Case study

IIASA creates community around flagship event to increase reach and impact

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) uses Hivebrite’s community engagement platform to drive value before, during, and after its hybrid events.

I continue to be impressed with the level of customization Hivebrite offers. We now create dedicated groups for our events within our existing community—registrants can participate, access privileged event information, and network during and after the event both with other participants and the entire community.

Monika Bauer
Community Manager, IIASA

74.6%

participation increase vs previous edition

4.2/5

average overall participant satisfaction rate

Efficiency

Less time spent on admin tasks, more spent on strategy

About IIASA

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is a world-renowned international research institute that plays a primary role in resolving complex global change matters. The results of IIASA research and the expertise of its researchers are made available to policymakers worldwide to help them produce effective, science-based policies that will enable them to face these challenges.

Visit the community

The community challenge

IIASA partnered with Hivebrite to create , an international and interdisciplinary community to connect IIASA research partners, IIASA organization members, and IIASA alumni.

Events are a significant component of IIASA’s engagement strategy. The institute organizes numerous events, including a bi-annual event for a diverse set of attendees using and developing scenarios to carry out research and policy analysis related to climate change and sustainability.

In 2022, the team decided to organize the Scenarios Forum as a hybrid event. It wanted a way to optimize event management and create a more engaging experience for its attendees.

Hivebrite’s full-stack community platform enabled IIASA to:

Facilitate organic connections

Foster independent sub-communities to enable connections while maintaining institutional governance

Create a repository of knowledge

Build a centralized knowledge hub that leverages member expertise

Encourage collaboration and innovation

Facilitate partnerships and networks to drive industry advancement and promote innovation

Gather data and insights

Monitor user behavior, engagement metrics, and content performance to measure the impact of initiatives

The Hivebrite solution

Using Hivebrite’s Event Management Module, the team created a public page to promote the event. Once registered, ticket holders were added to a group within the community dedicated to the event.

All ticket payments were processed by an integrated payment gateway within Hivebrite–offering end users a frictionless sign-up experience.

The group’s members could view the agenda and speakers’ supporting material. They could research and interact with all event stakeholders.

Hivebrite’s interactive map visually displayed all registrants’ locations, meaning it is easy for users to find other registrants nearby and connect with them. The event organizers were able to reinforce the event’s branding by customizing the group to match the event’s graphical charter and sending out branded emails to registrants using Hivebrite’s communication tool.

The team was able to share presentation templates, speaking instructions, and more with speakers through the group.

During the event, all sessions were live-streamed directly within the community and viewers could comment in real-time. The community’s mobile app enabled attendees to scan QR codes to view the event’s agenda and get directions to the different conference rooms at the event.

The organizers could check in and record all attendees by scanning the QR code on each digital ticket. After the event, the organizers shared all session recordings in the group and invited participants to comment and start forum discussions.

Key features designed for alumni networks

Jobs and opportunities

Create a versatile opportunities board that enables sharing of jobs, internships, and volunteer positions while integrating external sources and leveraging community engagement through customizable workflows, notifications, and peer-sharing capabilities.

Events and ticketing

Create engaging online and in-person events through an integrated management system that enables RSVP tracking, paid ticketing, QR code functionality, and virtual delivery options while leveraging community features to enhance attendee experience before, during, and after each event.

The outcome

The event was attended by 515 participants; 315 physical and 200 virtual. This represents a 74.6% attendance increase on the previous edition of the Scenarios Forum. The average overall attendee satisfaction rate was 4.2 out of 5.

IIASA has created a community dedicated to its event that it can build on and leverage every year to increase the impact and reach of future editions and other events.

“For the first time, we were able to organize an all-encompassing hybrid, paperless event thanks to Hivebrite’s platform and mobile app! The team and I can now centralize all event management in one place—including processing payment, tracking event performance, and generating reports in a couple of clicks.”

Jennifer Faa MacDonald

Project Officer at IIASA