Insider Events – June Summer Bash

Basic details of the summer bash:

Title: Summer Bash
Date: June 22^nd 2021
City, Country: Ottawa
Host Virtual Platform: Bramble

Organizing Team:

• Andrew Horsfield
• Carla de Koning
• Carolyn Leslie
• Jenny Dao
• Rebecca Narr
• Shivani Pandya
• Gabrielle Whittaker

Specific Event Questions:

Who was the targeted audience?
The event was for our membership & non-members with the goal of reconnecting our community.

What was the main objective of your event?
The main objective was networking. We wanted to replicate organic connections in a virtual event as much as our capabilities would allow. Zoom meetings don’t allow online participants to “bump into someone in the hallway”. Usually, online sessions have a defined programming and a strong theme. For the Summer Bash we wanted minimal programming to allow ample time for networking. 90% of the event time was dedicated to this and participants were able to catch up with friends or colleagues in the industry.

We also wanted to showcase a different technology. Part of our responsibility as an association is also to showcase vendors, in this case platforms and technologies to our members. We are the “guinea pigs” in that sense. If our members like the technology they’ve seen, then they can feel confident bringing it back to their organizations for their own virtual events.

What was unique about this digital event for you?
The platform that we chose (Bramble) ties back to the organic networking objective we set for ourselves. It was the first time our members experienced an event on this platform. We received lots of comments and feedback on how much people loved how they were “bumping” into someone like you would at an in-person event.

What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome?
Originally, when we were starting the planning at the end of January 2021, we want to try to do something in-person. We hoped that by June things would be open and meeting face-to-face would be possible. The biggest obstacle against this was the uncertainty around the pandemic and the budget. The Board made the decision in February that we were not ready to meet in person yet due to the uncertainty. The committee then pivoted to a virtual event. At the beginning of April, the committee regrouped and the first question that came to mind was: “Will there be an appetite for virtual events in June?” We didn’t know, but we knew we didn’t want to do something on Zoom.

What was your biggest triumph?
I would say having a platform that allowed organic networking. Our objective was achieved. Bramble allowed for various conversation spaces both public and private. Unfortunately, some attendees did experience technical difficulties, but the Bramble support team was there to help.

Did you do anything new or innovative? 
The innovation was the platform itself, Bramble, and the ability to try a different technology.

What challenges did you have putting the features together?
Tourism Montreal was our champion sponsor we wanted to highlight them by customizing the background of the platform in the theatre room. Unfortunately, this capability is not yet a standard feature in Bramble. Luckily Bramble’s team was able to do some special codding to make it happen for us, but this resulted in us not getting our virtual environment until one week before the event. It was crunch time for Rebecca and Jenny who did most of the heavy lifting setting up the platform to ensure all sponsor rooms were set up correctly. They still managed to successfully set everything up and all sponsors were happy.

The challenge the night of was that unfortunately, there were technical issues for some participants when it came to who they could see and hear on their screens. Thankfully we had a Bramble representative there to help and the issue was resolved.

Last word …
As a meeting professional association, it is good for us to showcase technology to our membership. Planners can decide if they want to bring it back to their companies. I am glad we were able to showcase Bramble to our chapter.

Article compiled by Elodie LORTAL, CMP, DES | LinkedIn, at National Arts Centre | Centre national des Arts: My Company | LinkedIn

Article edited by Darlene Kelly-Stewart, Stonehouse Sales & Marketing Services