Studio on the way | ARC DATA conference

Even today, virtual conferences are still big unknown to many companies.

They often do not know how to prepare for the event or what kind of materials conference requires and how speakers can take place when they are in a different corner of the republic, if not Europe. Thanks to our team, we can help these clients with not only the handling of the event but also with the preparation and possible rehearsals. And how did we move the traditional event completely into a virtual environment?

About client
Our client ARC DATA PRAHA deals with the distribution of geographic information systems and subsequent user support. It is the world's largest manufacturer of software for geographic information systems. They were the first in the world who launched GIS technology. Thanks to this primacy they are a big step ahead in the technological world.

This year 29th GIS Esri conference took place at the beginning of November. It is the largest Czech conference dedicated to geoinformatics. The key moments of this event are always meetings of participants and the exchange of information, news or tips from the field. Lectures on geoinformatics and its use in various fields lasted two days. There was also a talk about the digital transformation of the whole society.

From live event to virtual
In the original version the event was the offline one. Preparations have been focused on the classic big scene since the summer. Later, due to the measures, the client decided to broadcast the event from our studio. However, the event was scheduled for November and the epidemiological situation was getting worse. Even part of the implementation team got sick.

How to bring the participants an authentic experience?
The key moments of this event are meetings of participants and the exchange of information, news or tips from the field.Final solution was broadcasting directly from the client's meeting rooms which we turned into full-fledged broadcasting studios. The main task for us was to maintain the atmosphere of the conference during which a large number of lectures and contacts between participants took place.
We solved this with as many live inputs from the speakers as possible. Speakers also had technological demos ready. Because of the amount of content, several talks were pre-recorded and these were available on demand after the conference. Online workshops were held in the following weeks.

" I have to admit that we will definitely use partiallythe online interactivity next year as well. In the feedback from users, there were even voices that some of them found this form better than the classic one. At the moment I see the future of our conferences in a hybrid model rather than in a complete return to live events,"said Jan Novotný, from marketing and communications.

The virtual event was attended by 1152 spectators from a total of 366 organizations which is bigger attendance than at the conference in a standard situation.

At this time, when people cannot meet in large numbers, the solution of a virtual conference is basically the only way not to cancel the event. Although this form has other essentials than a live meeting, it can also bring many benefits. Viewers always have a "place to sit" and even more, there are places also for those who normály cannot come. . With the right tools and scenario, you can keep the attention of visitors throughout the whole event. It is important not to underestimate the virtual event!

You can see how the conference took place in the video: