In March 2019, Rochelle Richardson assumed the role of Senior VP of AVIXA, producer of InfoComm, which attracted 44,129 attendees and nearly 950 exhibitors to its last in-person event in June 2019. AVIXA and its partners also produce a global portfolio of trade shows and conferences, including InfoComm China, InfoComm India, InfoComm Southeast Asia, Integrate, Integrated Systems Europe and Integrated Systems Russia.
When AVIXA was forced to cancel the in-person component of its flagship event in the U.S. last June due to the pandemic, Richardson and her team accelerated the association’s digital strategy and launched InfoComm Connected, the D=SIGN Power Hour Webinar series and AV3. ISE returned to in-person with a scaled down version in June in Barcelona, and InfoComm is scheduled for Oct. 23-29 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. The Pro AV industry revenue is forecasted to reach $232 billion in 2021 and grow to $329 billion in 2026, representing a 7.2% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
As the return to live events continues to ramp up, Richardson shared her views on the current state of the integration of digital and live and how it will impact the future of events. Here’s an edited excerpt of our conversation. Listen or watch the full interview below.
How AVIXA integrated digital when the pandemic arrived. “We were probably one of the first out the gate to deliver a truly virtual trade show and experience for a footprint that was — and had always been — only in-person, hence the InfoComm Connected that we delivered in June 2020. A big part of that consisted of a full virtual trade show that incorporated online trade show booths, networking, and AI to connect the buyers and sellers. We also introduced a highly curated content and education program where attendees could earn CEUs and then access the content and information around the exhibitors up to 30 days post event.”
What AVIXA learned. “We did a lot of surveying and realized that while we produced a three-day footprint, the optimal for us and for the industry was two days. We also found virtual booths were not as successful as we anticipated them to be. Content was king. It was important to have a combination of live streaming and on demand and making that available to a global audience and not just to the audience that had historically participated at InfoComm.”
Metrics that matter. At the June 2020 Connected Event, “we had over 20,000 participants virtually and over 500 companies. It was complimentary for attendees. We found our keynote sessions were well attended. We did new tech lightning rounds where our sponsors had the opportunity to present thought leadership. For 15 minutes each, we had three presenters and then the last 15 minutes, all three presenters would do a panel discussion and answer questions from participants. Those were also well attended.”
Working with partners to deliver digital. “We launched the D=SIGN Power Hour Webinar series in collaboration with the Digital Signage Federation in December 2020.
That was incredibly successful. Then we partnered to deliver an ad-free experience, which was a one-day virtual event held in June of this year in collaboration with AVNetwork and AVNation. The event was incredibly successful, and we measured our success around sponsorship, revenue, registration, attendance, the number of individuals who were logging on to the platform to access the content on demand, and also those who participated in the sessions live.”
Expanding its international participation online. “We are seeing and experiencing an increase in international participation. We have been successful with attracting first-time participants who are not in our database. That's impressive for companies that are looking to attract new leads. For AV3, we had nearly 20% new first-time participants at that event and that's an impressive number, as you can imagine, in a digital footprint.”
Hybrid strategy for 2021. “We are planning to focus on the in person and building our strategy around digital that's complementary. We recognize the importance of providing a digital offering to reach those individuals who are simply not able to attend the in-person event, so we will have a modified offering of a digital experience. What we are intending to do is have a digital offering that we're calling the roadmap to InfoComm and AV3. We also have another event that we are producing in collaboration with the Systems Contractor News and that will be delivered on September 23. Then we will have what we're calling a post-show virtual experience on Nov. 9 and 10, so we're taking a multi-pronged approach to provide that complimentary experience. Combined with that, our team is building out a 365/24/7 digital strategy. Stay tuned. More details will be forthcoming.
Building out the digital space. “We realized that it was less about replicating the in-person experience online and more about building a program that would provide value. The feedback that we were receiving and how the participant was actually participating in a digital footprint allowed us to customize our future offerings around digital. We found that a tremendous amount of time was being spent on the content side, listening to our keynotes and thought leaders from our sponsorship program. Being able to customize our offerings around that is incredibly important.”
Expectations for InfoComm. “We are looking forward to welcoming the thousands of attendees and exhibitors that are planning to join us this October at InfoComm 2021 in Orlando. InfoComm is poised for another successful experience. Additionally, we are prioritizing the health and safety of all attendees who will be present at InfoComm. We will be instituting a mask mandate for everyone, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, and we will be announcing additional health and safety protocols over the next few days.”
Key decision makers return to IRL. “Many that are intending to travel and return to in-person are going to be the key decision makers. We're finding that the caliber of individual who is intending to travel will likely have a say in the buying process.”
Learnings in the first half of 2021. “If you can say there was anything good that came out of the pandemic, it put us all in a vulnerable state and helped us to be open to learning things differently and learning more about the potential for change. The biggest part for me was about learning how to be agile and to remain open to learning different things. The need for change and evolving our events to remain relevant and looking at how we could monetize and deliver digital experience has been incredibly important.”
Advice for the path forward in integrating physical and digital. “Understand the needs of the industry you serve. Look at your needs and then decide on a platform. Survey your audience to find out what's most important. Don't make the error of trying to replicate your in-person online because that may not translate well, and that may not be what your audience is looking for. Fail forward quickly so you can find those things that work well, refine it and do it again. Allow yourself the time to grow. There's nothing wrong with failure. Digital is here to stay and the sooner you incorporate it as a part of your organization, the more successful you will likely be.”