Tele Management Forum (dba TM Forum)
Category: Virtual Event
Event: Digital Transformation World Series, 2020
Creative Agencies: Common Ground Creative Ltd., www.commonground.co.uk; Intuitive Design UK Ltd., www.intuitive-design.co.uk; TM Forum, www.tmforum.org
Production Agency: Anna Valley, www.annavalley.co.uk
Budget: $1 – $1.9 million

When events pivoted to digital in 2020, many organizers set conservative goals. But marketers for the Tele Management Forum (dba TM Forum), an industry association of telecom service providers and suppliers, devised aggressive targets for their new online experience, the Digital Transformation World Series, and crushed the average returns from its flagship in-person education and networking event.

TM Forum partnered with Common Ground Creative Ltd., Intuitive Design UK Ltd., and Anna Valley to deliver a current-affairs-style TV show that spanned several weeks and time zones and offered up interviews, conversations, and debate, along with live and prerecorded video feeds. Two hosts anchored the show, which ran on ExpoPlatform and was delivered from a dynamic studio built within Anna Valley's headquarters in the United Kingdom.

According to judges, the Digital Transformation World Series was "super creative" and "beautifully produced," and its results were "nothing short of impressive." While the 2019 in-person iteration attracted 2,560 attendees, 7,985 participated in the digital event. Additionally, 80 percent of attendees comprised communication service providers (CSPs), a sought-after segment for vendors and sponsors.

In comparison, this group accounted for approximately 30 percent of the audience in 2019. Considering that the price tag for the online encounter was half of its in-person counterpart, TM Forum demonstrated that virtual can, on occasion, go toe to toe with face to face.

Citrix Systems Inc.
Category: Customer Conference/Event
Event: Citrix Synergy, 2019
Creative/Production Agency: Bellwether Corp., www.bellwethershow.com
Production Agencies: LMG LLC, www.lmg.net; One10 LLC, www.one10marketing.com; T3 Expo, www.t3expo.com
Budget: $5 million or more

Hailed by jurors as a "high-end, cohesive experience with a strong visual identity," Citrix Synergy 2019 wasn't your typical user conference. Sure, it served as a product launch pad and a networking event for software firm Citrix Systems Inc. But instead of a random concoction of product demos, breakout sessions, and keynotes, it functioned as a cohesive city of sorts filled with an urban park, outdoor street fair, flower market, and more.

The five-day event attracted roughly 3,400 customers, prospects, partners, and sponsors to Atlanta. Visitors could choose from breakout sessions, self-paced and instructor-led learning labs, interactive educational offerings, and Citrix's own trade show booth within the Solutions Expo, which housed a total of 57 exhibitors. Attendees could also explore Synergy Park, which featured various theaters, learning labs, and a fireside-chat area. Laid out like a bustling cityscape, the park also included a host of themed encounters, such as the Event Connection Lounge (resembling a high-rise office building) and the Corporate Citizenship booth (mimicking an outdoor flower market).

When Citrix Synergy closed its doors, marketers had bested their goal of increasing the number of companies sending multiple attendees to the event by five percentage points and upped attendees' favorablility ratings of sessions by 7 percent compared to the previous year. For Citrix, then, a city-based backdrop filled with fresh experiences and ongoing education was truly a synergistic solution.

Fidelity Information Services Inc. (dba FIS)
Category: Virtual Event
Event: InFocus, 2020
Creative/Production Agency: Fidelity Information Services Inc. (dba FIS), www.fisglobal.com
Production Agencies: ADM Productions Inc., www.admproductions.com
Budget: $500,000 – $749,000

Fidelity Information Services Inc. (dba FIS), a provider of financial technology solutions, usually hosts its InFocus conference to educate attendees about its offerings. But to spur sales and generate product awareness during the pandemic, it moved the affair online for two days in August 2020. And along with providing traditional keynotes and live and canned educational sessions, FIS delivered a unique mix of activities that kept engagement top of mind.

The event, which launched via an On24 Inc. platform, included a keynote by Laila Ali and was hosted by Giuliana Rancic, who gracefully led attendees from one activation to the next. Among visitors' options were an expo floor featuring FIS products organized into six different 3-D-rendered neighborhoods, more than 150 breakout sessions, a wellness center offering yoga and HIIT classes, and three language-based lounges where speakers of English, Portuguese, and Spanish could interact with each other via chats, forums, surveys, and a scavenger hunt.

While jurors appreciated InFocus because it "looked and felt much like a live event" and "incorporated valuable interactive elements," it also resonated with FIS stakeholders and attendees. Initially, FIS hoped to attract 2,000 to 3,000 people to the affair, but 4,752 people registered and spent a staggering average of seven hours viewing content. In addition, FIS created 480 new deals as a direct result of the 2020 conference, compared to 266 deals that originated with the in-person 2019 experience.