It was time for ServiceNow to host their annual flagship event, the ‘ServiceNow Experience Summit’, an event where attendees across the globe can get a firsthand insight into the company's ethos, product development, organizational structure and vision. 

This was a one-day event with multiple objectives to it:

• Brand awareness
• Talent acquisition
• Employee engagement
• Networking

And this time around, the core team wanted to kick things up a notch by making this edition much more impactful and memorable than its rather humble forerunners.

Towards this end, they were on the lookout for a solution that could fuel the transformation of their flagship event from a basic virtual event to a vibrant hybrid experience with engagement taking center stage whilst meeting all the other event goals.

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Here’s how they translated the idea to reality

Offering something beyond the webinar-like experience

One of the major issues ServiceNow faced with earlier editions of the ServiceNow Experience Summit was that their previous event platforms did not do justice to the ‘experience’ aspect of the event -  especially on the branding and engagement front. 

This time around, however, they had the capabilities to curate a unique event that brought together recruiters, internal leaders as well as external attendees who were genuinely invested in learning about ServiceNow either from a product perspective or a career perspective. An immersive experience was paramount - that’s precisely what they delivered.

The event kicked off with a high-impact intro video in the immersive lobby, customized to showcase the brand's colors. The subsequent focused and energetic sessions engaged attendees, turning them from passive observers to active participants.

Meeting multiple communication objectives

The ServiceNow team were very clear about their need to empower event attendees to engage with their business leaders, recruiters, tech team; the desired outcomes from these interactions would be better employee interactions, awareness of the company’s culture, brand and products.

This is how they were able to achieve all of this:

• The expo booth was a standout feature as it enabled the product team to showcase its offering in a highly immersive way. 

• The 3D video was a close second as it garnered a never-before buy-in from their management about the event within the first few minutes; clearly the best validation an event marketer can get!

• The breakout rooms and AI-matchmaking feature kept attendees abuzz throughout the day with minimal drop-offs whether it was to do with 1-1 interactions between recruiters and potential candidates or the product team and key prospects. 

• And of course, the photobooth was an enjoyable addition to the branded experience.

Going hybrid the first time as a small organizing team

With a few attendees joining in-person from ServiceNow’s office location and the rest attending virtually, the team would have to offer a hybrid meet-and-greet experience which was clear, visible and latency-free.

As a core team of hardly 2-3 individuals, there were understandable apprehensions about handling a hybrid event without prior experience.

However, all these concerns were addressed once they collaborated with the event support experts at Zuddl who made sure the team was equipped with the right production partner, tools and expert guidance to achieve their event objectives with conviction.

Right from setting up the live stream to ensuring there was no disparity in the quality of event experience among different stakeholders who were either attending in-person from the office or online, the team was able to handle it all without hiccups.

In their own words, the team at ServiceNow felt instantly more confident about running a hybrid event after this hosting experience.

The outcome

It was a win-win situation for ServiceNow, as their external attendees were sold on the brand and capabilities of the company while their internal leaders gave the core team the green signal to offer the same event experience every year.