Software company Ariba relies on Ariba Live, its annual live industry event, which attracts more than 1,200 users, customers and analysts, to communicate to its audiences and maintain a strong brand presence in the industry. But last year, after hearing from numerous attendees that travel budgets had been slashed, the company canceled the live meeting six months before it was to take place.

Instead of holding the event for a greatly reduced audience, the company repositioned it as a hybrid event, incorporating a virtual meeting April 28-29, followed by a six-city, global road show during May and June 2009. It was an unequivocal success with more than 2,600 people registered for the virtual conference, up from 1,100 at the live meeting in 2008, and the event “pipeline,” or potential for new business resulting from it, was up $78.5 million from the previous year.

“Our biggest goal was to extend the reach of our show and make sure our message was still reaching our customers and potential customers and key people in the industry,” says Traci Oziemblowsky, CMP, Senior Manager of Global Corporate Events for Ariba. “This is a prospecting, pipeline-generating event and we needed to keep the pipeline full for our sales team.”

Repositioning the event just six months out wasn’t easy. Because marketing had already begun, people knew about the live event. “We approached it as, ‘We hear what you’re saying; we know this is a tough year and we’re going to make it easier,’” Oziemblowsky says. “We said, ‘We’re going to bring the meeting to you virtually and then we’re coming live on a road show.’We positioned it as the largest-ever spend management virtual conference.”

To create a hybrid event that would fulfill the promise of a popular live conference, Ariba teamed with virtual events provider Unisfair. “A virtual event was new to us, and we wanted to make sure the experience was as similar as possible to the live event, which is hard to do,” Oziemblowsky says. “It was a challenge to educate people internally and externally, to make sure they understood that it wasn’t just a glorified WebEx. Unisfair offered a platform that made it much more robust — a real experience.”

The virtual conference included many of the same components that are usually part of the live event, including keynote speakers, numerous workshop sessions and Showcase, an exhibit floor.While the live Showcase usually draws 30 or 40 exhibitors, the virtual version only attracted 25, but Oziemblowsky says in some ways, the virtual version was superior. “People who were coming to the exhibits were truly interested; they weren’t just passing through the exhibit hall,” she says. “And exhibitors received records of everyone who visited their booths. Unisfair was able to capture all the visitors’ information — what they read and who they talked to.”

About 30 percent of the people who attended the virtual event also came to the live road show events held in the following weeks. These shows took place in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, London, Stockholm and Paris, drawing 80 to 220 guests at each one. Each of the live events spanned two days, featuring a welcome reception on the first evening and a full day of education the following day.While some of the educational sessions were repeats from the virtual event, the speakers were there in person and available to answer questions and interact with attendees. “It was a good opportunity for our audience to interact with suppliers and buyers,” Oziemblowsky says.

This year, travel budgets have been reinstated for many Ariba attendees, and the company is returning to live events, holding one in Orlando and another in Amsterdam. However, they’re offering a new hybrid approach that will incorporate many of the virtual components of the 2009 event.

Ariba’s Strategy

GOAL: To continue holding an annual industry event although cash-strapped attendees said they couldn’t travel to the show in 2009.

STRATEGY: Cancel the live event and instead hold a two-day virtual event, followed by a six-city road show.

RESULTS: More than 2,600 people registered for the 2009 virtual conference, up from 1,100 at the live conference in 2008, and the event pipeline was up $78.5 million from the previous year.