University of Salford

Running sustainable, hybrid events with Cvent

 

100%

 attendee growth

100+

 postgraduate researchers presented

60%

of registrants logged onto the app

SPARC

University of Salford run an annual conference, the Salford Postgraduate Annual Research Conference (SPARC), which took place in June this year. The event is a unique chance for postgraduate students to gain experience in public speaking, and to get some practice presenting their thesis before they graduate. Over 100 speakers took to the stage to showcase their research, attracting both academic and non-specialist audiences. 

Tracy Ireland, Doctorial School Administrator at University of Salford, explained that training students is the primary objective of this event creating a supportive, friendly environment that will set them up for success in the ‘real world’. The chance to hone their presentation skills in front of an interdisciplinary audience and build confidence in their research is invaluable, and the University is incredibly focused on providing a nurturing and encouraging space for them to find their feet and network with other professionals. 

Sustainability and conservation – engaging audiences beyond the content

Vicky Lee, Conference Coordinator at University of Salford, has 24 years of experience working in events at the University. “We deliver several hundred conferences a year – ranging from purely room hire conferences for a small group, up to conferences with 1,000 attendees.” This includes virtual, in-person and hybrid events. Vicky tells us “hybrid events are where the fun really begins, because you are basically organising two separate conferences in one”. 

SPARC organisers also pride themselves on making the event engaging beyond presentations, avoiding the classic conference fatigue attendees struggle with when faced with too much high-level content and not enough breaks. Think ice cream trucks, make your own fanzines, recycling workshops, pizza socials, karaoke and – wait for it – a birds of prey demonstration in the lecture theatre. 

Whilst eagles and falcons swooping over your audience is entertaining, it tied into SPARCS overarching goal of conservation, education and sustainability. This was a goal the team had front of mind when making technology decisions. Vicky utilised a steering group to support sustainable decisions, one of which was to find a solution to cut down on printing a huge number of abstracts and schedules – creating an app.

The University of Salford utilised Cvent’s Attendee Hub – the mobile and desktop versions. “I don’t have time to develop an app. So when we found out Cvent could do it, I said ‘thank you, it’s exactly what people want’!”, Tracy tells us. Cvent was able to create a branded proof of concept app to show the team exactly how it would work. “We discussed our requirements with our Account Manager and he came up with a solution. It was so beneficial for us to see it all branded for SPARC – it really helped us to make a decision” Vicky explains the process.

Using hybrid to get the most out of your event content

“The Cvent platform is very sophisticated. It’s a very stable platform. If we have tens of thousands of delegates, I know it’s not going to break down” Vicky Lee, Conference Coordinator at University of Salford

SPARC was a hybrid event for 2024, which is a key feature of the event for several reasons. The first being accessibility - with international students presenting their research, having an online option lets their families abroad tune in to support them. It also gives more nervous students the opportunity to either pre-record or present virtually, rather than face the anxious prospect of being on stage in front of 200+ attendees. Streams can also be recorded, giving the University a wealth of recorded content that they can utilise in the future. 

Facilitating rapid growth with technology

“We have a student population of around 500, and 100 of them presented this year. We want to see this number grow” Tracy explains. SPARC welcomed over 300 attendees across the event, which is a huge increase on the 150 who attended last year. 

Cvent technology can integrate with other platforms. In this case, the University of Salford chose to host sessions via Microsoft Teams via the Attendee App. “We had a Cvent app builder who helped us so much. We were able to upload all the Teams links into the Cvent app. We had lengthy discussions to make sure it would suit our requirements”, Vicky explains. 

Cvent offers bespoke training for any customers on request – University of Salford are taking full advantage of this service with a personalised session to learn how to build the app from scratch themselves for next year. “Cvent is very, very clever, but we need to have a person who understands how it all works on the team”, Vicky explains that they want to utilise the Attendee App again, but want hands on experience to be able to problem solve, “there needs to be education here for the team”. 

Looking forward

With ambitious growth goals, Tracy tells us that they want to make the event even more engaging: “I really want to try gamification on the app, I think it will be fun for our attendees – maybe get them a prize!”. Gamification is a great way to engage your attendees, and also lets you track attendee behaviour to gain greater insights into which elements of your event are the most successful. 

 

Photos by: Hayimeana Demir

GOALS

  • Grow attendee numbers in-person and virtually
  • Foster a supportive and accessible environment at SPARC
  • Reduce waste and become a more sustainable event

APPROACH

  • Build an app to host materials rather than printing
  • Prepare postgraduate researchers for the real world of presenting their thesis 

RESULTS

  • Attendee growth of 100%
  • 60% of attendees logged into the app

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