Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs – Case Study

SBCC Summit 2022 was the second large Johns Hopkins University conference on Dryfta, with over 2000 attendees. ICFP 2022 and IMNHC 2023 were other JHU conferences using the platform.

In 2022, leaders from around the world met in Marrakech, Morocco. The theme, “Reimagining a Better Future Together”, looked at lessons from COVID-19 and how SBCC could help address gaps in wealth, health, access, gender and education.

In particular, the summit highlighted how some of these challenges are interlinked. For example, poverty has been shown to increase the risk of contracting dangerous infectious diseases such as measles or tuberculosis.

It also highlighted that disparity often manifests itself in complex ways across many different domains of life. For example, while income inequality is often thought of as a measure of economic well-being, it also has an impact on health outcomes (for example people living in poverty are more likely to have poor health) and educational opportunities (those from low socioeconomic backgrounds tend not only have fewer resources but also lack role models).

SBCC Summit Used Dryfta for:

• Abstract submissions & peer review
• Online/Offline registration and card payments
• Email campaigns – sent over 100,000 emails
• Event website with custom content and event information
• Creating hybrid environment with virtual live meetings and physical meetings all at once
• Interactive and searchable event schedule with personalized agenda
• Collecting & processing Pre-recorded videos
• Online community for attendees, speakers and moderators
• Live chat, private messaging and video calls for attendees and speakers
• Event app for iOS and Android
• Generate visa letters
• Design & distribute certificates

1800+ Abstracts Submitted

At the SBCC Summit, Dryfta was a key tool for managing the submission process of abstracts and presentations. All authors were asked to submit their abstracts through Dryfta’s dashboard, which allowed us to assign them to reviewers for review.

After the reviews were complete, track chairs accepted those abstracts and notified authors via email—all from within the Dryfta platform. Finally, authors uploaded their final presentations and pre-recorded videos (if presenting virtually) through their accounts on Dryfta.

The process was simple and seamless, allowing reviewers and track chairs to review abstracts in a timely manner, while still maintaining high quality standards for content. All of this was achieved without any manual intervention from their team, which allowed them to focus on other aspects of the conference planning process.

2000+ Attendees registered

SBCC Summit was a huge success! Over 2000 attendees registered for the summit using Dryfta’s ticketing system. They were able to use a combination of online and offline payment methods, which made it easy for attendees to pay for their tickets in multiple ways.

When it came to registration, we had a few goals in mind: we wanted to be able to offer both online and offline payment options for our attendees, and we also wanted to be able to ask custom questions from attendees during the ticket buying process. We were also looking for a way to collect donations from attendees for our nonprofit causes.

We chose Dryfta’s platform because they offered us everything we needed in one package. We didn’t have to worry about integrating multiple tools or figuring out how they would work together—we just plugged them into our site and started selling tickets! And since Dryfta’s platform is so flexible, it was easy for us to customize the look and feel of our registration form based on the specific needs of the summit.

The organizers also used Dryfta’s Donation module to collect donations from attendees for their nonprofit causes. This was an easy way for attendees to give back without having to leave the event itself.

260+ Hybrid Sessions

Those attending the event remotely via video conferencing, are an increasingly popular way to reach out to your target audience. Attendees joining from the event location watched presentations along with those in attendance for it. The virtual participants could ask the questions from anywhere in the world and without taking time away from the physical attendees.

The hybrid sessions made up for being able to interact with speakers one-on-one by making available all of the material that can be accessed after the session electronically. Videos of plenary sessions were shown to virtual participants with questions allowed from both. Once presentation was over, those accessing remotely could ask their questions, while attendees in real time showcased their presentations.

Private messaging

In the world of event planning, it’s important to have tools that help you facilitate conversations. A great way to do this is through a matchmaking tool, which provides attendees with a list of other attendees based on their interests or background. This helps attendees find people they can connect with and learn more about.

One such example is our Matchmaking tool at SBCC Summit. Attendees used it during the event to get connected with other attendees who shared similar interests or backgrounds and had meaningful conversations as a result. They also sent each other messages through an integrated chat feature that let them send emojis, emoticons, and GIFs!

The system also rewarded attendees for participating by giving them points based on how much they interacted with others. This gave more relevance to event organizers because they knew if someone was being active in the community through these interactions, they were likely to be engaged participants in sessions as well.

The session recommendations helped drive targeted experiences by recommending other sessions based on your preferences and what you’ve already attended so far at the conference.

Testimonial from SBCC Summit

Thank you for your flexibility during the last few years. I think you have a great piece of software, and I’ve been doing this a long time. The flexibility for customization that you’ve built-in is really incredible compared to other platforms – I’m a fan and would happy to be a reference moving forward.
– Marla Shaivitz, Director of Digital Strategy at Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Dryfta is the all-in-one event management platform for universities. Know more