Editor’s note: Eventcombo was recognized this year with the ISACA Innovative Solutions Award “for enabling community connections and continuing education virtually during a global pandemic through innovative EventTech solutions.” Find out more about how Eventcombo innovated through the pandemic in this Q&A interview with Eventcombo’s Jaya Janwani, head of marketing, and submit a nomination for the 2023 ISACA Awards here.
ISACA Now: Can you tell us a bit about what Eventcombo does and the kinds of events that you support?
Eventcombo is an integrated event platform that provides a suite of cutting-edge technology, products and solutions that allow organizations of all shapes and sizes to create and host events, easily and quickly.
We support conferences, symposiums, summits, education events, roadshows, seminars, webinars, recruiting events, kickoffs, launches – any event, any size.
Here is a list of our turnkey products:
- Complete Event Registration & Ticketing
- Complete Event Management
- Fireworks™ by Eventcombo is our virtual event solution for virtual and hybrid events (Eventcombo.com/fireworks)
- Community™ by Eventcombo (Eventcombo.com/community) is the first of its kind complete post-event engagement platform, where an event never ends. It offers event organizers a platform to stay connected with all stakeholders and attendees post-event, within an integrated ecosystem of event tools, reporting and analytics, built-in event creation and management options, as well as attendee management.
- Eventiverse™ by Eventcombo allows users to create and configure their events in the metaverse along with an NFT+ IRL marketplace.
Eventcombo’s platform supports all kinds of events, be it on a small or large scale. In the past, our clients have hosted Student Career Fair / Vendor Meet & Greet with Production by Kennesaw State University and Virtual Experience for the Sienna for Toyota USA. You can explore more on our YouTube channel: How to host amazing virtual events | The Next Big Thing | Webinar Series
ISACA Now: What were the first weeks like for you and your team after the pandemic hit?
It was jolting and as the entire industry was reset, the pandemic changed the way our clients conducted the business of events. Planning became pretty complicated as many events shifted from in-person to virtual and we responded by quickly building and offering our Fireworks solution to support the demand for remote/virtual events. During this time, it was stressful and doubtful for the entire industry, but we remained focused on helping our clients and partners remain in business and sustain their programming.
ISACA Now: How long did it take to get a new plan in place?
It took our team 2-3 weeks to decide our strategy and then it took another 4-5 weeks to develop the state-of-the-art virtual video streaming solution we call Fireworks™ by Eventcombo by Eventcombo.
ISACA Now: How have the results of the Fireworks program compared to what you might have initially expected?
We are very fortunate to have decided to build Fireworks because it allowed our clients the option to continue their event operations. The outcome was aligned with our expectation as we identified the demand was pretty strong early on in the pandemic. When we started seeing our clients improving their attendee experience and increasing retention by up to 70 percent, we were both excited and relieved.
ISACA Now: In what ways do you see the virtual events space continuing to evolve in the coming years?
For the rest of 2022, we believe there will continue to be a rebound of events that consist of virtual, in-person and hybrid. There is no doubt virtual is now here to stay. We can expect a great deal of evolution as we take virtual streaming into the metaverse and introduce AI/ML to really elevate the experience.