Anyone watching a finished event usually has no idea what goes on behind the scenes.
Imagine an organizing committee having to quickly switch an event from in-person to online?
That’s exactly what happened with the 58th SOBER Congress, originally planned to take place in person in the city of Foz do Iguaçu in August 2020.
Because of the pandemic, and facing a scenario full of uncertainty, the event’s organizers had to make fast, important decisions — after all, for them, canceling the SOBER Congress was simply not an option.
So, if you had the chance to see behind the scenes of the event, do you know what you’d find? A team 100% committed to not just making the 58th SOBER Congress happen, but making it a historic one.
Planning to organize an event too? Create yours right now and try Even3’s features for free!
The 58th SOBER Congress
With 60 years of history, the Brazilian Society of Rural Economics, Administration and Sociology (SOBER) has as its main goal developing and promoting applied rural social sciences (Administration, Economics, Extension, Communication, and Rural Sociology), and related fields.
To achieve this goal and exchange knowledge across these fields, the Society holds the SOBER Congress every year — an event that’s already a true tradition, now counting 58 editions.
A reference in its field, the SOBER Congress targets professors, researchers, graduate students, universities, and state research institutes focused on agribusiness.
The 58th SOBER Congress was held, for the first time, fully online in November 2020, and became a milestone in the Society’s history.
Under the theme “Cooperativism, Innovation, and Sustainability for Rural Development,” the event brought together more than 600 attendees and 26 speakers.
Here’s how, in just a few months, the organization planned the event and turned it into a real success.
From In-Person to Online in Just a Few Clicks
The 58th edition had been carefully planned since September 2019 by the event’s organizers, and, as mentioned, was set to take place in August 2020.
However, as the pandemic arrived and spread, the team was forced to change their plans. Canceling an event with so much tradition wasn’t an option for SOBER.
Scientific coordinator and organizer Alcido Elenor Wander, PhD in Agricultural Economics, describes how the team took the news of the pandemic.
“When the pandemic started, the emotions started too. Since we didn’t know what was going to happen, we initially kept preparing for the in-person event.”
— Alcido, organizer of the 58th SOBER Congress, in an interview with Even3
Like many other organizers, the first decision was to postpone the event, hoping the pandemic would improve and in-person events would return.
But it was in July that the decision was made: the 58th edition would not only have to happen that same year, but, for the first time in nearly 60 years, it would be 100% online.
The in-person event was already being managed through the Even3 platform, and in just a few clicks, Alcido was able to switch the format to digital.
“The Even3 platform was essential for us to be able to run the event virtually, because it let us switch the event from in-person to online in just a few clicks.”
The organizing committee, although it stayed the same, had to completely flip its way of working.
“Our team is very motivated and didn’t shy away from the challenge. We held preparation meetings, and we also split up tasks so everyone was clear on what needed to be done.”
On the day of the event, the organizing committee gathered to monitor every detail of the event.
On top of that, having a team of online event specialists on hand gave the organizers the confidence they needed to bring the SOBER Congress to life.
“That closeness between Even3 and the organizers is fantastic, and essential too. Because no one on our team had experience with virtual events, and without that close, open contact with the Even3 team, it would have been much more challenging.”
A Different Audience
Alcido shares that, because it went online, the 58th SOBER Congress reached a different audience.
“Some people who used to attend the in-person event didn’t attend this time online, but we were also able to reach people from far away who rarely could make it to the in-person event.” – Alcido, event organizer.
Breaking through geographic limits was truly a surprise in this edition, since, beyond the usual attendees from neighboring countries like Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, they also welcomed people from Portugal, Italy, the United States, and Chile.
During registration, attendees filled out a form with their home address. This way, after generating the attendee report in Even3’s People menu, it became easy to track where each registrant was coming from!
Recorded Videos: More Security and Peace of Mind for the Event
To ensure a more secure and stable broadcast, SOBER chose to use recorded videos, a feature available on Even3 Streaming, for the program.
Without them, Alcido notes they would have faced serious content interruption issues, as he shared with us:
“If we had tried to do everything live, we would have had very serious problems, including during panels and talks, because the connection for some international speakers dropped in the middle of their presentation.” – Alcido Elenor, organizer of the 58th SOBER Congress
Recording the talks and paper presentations in advance was essential to keeping the event running smoothly.
Running Tests and Meetings With the Even3 Team
Besides recorded videos, another important factor that ensured a smooth transition from in-person to online was running tests with broadcasting tools, including StreamYard and RNP video conferencing.
And, of course, the constant support from the Even3 team, answering questions and explaining best practices for running a successful digital event.
“Leading up to the event, we had several meetings with the Even3 team, ran several tests, and all of that gave us the confidence we needed to successfully run the event, even as beginners in the digital world.”
