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Notified Event Cloud allows business event organizers to manage their entire event portfolio, regardless of format, via one easy-to-use platform.
Before Allie Magyar joined Notified as chief product officer, she founded Hubb, an events platform that Notified acquired in 2021. Prior to that, Magyar spent 20 years heading up two successful event companies, planning everything from car shows to mega-conventions like Microsoft Ignite.
Why the switch? “Every aspect of our life is digital in some way,” Magyar said. But in terms of events, often “we don’t think about how to bring experiential design into digital. I think we think of it as an ancillary component, and that the real experiential component is in person. And I think we have an opportunity to flip that on its head.”
In a conversation with Convene, Magyar elaborated on why, even as face-to-face events return, hybrid event formats are key to the continuing evolution of business events.
I just fear that we’re going back to in person because … it’s where we thrive. We really need to keep diversity, equity, and inclusion in mind because ultimately our events are successful based on the momentum we’re able to build in sales and marketing brand awareness, and if we limit that to 10 or five percent of the audience that’s willing to travel and show up in person, we’re missing out on all the rest of the business momentum that we’ve been able to achieve over the last couple of years.”
Hybrid equals access. There is no question that organizers are excited about meeting in person again, but not all attendees feel as enthused. “What we’ve seen is a huge societal shift … of people being willing to say, ‘I’m an introvert and I don’t do well there,’” Magyar said of in-person events. A hybrid program allows those who feel more comfortable behind the screen to actively participate in the event.
Priceless data insights. Even when Magyar managed large in-person events with budgets in the millions, capturing useful data was next to impossible. “I couldn’t tell you where people spent their time,” she said. “Even in some of the most strategic meeting management programs … it’s shocking but we couldn’t necessarily measure success.” Notified’s Metrics & Trend Analysis Dashboard allows organizers to quickly gauge how their virtual or hybrid event is performing. For example, organizers can view how many attendees registered and attended, which presentations performed the best, and what content has been viewed or downloaded the most.
Hybrid works for the new work normal. The way we show up for our jobs has completely changed. Many workers now work remotely and make their own schedules. Some companies have completely scrapped their T&E budgets, requiring workers to opt for virtual attendance. An event platform, where content can live until an attendee has a free moment to tune in, just makes sense. “If there’s anything that the pandemic has taught us,” Magyar said, “it’s that our time is extremely valuable.”
With an event platform, events have an afterlife. In-person events hold so much potential in that they can inspire, educate, inform — the list goes on. So why stop when the event stops? “There are experiences that we can create throughout the year for surprise and delight for engaging audiences,” Magyar said. Tapping into the power of an event platform like Notified can build or sustain that momentum by keeping event content accessible 24/7.
Organizers already familiar with hybrid events know that streamlining the planning journey calls for the support of an event system that automates the back-end processes. To learn how Notified’s event management technology does exactly that, visit notified.com.
