SAN JOSE, CALIF.—There's no denying that the entire professional world is familiar with Zoom (and yes, we can see your screen) and all of the communication power it holds to keep teams connected. So how does the tech giant keep its own team connected?
One way is through Zoomtopia, the company’s annual user conference, which took place this year at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center Nov. 8-9. More than 1,200 customers, partners, and leaders were on-site at the event in California, while thousands more joined the livestream via—of course—the Zoom Events platform.
And although Zoomtopia has always had some kind of hybrid element (the event's no stranger to speakers participating over Zoom), 2022 marked the first year the two-day to-do really went "all in on that digital-first approach," said Sam Kokajko, event specialists manager at Zoom, who's had a hand in Zoomtopia's hybrid production since its inception six years ago.
This meant "making sure that every single session had hybrid elements, making sure that we were really utilizing the biggest and best, showing the world how we do hybrid, and how we think about it at scale," Kokajko explained.
Zoomtopia took place at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. More than 1,200 customers, partners, and leaders were on-site at the event in California, while thousands more joined the livestream via Zoom Events.Photo: Courtesy of Zoom
The theme for this year's Zoomtopia was “Explore New Dimensions," with the goal to help spark fresh ideas about what business communications can be. Attendees had the chance to hear musical performances from artists like Nelly, Yola, and Lawrence; plus listen to speakers like Enrique Lores, president and CEO of HP Inc., and producer and singer Timbaland, who gave a keynote that touched on his music career and overcoming rejection.
Virtual attendees could enjoy programming remotely as well—and Kokajko said Zoomtopia takes "a continued approach to making sure that [both] audiences are always aware of each other, and they're always part of the conversation with each other."
One place to see this dual engagement in action was the main stage, which had the virtual audience's live reactions flying up the LED wall behind the speakers. "I remember at one point seeing in the chat, someone post, 'hey, everybody do surprise faces,' and just a wave of them come across the screen as everyone kind of had a little moment of unity and bonding," Kokajko fondly recalled.
In-person attendees could see real-time reactions from the virtual audience on the main stage's LED screen.Photo: Courtesy of Zoom
All eight of Zoomtopia's content theaters (aka breakout sessions) also had thorough tech stacks and Zoom setups. Each theater had multiple cameras getting wide shots of the room and tighter shots of the audience, plus ambient microphones that picked up the sounds of the audience in the room and brought them to the virtual audience. Wherever possible, the theaters also had live audience views of the virtual attendees, a feature that was also used on the main stage.
The goal was "at all times, reminding the two audiences of each other and making sure that they were in contact with each other," Kokajko said.
And when Zoom's leadership unveiled exciting new developments from the company—like Zoom Calendar, Zoom Mail, and Zoom Spots—Kokajko said that seeing the virtual audience's reactions in real time helped further that engagement, whether it was their social posts pulled onto the LED screen or their "shocked face" and "heart" reactions flying by.
At Zoomtopia, the company unveiled Zoom Spots, a virtual co-working space for Zoom users "to help foster inclusive discussions, keep colleagues connected, and bring the fluid interactions of in-person work to distributed, hybrid teams throughout their day," according to a press release. It's expected to launch in early 2023.Photo: Courtesy of Zoom
"We're continuing to come up with new ways of how we can build engagement, because engagement is key," Kokajko said. "Interactivity is key. Anybody can make a broadcast and send it out, but can your audience truly interact with it?"
And his advice for planners currently tackling hybrid production?
"It can be a little overwhelming," he prefaced. "There's a lot to think about when you're thinking about both of these audiences and the different experiences that they need. Just [know] that there are resources out there—Zoom provides a lot of resources, both with the tools that you're going to use and training on those tools." He also cited Zoom's public webinars, as well as its professional services.
"You can have the same team that worked on Zoomtopia, working on your next event directly," he said, adding: "We are truly here to encourage the success of those using our platform, and to make sure that every event is the best it can be."
