Amsterdam Conference Centre Beurs van Berlage
Unforgettable encounters in the post-corona era
Amsterdam Conference Centre Beurs van Berlage|
4 November 2021

It was a strange sensation, about a year and a half ago. What no one ever thought possible happened: the world of events and conferences came to a halt in one fell swoop. Suddenly the Beurs van Berlage, like its fellow event locations, was confronted with an empty agenda. “We were still quite busy in the beginning”, says the . “Especially with moving events. There is a lot to consider: you have to reassure organizers, create space in the already full agenda, see whether the current form of the event will still be suitable in a year's time, for example, and in consultation with the hotels about the rooms already booked for several days. conferences.”


Looking at what is possible: restart with small events

The Beurs quickly realized that sitting still and waiting for the pandemic to end was not a solution. It was necessary to listen carefully to the wishes from the market in order to develop appropriate new products and services. We looked at what was still possible, despite all the limitations and uncertainties. This resulted in a restart with small-scale events, such as concerts and graduation ceremonies. Rooms were also made available for shareholders' meetings and exam candidates, and the Stock Exchange was even set up as a voting location for national elections. “That was a great way to help other sectors with a lack of space. It was also nice for our people, because doing nothing and sitting still is not in our DNA.”


The next step: virtually walk into the Stock Exchange again

But the Beurs did even more, responding to the increasing demand for hybrid and virtual events, for example. Together with partners Faber Audiovisuals, Univate and Plugged Live Shows, a platform was soon developed that allowed organizers to expand their physical event with a virtual experience, or even make it completely digital.


With the 'Beurs van Berlage Virtual Live Events Platform', you enter the digital Beurs as a participant. The doorman welcomes you personally, after which you walk into the exhibition foyer. There you can hear the buzz of the other participants in the background, just like at a live conference. Van Kessel is very enthusiastic about this, because in this way it is still possible to experience the ambiance of the monumental building and the personal hospitality. “At an online conference you often get a link. When you click on that, you usually end up in a Zoom-like environment. But the Beurs is precisely a location that you choose because of its rich history and appearance. With the platform you imagine yourself, although digital, in the Beurs van Berlage. The carousel in the platform allows visitors to communicate with fellow conference attendees, and even ask the speakers live questions.”


In order to take hybrid and virtual events to a mature level, the Beurs realized a completely new state of the art event studio: Studio Berlage. Studio Berlage is not just a green screen in which a speaker is projected flat into a different background, but a real stage in one of the historic halls of the Beurs. We work with an LED base surrounded by a virtual world, which enables lively interaction at a distance between the audience, presenters and/or several keynote speakers.


In addition, the Administration Room was converted into a smaller studio, Studio 1903, which is fully equipped to unburden organizers of smaller online webinars, seminars and other small-scale virtual events.


Stays online because of the great added value

The Beurs van Berlage assumes that hybrid events will remain, because the online component is of great added value. An important advantage is that organizers can now increase their reach. “Normally, the Beurs van Berlage can accommodate a maximum of 1,300 conference participants. By adding an online component, you can increase the number of participants, to infinity. But you can also attract a completely different target group, because online also works as a kind of on-demand model. People who are only interested in a certain part of the congress only look at that item. Viewing from a distance is also interesting for people who do not want, cannot or are not allowed to travel. You can also choose to review sessions at a later time. With online additions you get more return from your event. Thanks to the shareable nature of a recording, for example, you can choose to offer it again later. You can do this via a digital channel, for example via a subscription, but also during another event.”

Live events are coming back in full


But as valuable as all online options are, Van Kessel still believes in the power of live events. “A spontaneous conversation on the floor is different from communicating via a screen. Of course it also gives a different feeling to visit an event in an international hotspot with charm; a building with grandeur, the place to be in the warm heart of Amsterdam where special things happen.”


She is therefore convinced that live events will return in their full glory. In her view, this is accompanied by new challenges when there is also an online component. For example, people who watch through a screen often become easily distracted, making it more difficult to maintain their attention. The other way around: precisely when it is easy to attend an event from the living room, it requires an extra effort to entice people to visit on location.


“If you want to be successful with a hybrid event, you really have to offer two separate programs. These programs will have to be more distinctive than before. Live conferences are all about the program for the whole day, including things like a good lunch, clean toilets, clear signage and welcoming staff. The online part is much more about things like the power of the speakers, the topics of the sessions and the content.”


Making your event a success together

The Beurs van Berlage likes to think along with organizers of conferences and other events, about how they can best captivate their participants live and online. “We have all the facilities in-house to organize and set up an unforgettable conference completely from A to Z, both live, hybrid and completely virtual. Our employees are very experienced and, together with our partners, can take a lot of work off the hands of an organizer. Think of the preliminary phase, registration, arranging hotels during the event, the event itself with all the trimmings, but also the aftercare. We have everything in-house to make every event a great success.”


Recent events have in any case brought a lot of creativity to the surface at the Beurs van Berlage. The organization has been shown to be resilient and able to respond quickly to change. “We have not given up. The crisis has taught us that you should always have a plan B. As a result, an event can always continue, even if something unexpected happens. So we can always do something for our customers. Together we make it a success and we ensure that we achieve what it is all about in the end: that visitors have an unforgettable experience,” concludes Evelien van Kessel.

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