By Matt Spanarkel (Senior Project Manager, RingCentral Events) & Kaylee Deigan (Senior Program Manager, Agency Partners)
Last month, we had our RingCentral Kickoff, getting our sales & GTM teams excited about what’s to come in 2024. Although it was held in-person (in which both Kaylee and I both attended), we also had to ensure our teams globally were able to tune in and get excited as well.
One of the biggest trends we’ve seen in recent quarters is the return to onsite events by using a hybrid format. While we know how complex organizing an in-person event can be, adding a virtual component into the mix can feel downright overwhelming for event marketers.
Thankfully, RingCentral Events makes it incredibly easy. Our all-in-one event platform provides organizers with all the features and functionality they need to throw a memorable event.
Virtual attendees can immerse themselves in the keynotes, sessions, and engage with other attendees via chat and Q&A. Meanwhile, our in-person attendees can enjoy a seamless check-in experience, mobile app to guide them through the agenda, and more. What stands out most is the ability for virtual and in-person attendees to interact with each other on the RingCentral Events platform itself.
But behind the scenes, let’s take a look at how we made it happen at our recent RingCentral Sales Kickoff.
Event set-up and management made simple for event organizers
As part of the team that works closely with our RingCentral Events onsite experience and agencies, it was exciting to see how this all came to life. In talking with our own Strategic Events Team, needless to say, it was a refresher from having to prepare everything themselves.
Here’s what our Director of Strategic Events, Sara Straw, had to say:
“Ensuring an exceptional attendee experience lies at the core of our event strategy and this commitment becomes paramount in the dynamic landscape of hybrid events. Whether participants engage in person or virtually, our objective is to empower them to fully capitalize on every facet of the event.
“The capabilities of the RingCentral Events platform was instrumental in achieving this goal for our annual Revenue Kick Off. By harnessing its global reach, we were able to seamlessly connect with our global sales organization while enriching their engagement through interactive features such as live chats, Q&A sessions, and real-time polls, facilitating meaningful interactions with our speakers.
“Furthermore, our event’s versatility was exemplified by the spectrum of content we were able to offer within the platform—ranging from live-streamed and pre-recorded keynotes to live breakout sessions and on-demand materials. This approach catered to diverse learning styles, accommodated various time zones, and aligned with our attendees’ unique interests, a feat that hybrid events uniquely enable. The RingCentral Events platform has not only met but exceeded our expectations, enabling us to deliver a truly unforgettable experience to all our attendees, regardless of their mode of participation.”
All the in-person hardware delivered in one organized box
For in-person events, while we focus on providing the best software, for hardware we partner with Choose 2 Rent, who provided all the event rental equipment and consumables that work with our software onsite. Our clients can even contract skilled technicians for onsite activation of the hardware with our software and to run live troubleshooting for the duration of the event.
With their familiarity with the RingCentral Events platform, they’re well trained in helping to provide the best equipment setup – from branded badge types, branded lanyards, and more!
- It’s all delivered in a Pelican case with wheels for easy transport.
- iPads come pre-loaded with software and all the support apps needed.
- In addition, other consumables, like we did for our kickoff event, will be shipped in one order, and a notification every step of the way for a simple streamlined process.
Choose 2 Rent takes pride in delivering unparalleled rental experiences. With offices in U.S and Europe, they can deliver across the globe. Their commitment to quality, reliability, and customer satisfaction sets them apart in the industry. Learn more about Choose 2 Rent’s services and rental options here.
For those that need further help with building out an event, we also have partnered with various certified agencies. Depending on your event need and budget, there are agencies that can help with the whole thing, or you can just pick and choose what’s needed, without being needed to lock in to long, expensive contracts.
A seamless in-person attendee experience, from beginning to end
Picture the last time you were at a business conference – from getting your badge, to checking-in for various sessions, to having a mobile app to see what sessions were happening with a map of the conference venue.
Checking in as an attendee
- Checking-in was such a breeze with Kiosk mode in our Organizer App.
- As you can see from the video, I was able to quickly find my name through the tablet and the device quickly printed my badge.
- Once I got my lanyard for the badge, I was able to go and listen to the exciting keynote and sessions hosted by our RingCentral executive leadership team. Whether I was in the room or doing something else around the venue, I always had access to the broadcast on my phone or computer so I never missed a thing!
Engaging for our virtual audiences too
One of the challenges event organizers face is also ensuring that their events are friendly for virtual audiences too.
For those that weren’t able to attend in person, they were still able to partake in the Kickoff through our RingCentral Events platform.
From their computers, they were able to not only see the event schedule, but hop through different tabs to view the keynote, individual breakout sessions, and more. It was as if they were all there – with so much engagement through chat and Q&A while the sessions were going on.
While there, we also hopped on the mobile app – where we were able to get situated with the daily schedule and interact with other employees joining virtually. Just see how engaged everyone was in the chat!
And for those who weren’t able to attend live, the best part about RingCentral Events is that the event remains on-demand for any employee to recap on any session.
A successful kickoff event
Overall, this was a hugely successful kickoff event!
Just to share some stats:
- Over 1262 employees attended (almost ⅔ of them virtually)
- ~7 hrs average time was spent consuming content
- Over 650 chat engagements from our live streamed keynote
Needless to say, this truly showcased the power of RingCentral Events, with it being the right platform to engage our global workforce with a key event as important as our annual Sales Kickoff. Our software made it possible to customize for everyone who joined virtually / in-person and for folks in different time zones.
Just like it worked out for our event, we truly believe that RingCentral Events can be that all-in-one event platform to power your virtual, hybrid, or even in-person events.
Looking forward to doing this again, but even better next year!
Originally published Feb 23, 2024, updated Apr 02, 2024