A Dedicated Event App
Knowing that most SOBER Congress attendees are smartphone users, and that people aren’t always in front of a computer, SOBER made the smart move of having a dedicated event app.
The idea behind the app came precisely to let attendees check the full event schedule, know what would happen each day, and see which speakers and topics would be covered.
It also made it possible to highlight the event’s sponsors, which is a great opportunity to add more value to a sponsorship pitch.
With great feedback from attendees, for 2021, SOBER plans to expand the app’s features.
“We want attendees to also be able to build their own personal schedule and follow broadcasts through the app.” – Alcido Wander, organizer of the SOBER Congress.
If your event also needs a dedicated app, just talk to one of our consultants. Together, we’ll find the best solution for your event.
Program Organization
The SOBER Congress program was quite diverse, spread across round tables, paper presentations, exhibits, and conferences.
The organizing committee took great care when putting together the program, aiming for engaging suggestions that were also comfortable for attendees. That’s because too many activities could hurt the audience’s experience at the event.
The panels hosted the main talks. They brought together speakers with different perspectives on the same topic, connecting science, research, government, and society.
Another point worth highlighting in SOBER’s organization was keeping the cultural activities, which already happened at the in-person event, in the digital program.
The cultural activity’s purpose is precisely to showcase the local culture of the host city — in this case, Foz do Iguaçu — to attendees coming from various regions of Brazil and other countries.
However, the cultural activity also had a strategic, practical role in the digital format.
The organizers scheduled it between two panels, lasting half an hour. That was the time for attendees to grab a snack, have some coffee, stretch their legs, unwind, and network, while the organizers set up the next panel.
#Even3Tip: How about adding a break between your online event’s activities too? Too much screen time can hurt attendees’ experience at your event.
Interactivity: Surprises and Great Reception
When it comes to event interactivity, Alcido shares that attendees were surprised by just how much virtual interaction was possible.
“That’s because we didn’t create dedicated spaces just for interaction. Every room hosted concrete activities, like talks. Attendees could ask questions and get answers.”
Another big surprise for the organizers was seeing that even older attendees, aged 70 to 80, who thought they’d never be able to take part in an online event, were able to join in and interact with everyone without any trouble.
Today, the Even3 platform is even more complete when it comes to interaction, and you don’t have to spend a cent to use these features. To make your event more interactive, you can:
- Create one or multiple polls per broadcast
- Have a dedicated section for attendee questions
- Run giveaways
Sponsors: A Challenge in the Face of the Pandemic
Traditionally, SOBER counts on sponsors like CNPq and Capes (Brazilian research funding agencies). In 2020, due to the pandemic and limited resources, that support was much more limited.
With some cooperatives that had already committed to sponsoring the in-person event, a lot of dialogue was needed at first.
Giving sponsors space and visibility in the broadcast was the solution found to benefit the event’s sponsors and supporters.
So, for example, the backgrounds of the panels and talks featured sponsor logos. For the 2021 event, the plan is to include sponsor videos at strategic moments, whether during breaks or at the start of sessions.
And here’s good news for SOBER’s organizers, and anyone else using Even3: you can set up a customized section to showcase your event’s sponsors and supporters. All completely free.
Now, on Even3, you can create custom areas for your event’s sponsors.
Results
There’s no denying it: the 58th SOBER Congress made history.
It will certainly be remembered by the event’s organizers, who learned in just a few months how to run a digital event with great efficiency, and by attendees, who had a new and incredibly enriching experience at the congress.
There were more than 620 attendees, nearly 600 papers reviewed, 72 online activities, and 26 speakers. The event was marked by punctuality and plenty of praise from attendees.
Alcido and SOBER’s organizing committee were able to collect attendee feedback through the Event Evaluation module, available for free on Even3.
Attendees were able to rate important parts of the event, such as submissions and registration, as well as punctuality, the event’s theme, and other relevant aspects.
“We ran an evaluation with attendees, and they rated the event very highly. It was a very successful experience,” Alcido explains.
The 2021 Event Is Already Scheduled
The event was such a success that the 2021 edition is already planned and will once again take place online, on the Even3 platform.
It will run from August 2 to 6, 2021, in partnership with the Brazilian Society of Cooperativism (SESCOOP).
And, when the pandemic situation is under control, the event will return to in person — but it will keep hybrid components in its program.
“We won’t ignore the opportunities that going virtual brought us. Being able to connect people from anywhere on the planet at a virtual event opens up so many possibilities, including bringing in major international references in the field. That’s fantastic,” Alcido says.
Alcido concludes by saying that “it was possible to put together a high-quality congress while completely changing the way we ran it. SOBER’s first virtual congress made history for the Society.”
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