Executive Summary
The International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI) hosted its annual, week-long conference to connect AI experts from around the world. Meeting in one specialized event, they could share previously unpublished AI research and collaborate towards technological innovation. Through seamless, personalized event planning, IJCAI’s 2023 conference allowed over 2,000 attendees to create over 1,430,000 sponsor impressions, 7,100 private messages and explore the future of Artificial Intelligence.
About IJCAI
Since 1969, IJCAI has been a global nonprofit oriented around scientific research and education. They update AI education through their journal, conferences, proceedings and other academic resources, and their conference proceedings are a major archive for AI literature. At their 2023 conference, they discussed AI in regards to ethics, art and learning and networked to create present day technology from a place of mutual cooperation.
IJCAI has worked with Whova since 2015, and, this year, they used Whova to manage their sheer size. They sent announcements and organized session tracks so that 2,000 international guests knew where to go. They also appreciated networking features, like “Break the Ice,” for transforming a large conference into a hotspot for professional partnerships.
Community Board Messages
Attendees Matched on Background/Interests/Affiliations
In App Agenda Views
Attendee Profile Views
Challenges/Goals
- Personalizing an event to 2,000 people
IJCAI hosted an extremely large event inviting scientists from diverse, international backgrounds. Because of this, one of their main challenges was finding a way to reach every person with content relevant to their interests. They wanted a platform that could prioritize each attendee, especially since 2,000 attendees could not get such individualized attention from organizers.
- Offering Sponsors a High ROI
To help sponsors bounce back from the pandemic, IJCAI wanted their 2023 conference to prioritize sponsor ROI. Besides the usual perks of sponsoring an in person event, sponsors needed more opportunities to build brand awareness.
- Making Clear the Logistics
Being an international event, IJCAI had to pull scientists from around the world and then orient them all on the same page. To avoid miscommunications, they needed an app to send timely, easy to understand updates for everyone.
- Facilitating Collaboration Between Scientists
The IJCAI conference aims to build even more scientific achievements, and, to do this, they also need to build relationships. It would be too difficult for organizers to introduce all attendees themselves, so they wanted a platform that could spark conversations between attendees and other scientists.
- Connecting Less Experienced Attendees with Senior Attendees
Each year, the IJCAI conference hosts scientists ranging from students to leaders in the field. This offers learning and mentorship opportunities for attendees with different levels of experience. IJCAI wanted to take advantage of this variety of scientific backgrounds and make it easier for new scientists to work alongside seasoned experts.
Solutions
- Organizing Personalized Agendas for Everyone
Whova’s “Agenda Customization” feature allowed all attendees to create their own, personalized agenda. With their unique schedules, they didn’t need to take notes on a brochure or rely on organizers for session logistics. Instead, with all their information on their phone, they could navigate the organizers’ parallel tracks and visit only the sessions they needed to see.
IJCAI’s conference had several tracks, and personalized agendas allowed attendees to follow the tracks relevant to them.
- Showcasing Sponsors Right on the App
Organizers could increase their sponsors’ event presence through Sponsor Digital Profiles and rotating banners. Now, beyond in-person sponsorship, they could highlight their brand through product videos and company descriptions. This generated attendee interest and helped create over 1,430,000 sponsor impressions in general and over 180,000 impressions for just one sponsor.
Organizer Announcements kept attendees posted about the event through sending timely notifications.
- Simplifying Details into Manageable Updates
With Whova’s “Announcements” feature, organizers could simultaneously inform all attendees with necessary information. Notifications could reach each attendee directly through app or email, so organizers could keep every person in the loop.
- Encouraging Engagement through Pictures
Whova offers an event-restricted photo wall, allowing attendees to post event pictures without worrying about their online presence. This private, low pressure environment made attendees comfortable sharing about themselves, leading to more engagement.
The icebreaker function allowed attendees to start conversations based on mutual interests and make unexpected connections.
- Gamifying Introductions for Easier Networking
For introverted attendees, networking can bring extra challenges, so Whova rewrites the situation with “Break the Ice!” With this feature, you can start your conversations online, making them less intimidating and, often, more playful. This feature was especially popular at IJCAI’s event because it helped attendees meet each other more casually.
