Skip to main content

Coming soon: Our most anticipated event of the year, Cvent CONNECT. Register now

Home

Main navigation

  • Solutions
    • Solutions div
      • BY EVENT FORMAT
        • In-person
        • Hybrid
        • Virtual
        • Webinars
      • BY EVENT TYPE
        • Conferences
        • Internal events
        • Sales kickoffs
        • Trade shows
        • Networking events
      • BY INDUSTRY
        • Agency
        • Association & non-profit
        • Financial services
        • Higher education
        • Life sciences
        • Technology
      • BY ROLE
        • Event marketer
        • Event planner
        • Travel manager
      • Explore solutions for suppliers and venues
        Get started
  • Products
    • Event Marketing & Management

      Complete solution for virtual, in-person, and hybrid event success

      • Event Marketing & Management Overview
        • PLAN AND PROMOTE
          • Venue Management
          • Registration
          • Content Management
          • Exhibitor Management
        • ATTENDEE ENGAGEMENT
          • Attendee Hub
          • Appointments
          • Mobile Event Apps
          • Check-in & Badging
          • Lead Capture
          • Video Center
        • SPEND AND WORKFLOW
          • Requests & Approvals
          • Event Budgeting
          • Stakeholder Reporting
        • ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS
          • App Marketplace
          • Integrations
          • Surveys & Feedback
          • Engagement Scoring
      • EMM Solutions Buttons
        • Build high-quality webinars in minutes with easy-to-use engagement features and production tools
          Try Cvent Webinar for free
        • Browse and discover over 300,000 venues and vendors for free to create a successful event
          Start sourcing now
    • Exchange

      Connecting planners and venues for standout events

      • Exchange Overview
        • VENUE & VENDOR SOURCING
          • Cvent Supplier Network
          • Vendor Marketplace
        • VENUE DIAGRAMMING
          • Diagramming and Seating
        • ROOM BLOCK MANAGEMENT
          • Cvent Passkey
        • CORPORATE HOTEL RATES
          • Cvent Travel
      • Exchange Cards
        • Eliminate manual processes and get valuable time back by automating room block management.
          Learn about Passkey
        • Search destinations, manage bids, determine availability, and quickly build eRFPs.
          Explore Cvent Supplier Network
    • Suppliers & Venues

      Solutions for group and transient business

      • Suppliers & Venues Overview
        • GROUP MARKETING
          • CSN Advertising
          • Vendor Marketplace
          • Wedding Spot Advertising
          • Hotel Website Solutions
        • GROUP SALES
          • CSN Productivity Tools
          • CSN Business Intelligence
          • Cvent Instant Book
        • GROUP OPERATIONS
          • Cvent Event Diagramming
          • Cvent Passkey
        • TRANSIENT SOLUTIONS
          • Cvent Transient
      • SVS Cards
        • Data-driven insights and robust resources to help you grow.
          Discover more
        • Review the latest trends in group business with our monthly webinar series.
          Join the Cvent Source
  • Resources
    • Resources column
      • All resources
      • Blog
      • Case studies
      • Events
      • Webinars
    • Resources promo column
      • Cvent can power any event and every event
        See all customer stories
  • Support
    • Support Column
      • Cvent Advocates
      • Community
      • Knowledge base
      • Services
      • Training
      • Certifications
    • Support Promo Column
      • 24/7 support from Cvent’s internal experts.
        Let's talk
      • Customer resources for suppliers and venues.
        Learn more
  • Company
    • Company Column
      • The Cvent Difference
      • About us
      • Careers
      • Contact
      • Diversity & Inclusion
      • Investors
      • Partners
      • Security
    • Company Promo Column
      • Join 4,800+ employees around the world who power our technology.
        See open positions

Utility navigation

  • Request demo
  • Search
  • Find Event Venues
  • Log in

Main Navigation (EN-Mobile)

Solutions

Event Marketing & Management

Back
  • Overview

  • Virtual events

    Engaging, interactive virtual experiences

  • In-person events

    Safe and impactful events of any size

  • Hybrid events

    One event, two experiences™

  • Webinars

    Audience engagement, reimagined

  • Deliver a seamless event experience with Attendee Hub
  • By solution
    • Plan and Promote
    • Attendee Engagement
    • Spend and Workflow
    • Actionable Insights
  • By role
    • Event planner
    • Marketer
    • Travel manager
  • By industry
    • Association
    • Corporation
    • Financial services
    • Government
    • Higher education
    • Life sciences
    • Non-profit
    • Planning agency

