Style Dots Conference Hub

Summary

Style Dots has an in-person conference every year to share company news as well as recognize their boutique partners for their hard work. In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic suddenly hit, Style Dots needed to find a way to hold their conference while keeping everyone safe. Current virtual conference solutions were too expensive, so we helped design a solution that used existing tools to support their conference needs within their budget.

1. Register
2. Save Schedule
3. Receive Notification
4. Join Session

Challenge

The main challenge with this project was finding a solution that fit within the client's limited budget while also creating something that was intuitive for their users, many of whom are not tech-savvy.

Solution

Because Style Dots had previously used Zoom video conferencing software for team meetings and company webinars, we decided to leverage that experience to our advantage. However, one question remained: how do we make it easy for conference goers to get where they need to go (virtually)? We decided to build a landing page within Style Dots' current website to act as a virtual "hub" for conference goers. The design and content of the page changed slightly before and during the conference in order to streamline the experience for users.

How do I prepare for the conference?

The main goal of the landing page prior to the event was to support users in preparing for the conference. First and foremost, users would find the conference dates and a countdown to the start of the event. Next, users could find a complete schedule with the ability to add a single event or all events at once to their personal calendars. Finally, because this was new territory for many people, we included detailed yet easy-to-read instructions on how to download and use zoom for the conference.

How do I get the most out of the conference?

During the conference, the page layout changed slightly. The schedule was now the first to appear, with the events of the current day appearing first. The schedule now displayed links to each Zoom meeting, allowing users to jump straight into an event in progress. We also added a new page for conference documents and information shared during sessions so users could access them after each event.

Results

Because the conference was virtual, travel expenses were eliminated, resulting in a record number of participants in the conference compared to previous years. Style Dots even went on to utilize the conference landing page system in consecutive years for other virtual events.