FHI, federation of technology branches, is a collective of four leading sectors in technology. With 20 events and congresses per year and an international fair with no less than 15,000 visitors, FHI knows what to do in the event industry. In order to streamline event organization while providing the most relevant experience possible for its visitors, FHI was looking for a tool that could provide this. Lively has set up a best-of-breed software solution for FHI to effectively organize events in the coming years. You can read more about this in this case.

FHI's events are organized for their members and partners to connect them with customers and each other. Networking and lead generation are therefore very important here. The 20 conferences that are organized annually range from around 200 to 300 participants. And with the World of Industry, Technology & Science fair, they have one of the largest technology and science fairs in the Benelux in their portfolio.

_{The reason for the collaboration}

To register, track registrations and communicate about the events, FHI worked with Hubspot. This also included — with a detour — the session preferences. In addition, there was a separate mobile event app that had to contain all event data. This was all done manually and led to a lot of extra work.

For their events, FHI has to deal with various stakeholders, in addition to regular visitors. Think of partners, sponsors, exhibitors and their members. These were often in different lists and could therefore not be accessed efficiently. Before check-in at the events, the badges were pre-printed and labeled. This took a long time. And although networking is an important part of FHI's events, the current mobile app only had basic network functionalities.

All in all, together with FHI, we started looking for a long-term solution so that they can organize their events more effectively themselves.

_{What did we implement?}

So FHI's need was clear: a pre-event solution (more efficient registration, communication and badge printing) and a solution for during the event (stimulating networks, event app and lead generation). An important condition here was that the new software had to be linked to Hubspot and fit in well with their way of working with this system. For example, the name and address details of their members could not be overwritten.

Based on this, we implemented event management software Swoogo in combination with engagement platform Grip. A best-of-breed solution where every piece of software contributes optimally to the goal. Indeed, Swoogo and Hubspot are excellent links and offer all the flexibility that FHI was looking for. With its own license for multiple events, FHI can effectively manage, duplicate, maintain event data and communicate with participants in Swoogo based on numerous criteria. In Swoogo, the registration pages can be fully branded in the corporate identity they use.

With Grip replacing their old mobile app, FHI has a matchmaking and engagement platform that meets all their needs. Participants can network with each other - both via the web and mobile app - based on recommendations, exhibitors can scan leads and each participant sees his or her personal program. The essential benefit? Swoogo and Grip are also linked in real-time, so you only have one place where all data needs to be managed. Newly logged in participants and their session preferences are directly in Grip. In addition, Grip offers many new opportunities to facilitate networking even better, such as roundtables and speed date programs.

_{What was the result?}

The first events with the new software have now taken place. We asked our client Josephine Faber, online marketing & communication manager at FHI, about her experiences:

“We were looking for a tool that could help us with practical issues such as registration and badge printing, but at the same time a tool that would allow us to make a visit as relevant as possible, with a personal program and the opportunity to network. We found them in Swoogo and Grip.” says Josephine.

“We've been using the software for a few months now. I highly recommend the combination of Swoogo with Grip. It took some getting used to for our colleagues, but luckily they were well supported and bugs were fixed quickly. Around the event, communication takes place from the platform. Segmenting and sending emails and reminders is easy and flexible. Our exhibitors also had to get used to the new app, but scanning badges to collect leads is really nice. At the first event, we had some start-up problems with the registration and our contact person came to help us on the spot after a phone call. Nice! So far, we are very happy with this new long-term solution.”

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