Exchange

Back
  • Overview

  • Venue Sourcing

    Find the perfect venue for your event

  • Room Block Management

    Save time, eliminate the back-and-forth

  • Corporate Hotel Rates

    Manage a preferred hotel program like a pro

  • Venue Diagramming

    Design safe floor plans with ease

  • Learn how to source safely
  • By role
    • Event planner
    • Marketer
  • By event type
    • Conferences
    • Enterprise
    • Hybrid
    • Trade show program
    • Virtual
  • By industry
    • Association
    • Corporation
    • FInancial services
    • Government
    • Higher education
    • Life sciences
    • Non-profit
    • Planning agency

Suppliers & Venues

Back
  • Overview

  • Group Marketing

    Market to thousands of event planners

  • Group Sales

    Manage your leads to win new business

  • Group Operations

    Run your events more profitably

  • Transient

    Attract more business travelers

  • Start growing group and transient business
  • By role
    • General management
    • Hotel operator
    • Hotel owner
    • Marketing
    • Revenue management
    • Sales
  • By organization
    • Destination marketing organization
    • Event venue
    • Hotel management company
    • Hotel ownership group
    • Hotel property
All products
List
  • About us
  • Careers
  • Case studies
  • Community
  • Integrations
  • Investor relations
  • Partners
  • Privacy & security
  • Resources
Buttons
  • Find a venue
  • Login

Breadcrumb

  1. Case Studies
Thumbnail
Mary O'Connor & Co. Logo

Mary O'Connor & Company

Ensuring creative virtual event solutions with the Cvent Virtual Attendee Hub®
Download Case Study
350+

registrations

35

sponsors

4

day event

Kristin Huben, Account Director at Mary O’Connor & Company, first saw the global health crisis affect her company in early March. The meeting and events planning agency underwent the same challenges as the rest of the industry, with the knowledge that many of their clients’ events would be postponed or canceled. With the uncertainty of the global pandemic affecting the outlook of their clients’ business, she knew the answer was to pivot as quickly as possible to virtual.

The 25 year-old company manages events of all sizes for clients across industries. It was their existing relationships with their customers that helped drive their expertise in the new virtual world. “Going from being with all of our customers, who we love so much, to the virtual atmosphere meant the face of meetings and events was changing as well,” she says. “We needed to change to meet the customer’s business objectives.” As a result, the Mary O’Connor & Company team quickly shifted to execute premier virtual events for their clients.

Powering Virtual Event Success with Cvent

After seeing almost all events paused for the first half of 2020, virtual events become mainstream for the second half of the year. As a result, an association client partnered with Kristin’s team to evaluate virtual meeting technologies in the marketplace. They hoped to find a solution that could serve not only their virtual event needs, but the eventuality of in-person events. The association combined three separate conferences into one virtual experience. They needed a virtual platform that could support complicated registration logic while offering customizable features, an easily navigable platform, and the ability to follow advanced rules to create custom experiences. Kristen was able to see the new Cvent Virtual Attendee Hub® in action at Cvent CONNECT Virtual, Cvent's virtual user conference. She quickly recommended the tool as the right solution for her client.

The virtual event would require advanced logic to manage multiple registration pathways. Different packages were available for members, non-members, and sponsors. The content was designed for professionals working with franchise organizations, so it was also tailored to fit three unique business services based on the global situation: those not yet re-opened, those  partially re-opened, and those fully re-opened. Further, there were pre-registration sessions with head count ceilings. The content offerings could be purchased à la cart or as a package, and were split into marketing, operations, sales, and development tracks. Recorded content would be available to all post-event, with a few thresholds in place.  

"Cvent is certainly the industry leader by leaps and bounds, especially in terms of the need for complicated registration advanced logic to drive a really custom experience for attendees, and with the Virtual Attendee Hub."

