The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) is a global trade association for the biotechnology sector dedicated to the creation of innovative solutions in healthcare, agriculture, and green energy. Attended by 18,000 biotech industry members, the annual BIO International Convention features 1,000 speakers and 150 breakout sessions that offer collaborative, educational, and networking opportunities.

BIO is a longtime partner of Hubb’s, using our event planning software to plan their in-person events, including BIO International. But when the pandemic hit, they knew they would have to switch to a virtual venue. The challenges in making this shift were great, requiring re-motivating almost 10,000 attendees to register, integrating with a host of new vendors, adapting content to a virtual environment, and ensuring a fireside chat with the nation’s most popular and respected infectious disease expert went off without a hitch. Oh, and they had eight weeks to do it. 

“We talked with some our technology vendors about putting together such an event and all but one of them balked at the eight-week deadline,” said Sarah Arth, BIO’s Vice President of Education. Since Hubb was already an established, trusted technology partner for producing in-person events, the BIO education team was not surprised by their response. “When we talked to Hubb about taking BIO International either virtual or hybrid, they said ‘We have a solution. We can make that work for you,’” said Arth.

With teamwork and technology, BIO was able to produce their global event in this tight timeline and create an educational and immersive experience for their attendees. The result was overwhelming positive feedback from attendees. Because so much conference content was pre-recorded and available on the Hubb platform, speakers and attendees were free to interact even during sessions. Use of lobbies and the chat interface also helped to create the immersive feel Arth and her team sought. 

You can read more about how BIO pulled off this herculean effort in our new case study BIO Digital 2020. Click here to read the case study or watch the video below!

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