core marketing funnel and the customer journey. Organizations don’t want all this money to be spent on events without having it be adequately tracked. They see the value because sales might say a certain event was great, but they often struggle to actually measure it. You need to make sure events are meaningful for everyone, not just sales.

Our platform’s whole structure is built around the customer and not the event. We connect with the marketing funnel and customer journey. Marketing is all about personalized customer data, and personalization is extremely important. The right event marketing platform drives customers through event experiences that enhance their digital journey. Customers can go seamlessly through digital and in-person customer event journeys — and experience it all as one brand with personal content.

The core problem we look to solve is enabling the data that exists at events and making it drive business outcomes. This is why we’re seeing increased investment and attention to event technology. Virtual events expanded our collective thinking and has created potential for a very exciting future.

April 5, 2022
“The Biggest Challenges Gave Us the Biggest Opportunities”: Event Leaders Reflect on Learnings and Strategies at INSIGHT 2022

No one knows the reality of holding events in our current era better than the leaders who have been trying new ideas, facing new challenges, and celebrating new victories for two years now.

At INSIGHT 2022, an all-star panel of industry leaders tackled the most pressing topics of the moment, from audience engagement to content optimization to the future of hybrid event formats. Their expert insights provide an honest, nuanced, and ultimately hopeful view of an industry that’s been on a roller-coaster ride since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are a few of their key takeaways:

The flexibility, and increased reach created as a result of pandemic-related pivots are here to stay.

In the pre-pandemic era, many organizations planned their large events as static, contained entities — largely developed for a particular place and time, for a specific audience. The forced initial pivot to virtual events wound up opening up new avenues and points of engagement for both organizers and audiences.

“The biggest challenges gave us the biggest opportunities,” said Linda Gray Martin, vice president at RSA Conference. “Although the pandemic has been tough, it gave us a chance to step back and think about our strategy. We have all come to realize that events are not just a single point in time anymore. They live on — we now look at year-round strategy and engagement.”

Previously, conferences would draw a rotating group of representatives from companies each year, as different employees had their “turn” to travel, noted Michelle Adams-Dixon, senior director, global marketing & PR, RSA Conference. Now, everyone can attend every year.

“Virtual events removed barriers to inclusion, such as travel restrictions, financial obstacles, and scheduling conflicts,” agreed Katie McIntyre, associate director of strategy at Opus Agency. “Attendees can easily join in now, making it more egalitarian.” Ease of attendance naturally is good news not only for attendees but also for organizers, who can broaden their reach and gather more data from these expanded audiences.

Even as more organizations begin holding larger in-person gatherings once again, easy digital access remains essential, Martin pointed out. “There is now an expectation that people can access content whenever and from wherever they want,” she said.

Event attendees want authenticity and substantive content.

Through virtual events, often developed on the fly and made responsive to trends, organizations have delivered what attendees valued as authentic experiences — even when an occasional technical glitch or last-minute pivot reminded them that these productions were created by fellow humans. Imperfection became acceptable, and community became key. This mindset will persist even in a hybrid world, the panelists predicted.

“They still want that connection,” explained Stephanie Rogers, marketing director, global events, at Deltek. “They want to feel in the moment and like they’re getting something different and something new. They want to witness things in real time and feel they’re part of a community. Creating experiences is key.”

Traditionally, in-person event events may have lured attendees with extravagant social gatherings, a vacation-friendly host city, or other attractions in addition to their central programming. Such bells and whistles are difficult to duplicate virtually, which increases the pressure to ensure the event content itself and any supporting activities created for a virtual environment can draw a crowd on their own. For organizations with strong, carefully crafted content, this shift provides an opportunity to excel.

“We’ve returned to the idea of content as king,” said McIntyre. “We’ve seen a refocus on the ROI of attendees’ time, and companies tailoring their messaging to their audiences.”

In addition, Christina Abou-Chalha, senior principal, global events technology at Informatica, noted that for virtual and hybrid events, appropriate session length and audience targeting are critical. Typically, sessions presented virtually need to be shorter than those consumed in person.

Engagement and interaction strategies are still evolving — data will be key.

In-person networking and exhibitor experiences can be challenging to duplicate in a virtual space. Small meetings, tailoring technology solutions for the particular audiences, and offering permanent marketplaces can be helpful, but the experts recommended against “over-engineering” or assuming that a buzzy solution that’s worked for one organization will immediately translate into success for them.

“We’re not interested in trends,” McIntyre said. “Companies might be tempted to keep tring things just to check the box and then check whatever is next. Instead, look at what you’ve already done that was effective. In many cases, we’re not yet at the point where we can say something is a trend because it worked or just because it was new.”

“More is not always more, especially in terms of engagement” Abou-Chalha added. “Providing basic ways to network is very important.”

Panelists recommended capturing ample data to determine what various audience segments want out of their events and content. In many cases, continuous engagement with many touchpoints is ideal, regardless of the current mix of in-person and virtual events.

“One size doesn’t fit all,” Rogers said. “You need to find out what ‘engagement’ means for your audiences. Some people want continuing education credits, whereas some want networking. Offer paths so that they all can find what they’re looking for.”