Kristin Huben, Account Director

The complexity of the event build and registration logic meant the flexibility of the Virtual Attendee Hub and integrated Cvent Event Management system were a perfect fit. “Cvent is certainly the industry leader by leaps and bounds, especially in terms of the need for complicated registration advanced logic to drive a really custom experience for attendees, and with the Virtual Attendee Hub,” says Kristin. Registration data flowed seamlessly into the virtual platform across the four day event. Attendees were guaranteed a secure login experience with one-click access to the virtual environment protected by two-factor authentication and built-in privacy controls. The single system of record also offered clear data insights for Kristin’s client, with on-demand reports to track attendance and measure key data points across the event lifecycle. Kristin insists the technology “was definitely designed with the user in mind." As both experienced Cvent users and novices would be accessing the tools, she felt comfortable with the clean interface and user experience for both registration and the Virtual Attendee Hub.

Advancing Production with the Cvent Virtual Attendee Hub

To manage the complexity of the build and high-touch virtual experience, Kristin’s team partnered with Cvent’s Virtual Event 360 Advanced Production services. Kristin’s team was able to scope the client’s goals and objectives for the virtual experience in conjunction with the production team. She appreciated the ingenuity of the Cvent experts in working with the client to engage speakers and craft compelling content for sessions. She explains, “We were able to really control the production of the content and make any edits that we needed to, and Cvent’s advanced production team was really the linchpin in this process. The most important person on this entire team was our Virtual Event 360 project manager.” They offered session production, strategy consultation, custom graphics and overlays, and video layout and configuration. Content capture and casting from various remote locations across multiple time zones required a down-to-the-minute production schedule. If issues or questions arose, Kristin says the production team was always ready with a solution. She credits the knowledge of the team and their versatility within the tool to help keep their event on budget and within scope, all while creating a polished virtual experience. With such expertise in place, the client’s event looked incredible and ran smoothly from start to finish. “It was just completely seamless, and the Advanced Production services from Cvent were pivotal to our success,” she insists.

"It was just a completely seamless process, and the advanced production services from Cvent were pivotal to our success."

Kristin Huben, Account Director

Within the hub, the fully-branded, personalized home screen gave attendees access to key event details. These included live sessions, upcoming sessions, and networking events, all dynamically displayed based on registration type. Content included a daily mix of plenary speakers, breakout sessions, and networking opportunities. They offered a selection of live, simu-live, and fully pre-recorded content based on session type and audience. Kristin’s team used the Cvent Video Player for embedded streaming directly within the hub, creating a seamless viewing experience for the end user. An emcee helped guide users to appropriate sessions and events, including a select number of RSVP-only networking events like mixology classes and cooking demos. These all were capped with registration ceilings, so they offered optional networking rooms for overflow attendees. They also used the Cvent Video Conferencing tool and a Zoom integration to manage interactive networking experiences. Live Q&A allowed attendees to engage with one another, and the team was able to configure it as a type of chat feature. Kristin notes her team used the mobile app as a “great in-hand tool to moderate session Q&A.”

Maximizing Sponsor ROI with Engagement Scoring

The fully-sponsored event also featured multiple levels of sponsor engagement packages. Kristin’s team used the Exhibitor Management solution to streamline workflows and automate processes. She explains, “We had about 35 sponsors at different levels. We were able to offer them activations at different levels, using various parts of the hub to feature them in unique ways.” Sponsors were highlighted within the sponsors showcase on the home page and within dedicated sponsor pages. Here, they could promote key collateral, content, and contact information. Kristin's team used the digital space to tailor their sponsorship packages based on number of documents to be featured, character limits, and so on. She adds, “We were also able to create a really enriching experience leveraging virtual booths for high-end sponsors." Direct mailers and virtual swag bags increased sponsor visibility with attendees.

"We got some really positive feedback, not only in the navigability of the tool, but the execution and professionalism of the content. The customer has been really happy with the result."

