Founded in 2016, Women In Product (WIP) connects women in product management careers via online platforms and in-person events. Their members learn, mentor, and grow through their connections made within the WIP network.

“As an organization, our focus is on creating opportunities for authentic connections and spaces to grow and share, as well as to elevate the experiences of women product leaders — and inspire the next generation of leaders,” said Arianna Black, Event Project Manager for WIP.

women in product conference

The first WIP Conference was hosted with an attendee list of 300 and a waitlist of 3,000. Today, WIP fosters a network of more than 15,000 members within 30+ chapters. The annual conference in San Francisco brings together more than 2,000 women and continues to sell out each year.

THE CHALLENGE

Find the right event app (with a great support team) that easily fosters networking and engagement with attendees, speakers, and sponsors.

Supporting Connections 

“As we grow, the challenge we face is maintaining the intimacy and welcoming nature of our community and events, as well as making sure attendees are able to connect in a variety of ways,” Black said.

women in product conference

This wasn’t the first time an event app was used at the WIP Conference, and attendee feedback from previous years pointed out that a top concern was being able to “connect individually to peers and mentors.” 

Driving Engagement & Receiving Real-Time Feedback

WIP not only wanted an easy solution for attendees to network and connect, the app they chose needed to serve as a hub so attendees could communicate directly with speakers and interact with sponsors. They also wanted the app to help them understand how the event was progressing — in real time. 

Finding Top-Tier Support 

Switching to a new event app platform comes with a bit of a learning curve. Finding a product with a dedicated support team is key to the success of any event.

“I ran a comparison of features and prices, focusing on four viable options,” Black said. “I knew from the get-go I’d need to be in the hands of a team that would be able to support my learning curve on the back end of the platform, so I could deliver attendees an app experience that was on brand, easy to navigate, and fully encompassed the many facets of the event.”

THE SOLUTION

WIP utilized Webex Events’ mobile event app for their 2019 conference.

In-App Networking

The 2,000+ women attending WIP Conference 2019 were able to find peers and mentors the moment they downloaded the event app to their phones. Using the app’s “Shake to Connect” feature, attendees simply needed to shake their phones, instantly discover other WIP attendees, and connect with the click of a button. After connecting, they could send direct messages, swap documents, and set follow-up meetings with other attendees, speakers, and sponsors. 

“Shake to Connect for the win!” Black said. “In pre-event communications, we heavily encouraged this feature.”

Push Notifications & Real Time Engagement

The WIP event team integrated the Q&A platform Slido into their event app and utilized the Webex Events app’s push notifications to send out surveys following speakers and breakout sessions, and polls to gauge attendee feedback in the moment. 

“My rockstar Webex Events support team suggested we try Slido as an easy and low-cost way to facilitate Q&A,” Black said. “We also used Slido to encourage attendees to rate and review sessions and speakers.” 

Additionally, push notifications were used to drive engagement with sponsors, and to alert attendees of real-time updates.

“Using an app to communicate as much as possible gives us more flexibility for last-minute changes, and lets us track where attendees are showing the most interest,” Black said.

THE RESULTS

women in product conference

Impressive post-event metrics and an amazing support experience.

66% App Adoption

Out of the 2,587 attendees at WIP, 1,704 downloaded the event app.

“One of the ways that we drove app downloads was keeping all session details and speaker and sponsor profiles in-app,” Black said “For attendees, this encouraged pre-event downloads, and as organizers, it gave us the flexibility to make real-time updates.”

35K Push Notifications

The app’s push notifications proved to be an invaluable tool for reaching attendees in the moment, especially when it came to post-session feedback, live polling, and Q&As.

“The questions were not only helpful during the event, but have given us a great source of future topics for content creation that our audience is clearly interested in,” Black said.

Additionally, sponsored push notifications meant that not only were attendees constantly informed of what was going on, but that sponsors got valuable name connection opportunities with them too. 

2,000+ Mutual Connections 

The more than 2,000 mutual connections made between the app’s 1,704 users shows how much Women In Product is dedicated to helping women in the field connect with each other as much as possible. 

“For us, creating interpersonal connections is a primary driver,” Black said. “The fantastic number of mutual connections made speaks most highly to us.” 

Support Team Shout-Outs 

“Setting up the app, I had lots of questions,” Black said. “I used my direct Webex Events contact, the AMAZING Kara [Gladish], as well as reaching out via chat support for quick questions.”

Want to Improve the Attendee, Sponsor, and Speaker Experience With the Help of a Top-Rated Team?

“First timers: You are picking your event app, but you are also picking the team that will support you in customizing and creating the app,” Black said. “For our needs, Webex Events was ideal, and being able to make any and all changes myself in real time was invaluable. As any event producer knows, gathering the information attendees need relies on a gazillion different sources — speakers, sponsors, internal team — and the information often comes in sporadically.” 

If you’re looking for an event that offers

  • Robust in-app attendee networking functionality
  • Industry-leading support
  • Seamless integration with other event tech
  • On-the-go communication

Webex Events can help!