In 2020, could there be a conference theme more appropriate than "resilience?" The powerful concept was woven into the fabric of C2 Online—Montréal 2020, a virtual event from the organizers of the annual C2 Montréal business conference.
While the Oct. 19-30 gathering was meant to be separate from the annual spring event (which was canceled this year due to COVID-19), it still drew the typical mix of high-profile speakers, interactive workshops, and unique networking opportunities for which the conference has become known. A large lineup of speakers this year included actress and activist Jane Fonda, entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, author Malcolm Gladwell, and actress Jameela Jamil.
"An event in real life and an event online is a different animal," explained Jacques-André Dupont, president and CEO of C2 International, in an interview with BizBash. “We didn't want to try and copy, but we wanted to be true to the DNA of C2.”
The online edition deployed a number of unique strategies to keep guests engaged—and to keep them returning to the virtual platform throughout the 10-day event (and beyond). Here, Dupont shares some tips and tricks to steal for your next virtual gathering.
Sessions were a mix of fireside chats, panels, workshops, roundtables, and meet and greets. Attendees could either choose between curated journeys centered around a specific theme, or pick and choose the content they were most interested in. Speakers included actress and activist Jane Fonda, who discussed social justice and the climate crisis with Sid Lee chairman Jean-Francois Bouchard.Screenshot: C2 International
1. Make it accessible.
"The first thing was we needed to think about was what it means to be online versus what it means to be in real life," Dupont said, noting that the team wanted to fight the concept of Zoom fatigue. “It's one of the reasons why we did it over a longer period, rather than having a packed program of eight hours a day for three days." Instead, he said, "We made it a journey over two weeks, with touchpoints and white space for people to be able to work, to take a lunch break, to check their emails."
Another benefit of the virtual event was the ability to bring in people from all around the world, especially when Canadian borders are still closed due to COVID-19. Ultimately, thousands of attendees joined from 45 different countries. Dupont also noted that without attendance limits set by a venue, the event could be accessible and inclusive for a much larger group of people. "We were able to target university students, new startups, new entrepreneurs. I was really adamant at making sure we would have cultural diversity in the audience as well," he explained. "So we were able to target them and make sure that it was affordable for the younger generations."
The easy-to-use platform had a live feed where the C2 team provided new information and notifications throughout the event. Participants could also make their own posts, as well as organize their notes from sessions, create their own agendas, find speaker bios, and more. All materials were presented in both English and French.Screenshot: C2 International
2. Focus on interaction.
One of C2’s most innovative conference elements is typically the networking options, which have included everything from chairs suspended 20 feet off the ground to group strolls with an umbrella under a rain machine. While those unconventional strategies are a bit hard to recreate virtually, organizers were able to include the popular “Braindate” program, where attendees suggest topics they want to discuss either one-on-one or in a group session. (The program is owned by networking company e180 and has been used at C2 Montreal for years.) Guests were also encouraged to fill out profiles detailing their job responsibilities, interests, and more, which were then searchable by other attendees. If both parties agreed to a meeting, their full profiles and contact information were made visible.
Of course, the conference wasn’t all business. There were also a series of interactive culinary challenges, in collaboration with Quebec culinary school La Tablée des Chefs, where registered attendees cooked together virtually and discussed food waste and accessibility with local chef John Winter Russell.
3. Spotlight the local community.
The culinary challenges weren’t the only ways the conference involved the Montreal community. Another creative and engaging component was the daily "Sunset Sessions," which ended the day's programming with live performances and conversations with local Montreal musicians.
Dupont says that despite the event being virtual, it was important to organizers to spotlight local businesses and performers. “Montreal is one of the epicenters of the pandemic in Canada, so the psychology of the city is really down right now," noted Dupont. "We contacted the city of Montreal, the Quebec government, and the federal government and we said, ‘If you need a platform, tell us and we'll help you convene your community.’”
He continued, "We were able to gather the whole Montreal community—public partners, private partners. People were excited about it."
C2 recreated its popular "Braindate" feature virtually by having attendees suggest topics they wanted to talk about in either a one-on-one or group discussion. Participants could search by topic or interest to join the conversations they were interested in.Screenshot: C2 International
4. Pair different technologies to achieve what you need.
Dupont noted that no one virtual event platform offered all the capabilities the team was looking for—so they decided to take aspects from several technologies to achieve their desired result. C2 used its own platform as a jumping-off point, and then worked with virtual event platform SpotMe, e180, and others to build the experience.
“It was maybe seven or eight different technologies that we brought together,” said Dupont. “But for us, the most important thing was that as a participant, you don't need to know that there are seven companies involved. It needs to be perceived as one experience, and I think we achieved that.”
5. Keep the engagement going after the event wraps.
While the live experience ended on Oct. 30, C2 is offering content on-demand until Nov. 30. "We're trying a strategy of post-event monetization," explained Dupont. "We're selling tickets for people who did not attend live to come back, see the content that is recorded, and have access to Braindate."
The team will also be strategically unleashing content on social media platforms, such as in a dedicated Facebook show, in the coming weeks. "You might perceive us as an event producer, but our real job is to be a convener of community," Dupont noted. "And the event itself is the peak engagement of that community—but there's a lot going on before and more going on after to make sure that we deliver value to our community, our partners, and so on.”
In another session, author Malcolm Gladwell hosted a masterclass focused on the art of curiosity. Now that the live conference has wrapped, many sessions are available on-demand until Nov. 30.Screenshot: C2 International
6. Learn and improve as you go.
C2 Online was about "20% of our vision,” said Dupont. "We basically said to our community, 'We're going in innovation mode; we're going to try stuff; we're going to learn. But we have a vision, and [this event] is the start of the journey.’”
The team is already coming up with a list of things to do differently in the future, whether that’s for more virtual events or for in-person events with an online component. For example, Dupont hopes to incorporate more of a bilingual experience. "In the convening world, you need multi-language options,” he said. “If you do an international conference for the health industry, for example, you might have to deliver messaging in five different languages.”
He continued, “There were things like that we knew were not up to where we wanted to be. But we tried to deliver the best minimum, viable experience possible—and then jumpstart the next step."