Kristin Huben, Account Director

With the ability to offer on-demand content for up to 90 days after the close of the event, Kristin’s team could provide additional value for both sponsors and attendees. With over 350 live event registrations and a steady stream of additional registrations after the event closed, the client views the longevity of the virtual environment as a key aspect of their success. Kristin's team also relied on a wealth of data to prove event ROI, including engagement scoring. “There is value in engagement scoring not only for the client, but for sponsors of the event,” she notes. “We were able to show the value in the numbers of links, click-throughs, and views on their content.” Coupled with custom reports on web page analytics, question submissions, and attendee tracking, both the client and sponsors saw valuable leads generated from the event. They also distributed an event-level survey with custom logic to gain insights into the attendee experience, viewing the overwhelmingly positive response as a significant metric of success. “We had some really positive feedback, not only in the navigability of the tool, but the execution and professionalism of the content. The customer has been really happy with the result,” Kristin says.

The Future of Virtual and Hybrid Events

Working with clients of all sizes across industries, Kristin appreciates the flexibility of the Cvent ecosystem to execute successful virtual and in-person events for her clients. She explains, “We really put every feature into use, and it may not have been the exact intended use, but that’s our favorite thing about Cvent. There’s a perfectly prescribed use case, but at the end of the day, you’re also given the tools to figure out how to make the tool work best for you.” Measures of success for her client included staying under budget and producing a world-class experience, both of which were handily achieved. Kristin notes, “We produced a fantastic event and got to work with great people from Cvent who were really knowledgeable in tool. They helped us meet business objectives and our budget goals, so that was incredible.”

"We produced a fantastic event and got to work with great people from Cvent who were really knowledgeable in tool. They helped us meet business objectives and our budget goals, so that was incredible."

Kristin Huben, Account Director

As for the future of the industry, Kristin naturally hopes for the return of in-person events but foresees a bright future for virtual and hybrid experiences. She does note that “we’ve opened a door that can’t be closed again with virtual,” which will be an integral part of future events. That means consumers and event producers alike need to adjust their understanding of event best practices, including shorter session content, technology adaptability and engagement, and ensuring attendees can engage in meaningful conversations through video conferencing. “The tools are already right there in the Cvent toolkit,” Kristin insists. She adds that the right tools are transferable from virtual into hybrid meetings environments, which will be the way back to in-person events. “As a third party planner, I would say helping the customer understand the technologies that are available to them and how it will serve them beyond the virtual-only environment is key,” advises Kristin. “You want to make sure the technology has the legs to serve them twelve or eighteen months down the road so they don't find themselves in the marketplace for a new technology all over again.”


Become the Next Virtual Events Success Story

Explore our integrated solutions today to transform your virtual meetings and events.

About the Company
Mary O'Connor & Company is an expert meetings and events agency serving clients across industries. Since 1995, MOC&CO has produced meetings, conferences, events, trade shows and incentive trips that bring people together from all over the world to share in innovative experiences. Their knowledge of the hospitality industry, combined with years of experience in meeting planning and corporate cultures, enables MOC&CO to deliver truly memorable events that help their clients achieve strategic business objectives. 
IMEX-LOGO

IMEX Group

Mary O'Connor & Co. Logo

Mary O'Connor & Company Virtual Event Success

MPI Logo

Meeting Professionals International (MPI)

Cvent logo

Social menu

  • Cvent on Facebook
  • Cvent on Twitter
  • Cvent on LinkedIn
  • Cvent on YouTube
  • Cvent on Instagram

Footer

  • Sales
    • Request a demo
    • Pricing
    • Contact sales
    • 866.318.4358
  • About
    • All products
    • Careers
    • Investors
    • Management team
    • Newsroom
    • Partners
  • Popular products
    • Event registration
    • Mobile apps
    • Attendee Hub web
    • Check-in & badging
    • Webinar platform
    • Venue sourcing
  • Free resources
    • Blog
    • Case studies
    • Events
    • Watch webinars
    • Find event venues
    • Best event venues
    • Find wedding venues
  • Support
    • Accessibility
    • Community
    • Developer Hub
    • Knowledge Base
    • Security
    • Training
  • For suppliers & venues
    • Group Marketing
    • Group Operations
    • Group Sales
    • Transient

Copyright 2023 Cvent Inc. All rights reserved.   LEGAL | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS OF USE | YOUR PRIVACY CHOICES

 

TRUSTe   TRUSTe
  • United Kingdom (English)
  • Australia (English)
  • Singapore (English)
  • UAE (English)
  • Deutschland (Deutsch)
  • India (English)
US (English)
Reset redirect preference
Clear redirect preference