“The future is year-round engagement, amplified,” agreed Adams-Dixon. “We need to make sure our communities have reasons to come back to our brand and engage with our content.”

March 14, 2022
Encore: An Inside Look at the INSIGHT Event Program

At INSIGHT Encore this week, which wrapped up the RainFocus INSIGHT 2022 program, RainFocus executives Brian Gates and Rodney Hart brought to light the strategy and metrics behind the successful INSIGHT event program. Their keynote session (watch it here if you missed it) covered INSIGHT planning, post-event engagement, and everything in between. Here are a few points they shared on what made INSIGHT so successful:

Exploring the Science Behind RainFocus INSIGHT

Event planning often follows the scientific method: First, you make an observation and form a hypothesis, and then you test your hypothesis and repeat as needed. Having an inside look at the most successful events in the industry, our team observed that repeat attendees were more engaged at subsequent events. Our team then formed the hypothesis that by unifying our small events with our annual conference through continuous content, we would exceed the previous year’s attendee engagement.

To gauge the success of our hypothesis, we looked at several factors – including attendance, session participation and consumption, and networking. Despite a necessary pivot to a virtual event due to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, our team saw a 17% increase in event registration with a 25% increase in year-over-year event attendance. While we experienced lower session participation, we did see a 14% higher consumption of breakout sessions (based on duration tracking). Additionally, we saw a 40% increase in the number of networking meetings scheduled. When accounted for in our event game, these attendee actions resulted in more than 1,000 activity badges awarded to attendees.

What’s our conclusion based on these findings? Continuous content does contribute to higher overall engagement.

Continuous Content Is King

You’ve likely heard the phrase “content is king,” and while that is still true, the current reality is that the consumers are bombarded with content. What is relevant one day will get lost in a sea of distractions the next day.

INSIGHT was built with the idea of continuous content in mind. We wanted to provide our audience with multiple touchpoints throughout the year that would offer them the latest tips and tricks for successful event marketing and management.

Applying that same idea of continuous content, our team designed an event portal to help attendees maximize their INSIGHT experience. We started by planning out conference tracks with a mix of live and simulive content tailored to each of our target audiences. The tracks were led by designated track hosts who kept a live content stream going in between sessions. Overall, more than 54% of our program content was live. The tracks were featured front and center in the event portal to encourage attendees to join in. As a result, we saw a 5% increase in alignment to tracks. To discover more about the design and theory behind our event portal, watch “Exploring the RainFocus Platform.”

Pivoting Last Minute: How Going Virtual Impacted the Program

From the beginning of our planning, we knew it was possible that we would have to pivot our hybrid conference to be a full-virtual experience. As the Omicron variant became more widespread, our team made the difficult decision to cancel the in-person component of our hybrid experience one month before the conference. This decision led to a noticeable rise in registrations – which could be attributed to attendees’ uncertainty around in-person attendance.

Had we stuck to our original plan of having a hybrid conference in Salt Lake City, the strategy behind the track channels would have remained much the same. Having the track hosts keep the momentum going in each channel would have allowed our in-person attendees the time needed to switch rooms, take a break, or simply stretch their legs.

What’s Next: Building on Our Hypothesis

This is just the start of our attendees’ journey with the INSIGHT program. As a next step, we will be releasing INSIGHT 365, a continuous engagement platform. INSIGHT 365 will feature all of our sessions that you experienced throughout our event program as well as monthly panels to keep you up to date with the latest insights and product enhancements.

Stay tuned for more information regarding INSIGHT 365!

February 25, 2022
From Challenge to Opportunity: Adam Parry on Event Trends for 2022

Two years ago, it may have seemed unfathomable that the COVID-19 pandemic would still be such a fixture in any discussions of the event industry. But rather than seeing virtual events as a temporary forced necessity, leading organizations are now seizing on the cascade of initially pandemic-related changes as permanent opportunities for growth and greater success.

Adam Parry, co-founder and editor of Event Industry News, provided a comprehensive look at where we’ve been and where we’re going during a riveting fireside chat during RainFocus INSIGHT 2022. In conversation with Ashleigh Cook, SVP, marketing, at RainFocus, he captured the complex yet promising state of the industry.

Here are four of the most salient challenges and the ways organizations can translate them into rich opportunities:

Challenge 1: The technology required for a virtual or hybrid event is much more complicated than the tech for a strictly in-person event. Managing broadcast platforms and related technologies can be difficult.

Opportunity: “Forward-thinking companies build this work into their team structures through dedicated event technologist roles,” Parry explained. In many cases, these roles were previously layered on top of existing duties, but they now merit a full-time role. “These people need to be involved in the overall design of the event,” he added, noting that ideally, event technology functions as invisibly and seamlessly as possible. Integrating with the rest of the organization’s business technologies is key.

Challenge 2: Virtual and hybrid events offer a wealth of new data to collect. But without knowing which data matters most and determining how to visualize it for optimal interpretation, organizations can easily miss out.

