For the past 5 years...

the student-run Entrepreneurship Cell of IIT Madras has hosted the college’s annual Entrepreneurship Summit with no difficulty, and with great success. Every year, the Summit enables students with entrepreneurial inclinations to take a giant step towards becoming entrepreneurs themselves in a few years.

This year, however, the E-Cell leadership team encountered an unexpected curveball.

Because of the pandemic, it was no longer feasible to hold one of the biggest student-run entrepreneurial conferences in the country on-ground. So, fittingly - given that adapting to, and conquering the changing dynamics of the new virtual world was a central theme at the 2021 Summit - the team decided to pivot their event from traditional to virtual.

Even more impressive - the team decided to hold the Summit for an incredible 10 days. “We needed to take complete advantage of the fact that E-Summit had to be virtually set up”, said Vaidehi Mishra, Head Of Corporate Relations. “[So] we went all-in about organising this as a 10-day event rather than squeezing it into fewer days,” she added, pointing out that by doing so they could drive better learning opportunities, and business outcomes for their attendees and event partners.

With Zuddl’s suite of tools and features, the team was able to effortlessly realise this vision - and achieve some pretty fantastic results.

• More than 20 stages used in the event: Attendees spent an incredible average 3 hours learning at workshops, seminars, round table sessions, panel discussions driven by founders, investors and industry heavyweights.

• More than 25 Rooms used: Attendees spent an average of 2 hours in group discussions hosted in Rooms, discussing and debating topics of interest.

• More than 25 + booths used: Attendees were able to visit interactive, branded Expo Booths set up by startups and sponsors to chat with live staff about their innovative products and services, and download marketing collateral, and spent an average 30 minutes doing so!

Here’s how they went about achieving this result.

Putting organisers in the driver’s seat

To set the stage for their flagship event, the leadership team needed to create an immersive and interactive experience in a virtual space that could not only mimic, but also supersede the thrill of an offline, on-ground Summit.

"The platform allowed us to create a professional look and feel for students and corporates alike,” said Akshit Bagde, Students' Head. The team, using the 100+ design templates and skins available on Zuddl, created a completely branded virtual venue that thrilled attendees when they entered the event.

The team was also able to set up the venue as they wished over the ten days. They created stages, Rooms, and an Expo booth section to increase participation, as well as enabling Networking to help hundreds of attendees make valuable business connections - a crucial part of the event.

And they used the platform’s easy management options to run each day of the 10 day Summit smoothly. “We weren’t sure if it was possible to accommodate such a large audience on one platform – and a reliable one at that” Neha Rana, Head of Entrepreneurship Club at E-Cell IIT Madras wryly pointed out. "But Zuddl gave us the tools we needed and helped us tackle and manage the crowd effectively, whether it was speakers or the attendees.”

Brand exposure – maximised

Driving value for sponsors and stakeholders was key, and here the IIT Madras student body relied on touch points within the event to make an impact.

As every area in the digital venue was customisable - banners, video, links to external sites - the E-Summit was able to offer great exposure to their event partners. “We had been worried about how to give special branding opportunities to sponsors. However, Zuddl allows for this in all areas of the digital venue, from logos in the networking rooms to branding in stalls and the lobby.” Akshit Bagde, Students' Head, commented.

Putting the spotlight where it belongs – on user experience!

Attendees need to feel seen and heard and supported at every step and stage of an event, and this was of primary importance to the leadership team. Using these Zuddl features, the team created a stress-free, seamless experience, as well as an engaging one, right from the minute an attendee entered the Summit:

• Easy login for attendees: With other platforms, the leadership team realised that they would have to purchase 20-30 accounts to enable their attendees to access sessions in the events. With Zuddl, no separate downloads or platforms were required, making entry effortless for attendees, and was one less of a headache for organisers.

• Welcome videos: A customised, branded welcome video made attendees feel wowed from the start, set the tone and turned up the tempo. “I really liked the entry video feature as it began the event with a great vibe for an attendee as well as the Stage experience video,” Vaidehi Mishra, Head Of Corporate Relations said. “Most of our speakers and participants were extremely impressed by that. And that was really unique from the rest of the platforms we explored."

• Rooms: Attendees were able to speak with each other and speakers, hold debate and engaging group discussions in Rooms while watching sessions together, which really created a feeling of community. It proved to be a big hit! “Attendees could not only interact with each other, but also see what was happening on Stage,” Neha Rana remarked. “This way participants could actually view the lecture or workshop happening on Stage while discussing it with their peers. For me, this feature really stood out.”

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With more than 1500 participants reaping insights from reputed speakers, the E-Summit 2021 showcases the fact that virtual events can deliver ROI cost effectively. Whether it is opportunities to network or collaborate, learn or tell stories, students from IIT Madras ensured their flagship virtual event could truly inspire.