How Gardner Events Learned to Pivot to a Virtual Environment

Employee Spotlight Profile

Jacquie Webb, Event Manager

It seems that when people ask me what I do for a living, it catches them off-guard because you don’t meet too many people in the ‘real world’ who work in the event industry, unless they are wedding planners.

Prior to working at Gardner Business Media, I was a marketing coordinator and a team of three of us would plan an annual conference, but it wasn’t a full-time gig. I am certain that I applied for Gardner on a whim via an Indeed posting around midnight because it sounded fun and different, and never expected to hear back.

Here I am three years later, surrounded by the best group of people in an environment that supports growth and opportunity, and for that I am so grateful. Everyday I learn something new and continue to do my best to make a positive impact at Gardner.

Then COVID came, and it hit the events world hard. I feel very lucky to work under the Gardner Publications umbrella, otherwise I may have been on furlough like many others in the events industry (and thank goodness someone had the foresight to purchase pandemic insurance on events)!

And so, like everyone did, we had to pivot using the only option available to us: virtual. How do you take a tradeshow, where the main objective is largely based on in-person networking, and move it online?

In April 2020 it was clear that in-person events would not be happening, and in only a few months, we launched Amerimold Connects in June 2020. Talk about learning something new! Amerimold Connects was one of the first industry events to move 100% virtual. In a short amount of time, we had to research which programs best integrated with our objectives – and there were a TON of options.

Map Your Show also had to pivot quickly into a virtual event platform, and it seemed like our resident videographer became a full-time events team member for the next six months. Amerimold Connects brought out the best in our staff because we all worked together using each other’s strengths, using a “figure it out” attitude in an uncomfortable environment, and showed that working remotely would not stop us from being productive.

Soon after the launch of Amerimold Connects, we launched a series of three-hour interactive webinars in PT (Plastics Technology) Tech Days that highlighted various plastics processing topics. This project turned out to be a good ‘test’ of what is now our full-time webinar platform, Big Marker. Unlike Amerimold Connects, PT Tech Days was content based. I found that it is much easier to produce a successful virtual event where the purpose is self-education vs. networking behind a computer screen.

There were a lot of positives to come from Amerimold Connects and PT Tech Days that we will carry into the future, but in the end, I believe it proved that in-person events cannot be completely replaced by virtual. Interpersonal communication is vital to doing business and humans are social beings. Which is why I believe once we emerge completely from the COVID-19 era, our events will come back stronger than ever, starting with the new Plastics Technology Expo (PTXPO) in March 2022.

From an event production standpoint, 2020 became the year that pushed the hybrid concept forward. The worst thing an event can do is become stagnant; we must keep adapting and evolving. Integrating digital platforms and virtual content can be used to enhance our in-person events with an effective content strategy. “Hybrid” tactics can increase your reach, provide better access to data, provide new sponsorship and branding opportunities, offer flexibility, and create increased pre-show marketing strategies.

I think there is a part of us that fears people won’t show to save money, but as we learned, the virtual experience cannot replace all the benefits of attending, certainly networking.

I am excited to be a part of how Gardner Business Media events integrates more digital offerings and digital content into our well-established events. I guess that’s the Maverick in me.

On a more personal level, I am not the kind of person to sit around the house. Most of you know that for the last 12 years I have been working a second job at the Skyline Chili in Erlanger, KY, so I am constantly doing something! COVID had made me a little stir-crazy with restaurants also closing, but after buying a new house right before the world shut down, I had a TON of projects to work on, including updating and adding a new bathroom (with help of course!), painting rooms, and refinishing a deck. And I thoroughly beat Zelda. My fur-child, Larkin, has benefited the most by getting walks every day for the last year and lots of attention.

Now that we are getting back to some normalcy, I’ve been enjoying sporting events at Great American Ball Park and the new TQL Stadium, but more importantly returning in person to the five events coming in the next three months -- PMTS, Amerimold, Extrusion, Molding and Additive Manufacturing. Bring it on.

Need more information?
Jacquie Webb, Event Manager
513-527-8825
Connect with me on LinkedIn

About the Author

Jacquie Webb

Jacquie Webb is an Event Manager at Gardner Business Media and works on several brand events including Amerimold, PMTS, PTXPO, Extrusion Conference, Molding Conference, and Additive Manufacturing Conference & Expo. Jacquie began her career with Gardner in May 2018 after working at FTJ FundChoice as a Marketing Coordinator for three years and at a small Cincinnati start-up called Frameri, previously featured on Shark Tank.

Jacquie holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and an Associate degree in Music from Thomas More University. She also works at a local Skyline Chili restaurant in Erlanger, KY. Jacquie continues to play recreational soccer and is an avid local sports fan of the Reds, Bengals, and a season ticket holder for FC Cincinnati. In her spare time, she enjoys playing piano and binging on Gilmore Girls. She lives in Kentucky with her long-time boyfriend Chase and cuddle-breed pup, Larkin.