Digital Event News April 2021 | Page 33

April 2021 Case Study 33
Aztec gifted ‘ AV Care Kits ’ to each speaker comprised of enhanced lighting , backdrops and webcams to raise broadcast standards . The Aztec team also provided full technical support and managed rehearsals , recordings , timings and the host .
The content was livestreamed or pre-recorded via Microsoft Teams and integrated into Bett ’ s chosen BigMarker digital events platform . It became available to watch on-demand post event and has remained online for three months since the January event .
“ The original plan was to have live panel discussions from our studio but after the country went back into total lockdown , the Aztec studio became the anchor point for the host to manage the schedule , talk to the presenters and introduce each session ,” Aztec ’ s head of corporate events David Stanley says .
Aztec ’ s Jess Duxbury was digital producer on the event . She says : “ We carried out end-to-end rehearsals to practice all the transitions with
remote speakers and ensure that the viewer experience was scheduled to perfection .
“ When you ’ re telling senior leaders how to dress for the camera , what books to remove from their background bookshelves or to turn-off other wifi devices in their homes to try and guarantee a good connection , it removes any ego and makes digital events a much-more collaborative process .”
Engagement during the 20-25 minute main stage sessions saw attendees comment on presentations in the live chat , share useful articles and swap LinkedIn contacts for connected networking .
Viewers were also able to interact directly with speakers in the Q & A sessions and engage via twitter , using the hashtag # Bettfest which also streamed on the platform .
A number of polls during some sessions added to the engagement , with prizes given away as incentives to participate .
The pre-recorded content for the Bett Academy was slightly longer , lasting between 40 and 55 minutes . Presenters were
“ THE LIVE IN-PERSON EXHIBITION WILL RETURN BUT WITH MORE THAN HALF OF OUR ONLINE AUDIENCE UNIQUE , FIRST-TIME VISITORS , WHY WOULD ANYONE TURN THEIR BACKS ON DEVELOPING THIS NEW AUDIENCE .” on-hand to answer live Q & As and since the sessions were officially accredited , teachers could download their certificates on completion .
The total number of pre-registrations for Bett 2021 was over 14,000 , with 7,173 visitors attending across the three days , of which 4,552 were uniques .
Marshall says : “ We set ourselves a revenue target of £ 80,000 . Our final booked revenue for BettFest was more than double this target (£ 191,000 ), selling out all sponsored inventory on an extremely short sales cycle . But for us , the real win was over £ 100,000 win-back from lapsed customers and the retention of Bett Week as the sales and marketing milestone for the EdTech industry .
“ We ’ ve now established a suite of digital content assets , which means we can run monthly webinars and provide regular Bett Academy , CPD-certified content to maintain and build our extended global audience . The live in-person exhibition will return but with more than half of our online audience unique , first-time visitors , why would anyone turn their backs on developing this new audience ?”
Marshall concludes : “ I honestly can ’ t say where we ’ ll be at the end of this year . The vaccine roll-out across the UK is a success but in other countries it has had challenges so whether or not the UK will allow international visitors to Bett 2022 is very much a watching brief . Whatever happens though , we know that we can deliver strong content in an engaging and high-quality format . It has been an education for all of us involved .”