What SCMP learned from pivoting its entire events business online
The company has increased the number of events it runs four-fold, while lowering costs by 15 percent, says events head Razlan Manjaji.
Takeaways
Since September 2019, Hong Kong has faced tough situations — protests, a pandemic, and a harsh national security law — forcing the city’s South China Morning Post to drastically change how it approached events, says Razlan Manjaji.
Virtual events have ensured better speaker selection, diversity of race and gender, and a global reach.
To figure out the virtual events matrix, SCMP conducted 30+ demos of multiple solutions for virtual events.
Context
South China Morning Post’s events head Razlan Manjaji was thrust into pivoting to virtual events from September 2019 onwards. It was a difficult shift, forcing Razlan and his team to learn and test new ideas quickly.
The team found its pace and managed to raise the number of events four-fold despite the pandemic. Revenue is projected to double, while costs have decreased by 15 percent.
There are three type of events run by SCMP
Impact: These are flagship events that bring SCMP’s journalism to life. The China Conference is the company’s best known. Due to Covid, this series was conducted online for the first time. Using a green room, masks and an expert panel, SCMP broadcast the conference straight to a global audience. The virtual conference had 10 times the audience as compared to physical events, making it SCMP’s largest event to date.
Marketplace: Connects different buyers and sellers in various industries, eg. International School Festival.
Special projects: These are experimental in topics, format and audience, including virtual conversations with experts. Some are ticket events aimed at readers as a way to reduce reliance on sponsorships.
An event tech stack
Organize multiple demos to find the right product mix for your virtual events. Also, figure out different combinations of events/technology to see what could work. An event tech stack may require:
CMS for the website
Event registrations and ticketing
Registration check-ins
Live streaming
Metrics and analytics
CRM to track sponsors, speakers and attendees
Other considerations
Understand what your clients need with respect to privacy policy and security requirements.
Educating team members and clients on values of virtual events ensures bigger reach, richer metrics, lead generation and better speaker selection.
Figure out ways to improve cross-department collaboration, creation of repeatable processes and project management tools.