As we’re meeting within this new (maybe temporary?) normal, MPI’s 2020 World Education Congress (WEC) is being presented live onsite at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas, as well as live online. Accordingly, MPI’s media team thought it prudent for me to cover the event’s online side in order to have the same digital WEC experience as our remote attendees. Thus, I joined more than 1,100 meeting professionals from around the world to get my annual dose of WEC education and networking through the robust, customized WEC Digital Experience.
Considering the re-imagined hybrid approach to WEC, Jessie States, director of the MPI Academy, wisely started the day by giving digital participants a clear picture of what they should expect from the experience. As States was talking, digital participant Peggy Robins, CMP (MPI Philadelphia Area Chapter), shared a longing for face-to-face interaction, saying, “So great to hear the buzz of attendees behind her…missing being in person.” Yeah, that same longing you’re experiencing.
However, from my vantage point, the Freeman OnlineEvent Pro digital platform being used delivered pretty much everything I’d desire for virtual attendance: outstanding audio and video quality and active, easy-to-use chat features. Remote participants asked questions (and got answers) about the content and speakers as well as the digital platform itself (of course, meeting pros are interested in the details), and it really felt like a chat room from the good old days of the internet, meaning uncluttered by pop-up ads and “You also might be interested in…” distractions.
Many speakers at this year’s WEC are actually presenting their sessions twice—once for the audience onsite and once for online attendees—so that the experience for digital participants was clearly not an afterthought. In fact, the WEC Digital Experience contains no fully canned or pre-recorded educational content—an effort that has been clearly appreciated by remote attendees.
The integration of onsite and remote goes beyond that, though. During the general session, emcee Dena Blizzard engaged live with digital attendees from Canada, Denmark and the U.S. for some entertaining get-to-know-you banter and, as the general session continued, the awareness of those connected digitally seemed spot on—one person in the chat commented that they’d like to see a wide video shot and a moment later, the shot went wide. (I can’t promise this was a direct response, but it certainly seemed that way.)
When the general session concluded, digital participants landed back at the onsite ALHI Studios for further interviews and discussions, alternating between States and MPItv’s Sarah Soliman-Daudin as hosts, and featuring guests such as Discover Puerto Rico’s Brad Dean and speakers Dr. Lawana Gladney and Antwone Stigall.
Sure, digital participants can’t enjoy a complimentary warm beverage or snack during session breaks, but this formula for experiencing a live, hybrid conference remotely is certainly the next best thing to attending in-person. That said, wear your masks and listen to the experts so we can get back to the outstanding face-to-face events we all know and love.
Stay tuned for more first-hand coverage of the WEC Digital Experience tomorrow!
