We admit it was hard for us to imagine when we would return to holding large in-person conferences, but here it is: The Local Government Innovation Conference – Muni Expo 2021 took place last week, and we were excited to be part of the hybrid event!
A Little About the Expo
Muni Expo is the largest, most significant, and most extensive annual event for local government in Israel. It featured an exhibition of vendors and professional conferences, both local and international.
Over two days, approximately 10,000 people attended the conference, enjoying an exceptional experience of meeting, learning, exchanging opinions and ideas, and discovering suppliers and businesses operating in the sector.
This year, the expo was conducted in a hybrid format. In addition to the impressive presence at Expo Tel Aviv, a virtual platform was also created where the conference content was broadcast simultaneously with the live event.
Our Products in Action:
Registration Forms, Access Control, and Name Tag Printing
The conference registration system in Forms-Wizard included several different registration forms, tailored to the type of attendees (Israelis vs. international visitors) and the type of participation.
This is because some side events at the expo required separate registration in addition to the general registration for the expo itself.
Most importantly: Each visitor’s name tag featured a personal barcode, which we used in several different instances. Full details coming up right after this post!
True, the conference was held in person this time, but we still set up a virtual conference platform for the expo using the Expo Wizard system.
Why? There are several reasons…
- This is a hybrid conference – not everyone could attend the event in person, so we wanted to ensure the option for remote virtual participation so that no one would miss the fascinating content the organizers prepared this year.
- Virtual Meeting Coordination – Networking is important, and after COVID, we’ve demonstrated that new business connections can indeed be made remotely. Through the platform, participants could converse with each other and schedule meetings conducted via our virtual conference platform.
- Increasing Exposure – Alongside the setup of the physical exhibition area, a virtual exhibition space was also created, showcasing all the companies participating in the conference before it began. This provided visitors the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the companies in advance and mark the booths they didn’t want to miss when they arrived at the actual expo.
With our Expo system, we also facilitated B2B meeting coordination for meetings held on-site during the expo. We haven’t discussed physical meeting scheduling much recently, so just a reminder: with our B2B system, conference participants can schedule personal meetings with each other, which enhances the business networking capabilities of the conference.
Meeting coordination was available in two different locations: within a dedicated B2B area and at the company booths. The option to schedule meetings between participants and company representatives directly at their booths was designed to improve meeting efficiency by saving significant time for both parties.
How were time savings reflected?
First, exhibitors did not need to leave their booths to move to the B2B area, thus saving time traveling from one location to another.
Second, instead of visitors arriving at a crowded booth and having to wait for a representative to become available, they could schedule their visit to the booth in advance. This helped avoid frustration and unnecessary waiting.
The 10,000 expo visitors were spread across several different areas – from the lobby and dining rooms to the conference halls and exhibitor booths.
Some of these areas were not open to the general public but were accessible only to invited guests.
Setting up mini-events using the Forms-Wizard system allows you to restrict access to specific areas of your conference or event directly through the registration system. This means you don’t need to manage separate lists or manually cross-reference information.
With 100 exhibiting companies and 10,000 visitors, Muni Expo was an innovative and exciting event, and we were there to help companies forge new business connections.
Our lead-gathering system allowed company representatives to gather participant details by scanning the barcode on each attendee’s name tag. At the end of the expo, they received a comprehensive report of everyone who visited their booth.