Opportunity: First, Parry pointed out that event data may be siloed, making an end-to-end solution to pull all data together ideal. With a high volume of data, consider using internal or external resources to make the data interactive and easy for everyone to use. Although data needs vary widely depending on event specifics, real-time updates and and ready access are always crucial. “The information should flow both ways on a collaborative platform – a hybrid ‘suitcase’ for the entire team,” he said.

Challenge 3: Even now, event leaders may still struggle with the decision to pivot, downscale, or postpone an in-person event. Whether because of worrying about the potential loss in networking opportunities or dreading the increased work that goes along with such a shift, they may hesitate to pull the metaphorical switch.

Opportunity: “There’s no shame in pivoting or postponing your event,” Parry stressed. “You have a duty to take care of your audience, team members, speakers, and everyone else.”

Moreover, pivoting can be easily managed with the right processes and technology. “You should always be planning your hybrid or digital version as a ‘twin’ alongside your in-person event,” Parry said. After all, some audiences may prefer to attend virtually by default due to their own preferences and needs, so supporting both attendee segments from the start ensures maximum reach and attendance.

Challenge: Keeping up with changes may feel impossible – with uncertainty and rapid shifts in the industry and constant buzz about additional new trends, event organizers and marketers aren’t sure what’s worth the investment.

Opportunity: Whether or not they’re immediately applicable for each company and its events, hot topics like Web3, NFTs, AR, and the metaverse offer a huge amount of potential, according to Parry. In particular, anything that can enhance the live or virtual experience – or create an entire second live experience like the the metaverse – could be the next big thing.

In the meantime, no matter what happens in the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic, hybrid is surely here to stay: “We’re shifting away from the mindset of hybrid as an event type to hybrid as a strategy for engaging with audiences,” Parry noted. Many organizations have already converted their entire portfolio to hybrid, taking advantage of various formats to meet differing needs throughout the year. For example, small digital events can serve as touchpoints between rarer large in-person gatherings.

“Do not wait to start,” Parry advised. “The pace of change is quick. If you put off figuring out your hybrid strategy, suddenly you’ll be left on the sidelines.”

February 18, 2022
“We Are Building the Future Together”: Doug Baird and JR Sherman Kick Off INSIGHT 2022 With Event Industry Predictions

When the abrupt shift from physical events to virtual events started in March 2020 due to the global impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, no one truly knew what would happen next. When would large in-person gatherings return? Which organizations would thrive through virtual events in the meantime? What would attendees’ long-term preferences look like?

As we approach the two-year mark since that flurry of event cancellation and modification notices went out around the world, key lessons have emerged. These findings will inform decisions made by any organization that runs or participates in events.

Industry veterans Doug Baird, president and founder of RainFocus, and JR Sherman, CEO of RainFocus, have a uniquely informed perspective on the past, present, and future of events in all forms. The duo presented their insights at the opening keynote for RainFocus INSIGHT 2022, titled “Accelerating Innovation.”

Here are their key takeaways:

First, continued flexibility is critical. As the ever-shifting path of the pandemic has shown, nothing is certain when it comes to either the science of viral evolution or the preferences of your buyers and others who attend your events. Event leaders, marketing leaders, and other executives will likely be required to account for this additional layer of unpredictability for some time.

“We’ve seen large events get broken up into smaller regional events, dates shift, physical events go virtual, and so on,” Baird remarked. “It’s an environment that continues to evolve.” For RainFocus, an initial reputation for on-site technology to power clients’ events immediately grew to encompass full virtual and hybrid experiences as well. With the right technology and game plan, pivoting an event format when circumstances dictate has become perfectly doable – and even a boon for attendee numbers and engagement.

“We took advantage of this challenge to really listen,” Sherman added. Mirroring an industry trend, many clients have begun thinking about their event portfolios holistically, as a series of experiences for their customers to engage with.

As a result, event content will continue to take on an increasingly elevated role. Creating an immersive virtual content experience that offers a “venue” akin to the hotel or conference center that an in-person attendee sits in represents one especially important component. Attendees must be able to find the content they care most about and interact with it, regardless of event size.

Delivering the right content experience for attendees around the world requires a highly capable platform. For many organizations, investment in event technology has scaled accordingly as the role of event marketing has been elevated.

“We want you to be able to orchestrate your content appropriately to each individual so that you can accelerate your business relationships,” Sherman said, adding that RainFocus will continue to drive platform improvements to meet the needs of the most sophisticated, complex event programs. Feedback from clients and marketing leaders throughout the industry will help inform the product roadmap.

Enhanced relationships between event marketing and digital marketing will also fuel change and improvements, both executives predicted. “Events are now an integrated part of the martech stack,” Baird said. “Customers want a continuous journey. When they come to an event, you should already understand their preferences, and their earlier digital journey should guide their experience.”

Naturally, data collection and analysis will be critical. “You need to have a mechanism to capture the right data and then a way to use it to enable more personal experiences,” Sherman explained. One client memorably noted they aimed to create 10,000 unique experiences rather than an event for 10,000 people – a mode of thinking that has since become more popular.

“Ultimately, everything we do comes down to relationships,” Baird concluded. “We are building that future together with you.”

February 8, 2022