From physical event to online behind a screen; it was also a bit of a switch for Jaarbeurs employees themselves. Marleen Rompen, the person ultimately responsible for the Overheid 360° congress, had to convert the physical version to an online version. She was one of the first to use the brand-new Jaarbeurs Studio. She tells us her experience with organising a digital event: 'I recommend a day chairperson to everyone.'
When it became clear that the congress could not take place physically, she decided to use her own employer's recording studio. Together with her team, she chose to extend the congress, which normally lasts one day, to three days. 'We were afraid that otherwise people would receive too much information in succession. Behind a screen you are more easily distracted, it is very easy to click that red cross.
Everything is already set up
Precisely because she knew little about online events, Jaarbeurs Studio offered the perfect solution. ‘The studio is Plug & Play and is hired out with a technical partner. They know exactly what, where, how and how much is needed for a good broadcast. Or which setting works best for the event – at a table, behind a presenter’s desk or as an interview in a lounge area, for example. In fact, all we had to do was organise the programme; they took care of the rest.’
The studio is Plug & Play. For us, arranging the programme was important, they took care of the rest.
Tip: hire a chairperson for the day
And then the big day finally arrives. Everything has been organised down to the last detail; everyone knows what they have to do. And then… the first speaker is late. Marleen: ‘At a physical conference, we’d inform the audience in the theatre and ask them to be patient for a little while. People can then still walk around the exhibition floor. With an online event, that’s not possible. We were already live, so our chairperson had to improvise. Fortunately, she handled it well.’
A chairperson is highly recommended anyway, according to Marleen. 'At a physical event, a chairperson is essential, but online it is really crucial. He/she summarises a story, asks questions or addresses online visitors directly. Our chairman of the day asked the audience to respond in chat. Via a tablet, she monitored the questions and then posed them to the guests in the studio. It made the programme very interactive.'
Start your communication later
Marleen looks back on the online conference positively. Her objective - the same reach as the live event - was achieved. Good news, because that shows she made the right choices. The online congress also brought her insights: 'There was no need to spread it out over three days. Several sessions can take place simultaneously on one day. People never follow everything anyway, they choose what is interesting to them.' In terms of promotion, she also has a tip: you can start later. 'With a physical congress, we usually start advertising three months in advance. We did the same for the online event, but nothing happened: no reactions or registrations. But the closer we got to the online congress, the more registrations we got. People decide much later whether they want to be at an online trade fair or not.'
A combination of two worlds
When asked which type of event she prefers, she says: ‘An online event has opened my eyes; you can see the results straight away. Still, an in-person trade fair always has something magical about it: you see and speak to each other face-to-face, and you can see that ‘something’ is happening on the exhibition floor. That’s why I believe in the power of a fully in-person trade fair, supported by an online component. By that I mean a hybrid event: a mix of live interaction on the exhibition floor at Jaarbeurs and online networking, as well as watching knowledge sessions (afterwards).’
