Meet JDI, a Belgian digital agency that used Hopin to grow their clients' communities during lockdown

PLANNING A NEW KIND OF EVENT

Unlocking the power of virtual

JDI stands for Just Do It, and when the pandemic hit, they certainly lived up to their name. Quickly pivoting from physical to hybrid + virtual events, they achieved outstanding results for their clients even amid lockdown. During this period, one standout event for JDI was achieving a record-breaking attendance at Securitas Belgium's annual conference.

The key to Securitas Belgium's success was understanding the unique challenges of a hybrid event.

"If you want to stand out, you need to make sure that you have a good combination of interesting content, inspiring speakers, interactivity with your audience, and an intuitive digital tool like Hopin." – Nico Ivens, Business Development & Sales Partner, JDI

To help generate buzz pre-event, they combined teaser content from the pre-recorded sessions of their speakers with the magic link functionality of Hopin to easily register attendees. They also collaborated with sponsors and partners on CRM, content, and social activity in a genuine partnership rather than doing everything themselves.

Cameraman recording speaker sitting in leather chair

"Thanks to Hopin and thanks to the professional expertise of JDI, we’ve helped many customers here in Belgium and in other European countries really make an impact with their digital events."

Nico Ivens

Business Development & Sales Partner, JDI

IT’S SHOWTIME

New technology = new possibilities

Rather than focusing on the things they could no longer do in person, the team at JDI embraced the new possibilities that hybrid offers.

They invited Securitas's speakers to have both their pre-recorded and live sessions shot in one of the three filming studios that are part of JDI's offices. This allowed them to professionally edit all of the conference's content, picking the best bits from each recording and enhancing clips with VFX, graphics, and slides.

To make the agenda more dynamic, they surveyed all attendees on the types of topics they'd like to see discussed in their confirmation email, then hosted expert panels on those same topics.

Finally, they doubled down on interactivity, utilizing Hopin's full suite of tools like chatbots, one-on-one videos, networking sessions, and sponsor booths. They combined this with innovative attendee experiences like quizzes, games, brainstorming sessions, and even a lunchtime DJ set!

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Hopin exceeded JDI's five key requirements for a virtual event platform

As an agency that prides itself in providing truly memorable experiences for their clients' customers, JDI had a number of prerequisites for the virtual event platform they'd use to throw virtual and hybrid events.

Easy setup: With little in-house technical expertise, they needed a tool that was easy to set up with excellent customer support.
A simple UX: Attendees, speakers, and organizers had to find the platform intuitive and easy to navigate.
Detailed in-event reporting: JDI needed to be able to prove to their clients' key stakeholders that the events they were throwing had a measurable impact.
Customizability: Each event had to be fully customizable to their clients' unique visual styles and brand values.
Interactivity: After months of tiring Zoom webinars, JDI's events had to stand out as being genuinely engaging and interactive.

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"We’ve had a really positive reception to all of the events we’ve done with Hopin." – Nico Ivens, Business Development & Sales Partner, JDI

75%+

Attendance rate for external events

95%+

Attendance rate for internal events

20%

Registration rate from event invitation

"It’s very easy to set up an event, add extra sessions or copy previous events. Even I can do it, and I'm not a techie person!"

Nico Ivens

Business Development & Sales Partner, JDI

HOW IT TURNED OUT

Virtual or live? The future is hybrid

Securitas Belgium immediately saw the benefits of transitioning from live to hybrid. Along with the record attendance rate, they saw exceptional engagement. Using Hopin's built-in analytics and reporting, they noticed an encouraging trend - rather than dropping off; attendee numbers actually grew throughout the day.

One bit of customer feedback indicative of this trend came via Hopin's general chat functionality during the event. After 16 months of constant webinars and digital events, an attendee got in touch to say it was the best online event they'd ever attended!

"He literally said this was the best online event ever, even after 16 months in COVID times where so many webinars and digital events have been broadcast. For me, that was one of the best quotes that I got from a customer." – Nico Ivens, Business Development & Sales Partner, JDI

Many other guests of Securitas Belgium shared this sentiment. After the event, JDI landed an array of new business from attendees and sponsors who were so impressed by their hybrid experience that they actually hired JDI.

8.6

NPS Score

5h+

Average Time Spent In-Event

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97%

Turnout

"The feedback from both attendees and Securitas was that it was a really top event. Next year, rather than just doing a live, in-person event, we’ll actually be going hybrid because we are really convinced that hybrid events offer so much more."

Nico Ivens

Business Development & Sales Partner, JDI