Higher Logic Offering Free Solution to Help Organizations with Virtual Events in the Face of Coronavirus

Our hearts go out to individuals and communities that have been affected by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). As COVID-19 concerns grow, conferences and in-person events are being cancelled left and right to protect people and “flatten the curve” of this virus.  

Zendesk Relate, SXSW, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, SaaStr, Association of University Technology Managers, Facebook F8…the list goes on, from small meetings to huge conferences.  

But instead of cancelling outright, some companies are opting to take their events digital, like Adobe Summit, Zendesk Relater, IBM Think, and Google Cloud Next.  

We’re encouraging organizations to adopt a similar approach: With the technology available to you, you can deliver meaningful experiences and engagement to your attendees until you can safely hold large in-person events. 

To make this a reality, we’re stepping in to help. We issued a press release sharing our solution (available in full here). 

In brief, the solution we’re providing is this: If COVID-19 is forcing you to cancel your event, consider taking it virtual. We’re offering you a free program, Event Engagement, to support your virtual event, before, during and after it happens.  

I want to share more about why we’re doing this and how you can maximize the opportunity. 

Please contact us about this opportunity, and watch our video to learn more:

Using Community to Maximize Engagement at a Virtual Event  

With tools you may already have access to, like Zoom or GoToMeeting, you can host a live event. But the hosting platform is just one part of the picture.  

These tools can help you get your speakers in front of your audience, but it won’t help you recreate those special networking opportunities you find at in-person conferences and events.  

Leverage our solution, Event Engagement, to help you incorporate the beauty of casual networking and collaboration back into your virtual event.   

If you’re not familiar with using community, we’re here to provide strategic guidance on engaging your audience before, during, and after your virtual event. Here are some ideas for how you can use community discussions and the resource library to help you with your virtual event: 

• Pre-record your sessions. Since your audience may not be available for a full day of conferences, consider pre-recording your sessions and giving your audience the freedom to watch them on their time. Invite them into the community for a discussion that can last over a few days. 
• Invite speakers to do AMAs. Arrange for speakers to be available during a certain window of time and run ask-me-anything (AMA) discussions in the community.  
• Share all follow-up resources in the community. Continue to engage attendees even after your event ends. They can discuss ideas with each other, ask for notes on sessions they couldn’t attend, and find all presentation materials in one place. 

Your Virtual Conference Will Be Successful 

Coronavirus was unexpected and pivoting on your event after months of planning is likely not something you prepared for. It’s normal to feel some anxiety about this.  

However, with the help of solutions from Higher Logic, you can work through these uncertain times and deliver a truly engaging event. We hope that our support helps you re-invent your live event.   

Contact us to learn more.

Kevin Boyce

Chief Executive Officer

Kevin Boyce has over 20 years of experience as a technology executive driving success for small to large software companies. He is currently Chief Executive Officer at Higher Logic, a SaaS company that connects people, knowledge, and ideas through its community engagement platform and services. Higher Logic serves over 3,000 customers through 350,000+ online communities with 200 million users in 42 countries worldwide.

Previously, Kevin was Chief Operating Officer at Ellucian, a cloud-technology ERP solution for higher education, where he led the global services, customer success, cloud, and enterprise project management teams, as well as Ellucian’s global partnerships and corporate development activities. Prior to that Kevin served as Chief Financial Officer at Ellucian. During his tenure, he led Ellucian from $100M to $750M in revenues and successfully executed multiple sale and recapitalization transactions with an aggregate value greater than $4.5 billion.

He is a Board of Director of Level Access and Unanet (both JMI Equity companies), a Board of Director of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, a former member of the Software Advisory Council of Hellman & Friedman, and a former Board of Director of Deltek (a Thoma Bravo Company). 

In 2010 and 2016, the Northern Virginia Technology Council of Greater Washington DC named Kevin the Private Company Chief Financial Officer of the Year, and in 2015 he was named a Trending 40: Top Tech Chief Financial Officer by Bisnow. Kevin holds a degree from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.