Tags: conference, speakers, simultaneous translation, 3D studio, branding, attendee engagement, surveys, backstage, broadcast 

SRK SF CONFERENCE: FINSKILLS 2022 is an annual event organized by the Sector Competence Council for the Financial Sector, dedicated to the topic of changing competence requirements in the financial sector in the context of technological changes occurring with its development. The conference is dedicated to employees of the financial sector, including banks, companies operating in the capital market, insurance companies, financial sector supervisory institutions, and trade unions operating in the sector, as well as academic teachers and university students studying majors in the field. The theme of the 6th edition of the conference was to discuss the future of financial sector personnel and to try to answer the question: how will the financial sector meet the challenge of transforming the working environment to a model that is attractive to young people so that they are involved in using financial services to build a sustainable world?

Challenges

• a large number of speakers connecting remotely,
• the ability for remote speakers to continue to participate in the conference without having to change links and log in to the event again,
• preparing a 3D background for the event presenters and the need to display an external presentation as part of the 3D background,
• exposing the organizers' branding and custom graphic elements
• increasing participant engagement, including the need to create surveys, the results of which would be presented at a rapid pace at the conference 
• translation of Ukrainian speakers' speeches from Ukrainian into Polish, as well as translation for those speakers of talks and communications in Polish into Ukrainian

The program for the SRK SF CONFERENCE: FINSKILLS 2022 suggested that it was to host as many as 28 speakers connecting to speak remotely. In addition, the conference featured two presenters, who in turn were to broadcast from a recording studio. This required the preparation of a 3D background depicting the event lobby, on which the interactive presentation for the presenters was to be embedded.

The organizers' branding was to be displayed not only as a 3D background element, but also in various spaces on the platform, and custom graphics of their choice were to be embedded in designated areas. In addition, the organizers suggested that they would like to increase attendee engagement during the event by creating chat surveys, the results of which would be presented at a rapid pace on the presentation.  

The biggest challenge during the event was to simultaneously translate the speeches of two speakers coming from Ukraine. Thus, translation was needed from Ukrainian to Polish for the audience and from Polish to Ukrainian directly for these speakers.

Solutions

• a hybrid conference formula, where event presenters were recorded in the studio and speakers connected remotely, 
• a unique login token that does not require speakers to log in to a regular attendee account
• personalization of the 3D background template with various elements of the organizers' and sponsors' logos
• personalization of the landing page and event space with the organizer's branding prominently displayed, the inclusion of the flag of Ukraine on the main view of the platform,
• various ways to engage participants: publishing surveys on the chat, encouragement of the presenters, publishing survey results in the live broadcast,
• simultaneous translation from Ukrainian to Polish for the audience during the speeches of Ukrainian speakers and from Polish to Ukrainian audible only to Ukrainian speakers.

Both remotely connecting speakers and stationary recording presenters received a high level of support from the platform - speakers had the choice of either automatic or in-person broadcast testing, while presenters had help in the recording studio. The 3D background on which they appeared during the speeches was fully personalized with various elements including the organizers' and stakeholders' logos, such as a 3D embedded PARP patron sign. In addition, the entire event space and landing page were created to expose both the organizers' branding and other custom graphics (such as the flag of Ukraine, which was embedded in the main view of the platform).

Participant engagement was enhanced through the use of surveys that related to the topics covered by the speakers and were posted in real-time in the chat room. Some of the surveys appeared twice - before and after the speaker's speech - to compare how the lecture changed participants' opinions. At the same time, the organizers of the event encouraged activity in the chat room and responses to the surveys. The results of the surveys were collected, graphically processed, and presented live during the presentation.

Speeches by speakers coming from Ukraine were translated simultaneously for the audience into Polish, while speeches and statements in Polish were translated for them into Ukrainian. Ukrainian-to-Polish translations were made available on the main stage, and Polish-to-Ukrainian translations were made available only to Ukrainian-speaking speakers located in the Backstage tab.

Event presenter on personalized 3D background

Live streaming with a 3D embedded interactive presentation and chat surveys to increase participant engagement

Results and conclusions

The methods used to increase engagement proved fruitful - the event participants were active both in the chat room and in the polls. The ratio between the number of participants present at any given time and the number of votes cast in the survey ranged between 60% and 70%.