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Back to Blog   |  Written by:   |  December 6, 2016

Case Study: Virgin Holidays Amps Up Employee Engagement with Live Polls

Virgin Holidays used EventMobi’s live polling app for a campaign launch in Las Vegas. Our partner reseller CrowdComms helped Virgin Holidays put together two employee events — a campaign launch in Las Vegas and a sales reward event in Florida.

CrowdComms’ co-founder, Dee Brannick, chatted to Virgin Holidays’ Trading and Events Executive, Rebecca Stoner, about their experience with the first event in Las Vegas.

Tell us a little bit about the event?

RS: Every year we take between 200-250 of our top sales staff to our annual campaign launch event. For the most recent employee event we took them overseas to Las Vegas. Essentially, the Peak Launch event launches our sales campaign for the year. We wanted to take our staff away and get them all in one place and given them the tools they needed to be able to start selling.

Where did the event app fit in with the event strategy?

RS: Rather than have lots of printed material, we wanted to give delegates everything they needed in the palm of their hand. Essentially, we wanted it to be their one point of communication. The app would contain the trip itineraries, so they could see what was going on and when. Plus it would have all the delegates’ personal profiles so they could get to know each other and see who else was on the trip.Virgin Holidays app phone skin

Was that the first time you’d used an event app at this event?

RS: Yes. I’ve been doing the events for the last four years with Virgin Holidays on the Peak Launch events and it’s the first time we’ve used an app. We’ve completed a post employee event survey using SurveyMonkey, but with those kinds of survey tools you don’t get the results until well after the event. With the event app we could access survey results live and in real-time – which was fantastic.

That’s great to hear. Can you tell me a little more about why the real time results were so important for the event?

RS: The Live Polling and question submission worked really well for Peak Launch.

We did a four-hour conference and broke it down into sections. During each part of the conference, we stopped and did a live poll. After the speaker had done his or her part, we’d quickly switch screens and ask the audience a question. It made sure our people were really engaged with the conference content. It was the best thing we did for the event and it’s something we will definitely do again.

So you got the results you were hoping for?

RS: Absolutely! The messages definitely got across and I think it was a really good interactive way to make sure people were listening and to stop to them and say, “Let’s get our phones out and get involved – now it’s your turn to play your part.”

EventMobi and CrowdComms were recently recognized for the success of The Peak Launch event organized by Virgin Holidays last year. The award acknowledged how using an Event App and live polling app allows the planner to create a customized experience for their attendees as a way to drive engagement and streamline communication. To read more, Click on EventMobi Wins 2016 Best Event App Award.

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