Highlights National Urban League hosted the NUL Virtual Conference 2024 as a hybrid event with virtual access through the vFairs platform. This is a repeat event as they hosted a similar hybrid event in 2022 through vFairs platform as well. The conference had a multi-faceted agenda and much in store for sponsors, exhibitors, and attendees. Attendees were able to get in touch with leaders in social advocacy, business and government, along with influencers and celebrities. The event had multiple exhibit halls with opportunities for attendees looking for career development, technology trends, policy discourse, and networking. The virtual platform provided a new space for NUL’s corporate partners to host more content through their virtual booths and disseminate more information. In short, vFairs was able to achieve something remarkable with NUL by offering a range of features suitable for conferences, trade shows, and career fairs with just one platform. 11,000+ Registrations 5,800+ Mobile App Users 2,600+ Onsite Check-Ins 800+ Job Applications vFairs played a pivotal role in helping us provide more benefits to our corporate partners. It was a game changer for creating a new revenue stream for us while simultaneously delivering the most engaging and accessible virtual conference. Kristian B. Vice President, Partnerships & Advancement · National Urban League The Challenges The National Urban League pivoted to hybrid events, and got immense success with vFairs. They wanted to continue the same, but improve attendee experiences even further and provide more engagement opportunities. Increase Engagement and Accessibility The main goal for the virtual part of the conference this year was to increase engagement and make it more accessible for all audiences. They were looking for a platform that would help them increase their audience reach and make the virtual event more engaging and fun as well. Hosting a Multifaceted Event Another big challenge was hosting a career fair, a trade show, and a conference, all at the same time – and through the same platform. So the virtual part of the event needed to have features to support their multifaceted event goals. Create a New Revenue Stream Through Sponsors They were hoping to attract more sponsors and corporate partners for the event. Sponsorship proposals and visibility opportunities was a new revenue model for them. So, they also wanted a platform that could help provide branding space for sponsors. They wanted fully customizable exhibit halls, booths, and lobbies. Sponsors should be able to add their company branding and connect with their audience through networking lounges and chat options. Event Gallery The Solution To increase their reach, they decided to opt for a fully customized virtual event happening at the same time as the in-person event. vFairs was able to bring the NUL Conference to a larger audience that surpassed all of their previous events. The virtual platform was able to reach international audiences and underrepresented urban communities at a national and international level. The virtual exhibit halls and lobbies also provided a new platform for their partners to host more content. The virtual booths allowed them to use their company branding and impart more information through videos, graphics, documents, and external links. The virtual swag bag made it possible for attendees to take away the resources they were most interested in to refer to later on. They were also able to add networking options like a lounge and live chat capabilities.There were ample opportunities for engagement for attendees with interesting gamification features including a leaderboard, photo booth, and scavenger hunt for both virtual & In-person attendees. Why vFairs? NUL had hosted a hybrid event with vFairs. They had a great experience and wanted to take that further by adding more advanced features to capture an even wider audience this year. The vFairs platform offered great opportunities for sponsor visibility that was one of their main objectives and they were extremely satisfied with the white glove service and exceptional customer success and project management experience with vFairs. In the Spotlight: Mobile AppThe NUL Conference included a white-labeled mobile app that had engaging on-site notifications, detailed agenda, interactive exhibit floor plan, and a live event feed. The networking options like chat and contact shares through the mobile app made the attendee engagement levels shoot through the roof for NUL. The Results The NUL Hybrid Conference received twice as many registrations and attendees from around the world, as compared to previous in-person events. With their latest event, they were able to achieve 4 times as many registrations! The virtual conference platform mirrored the look and feel of the in-person conference and attendees were able to take advantage of it the same way. vFairs played a pivotal role in making sure that the bridge between the two audiences was seamless and well-managed. They were able to discuss solutions for Black America and open a discourse on equality and equity in the opportunities for growth, education, and employment through multiple live webinars. Attendees were also able to apply for jobs with leading organizations like Toyota, FedEx, Nestle, Delta, MasterCard, Verizon, and many more through the virtual career fair. The engagement around the content hosted at the conference had the following key statistics: More than 11,000 attendees registered for the event which is 4x more than their last event. There were 5800+ mobile app users for the NUL Conference. 800+ job applications were received at the NUL Career Fair. 2600+ onsite check-ins were recorded for the conference. Share This Article: Syeda Hamna Hassan Hamna is a Product Marketing Manager at vFairs. She has over 8 years of experience developing content for SaaS, IT, and event tech industries. She is a storyteller, a content marketing expert, and loves to write about the changing trends in the events industry. When not writing, she's over analyzing every FC Barcelona game.
