In this edition of our Event Insider, we are bringing for you

Cisco IMPACT FY23

The tech company’s annual sales kick-off found a unique way to celebrate its team members, both in-person and virtually.

The 2022 edition of Cisco IMPACT, took place on Aug. 29, 2022, in Las Vegas. The goal of the event—which drew 14,000 in-person attendees and 6,300 virtual attendees—was to help the company's team members grow, accelerate, and win business for the coming year.

The Shared Stories Gallery, which the team affectionately referred to as "the wow moment," was a 23-foot-tall by 46-foot-wide frame-like structure inspired by the event's key visual, a kaleidoscope of energetic shards conveying a moment of impact. As attendees walked inside, they found 24 screens displaying social posts of their peers, which were scraped from social media hashtags or submitted through a custom event social platform.

The Shared Stories gallery ultimately resulted in 1,129 social posts and 1,929 Shared Story Gallery interactions, averaging an interaction every 30 seconds.

PepsiCo Pavilions at Expo 2020 Dubai

Expo 2020 Dubai was a massive global event held from Oct. 1, 2021-March 31, 2022, at the Dubai Exhibition Centre.

PepsiCo served as the event’s official beverage and snack partner, working with INVNT Group to create three distinct, branded pavilions that ultimately drew 702,000 in-person attendees and a whopping 50 million virtual attendees.

To draw attention at such an enormous conference, the PepsiCo and INVNT teams decided to create three separate pavilions, each centered around the expo’s three subthemes.

The Drop pavilion, celebrating Aquafina. It featured 41,000 strategically placed recyclable aluminum cans on its exterior, creating a striking-yet-fluid water-drop structure.

The Bolt pavilion—which celebrated Gatorade—delved into the science of physical performance and active lifestyles.

The Plus pavilion for Pepsi Black and Lay's was held in the expo's opportunity district. Lay's-branded, immersive pods allowed visitors to celebrate the spring season by stepping into a cherry blossom display that was enhanced by scents of inventive Lay’s flavors from around the world.

Forbes 30/50 Summit

Forbes’ inaugural 30/50 Summit took place in March 2022 in Abu Dhabi. The 350-person event brought together honorees from both the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and the two-year-old Forbes 50 Over 50 list.

All of the event’s programming and related experiences aimed to inspire lasting impact and connections—and also provide a rich cultural immersion in the city of Abu Dhabi. Attendees were offered various opportunities including local tours, an opening gala at Qasar Al-Watan, a day of programming at the Louvre, a day of service at Zayed University, a fashion show featuring global fashion designers, and a closing desert celebration event.

The idea of mentorship was a key component for the launch of this summit and community. In another "pay-it-forward" idea, event attendees presented five-minute lessons on something they’ve mastered, that were then shared across Forbes’ global platforms and broadcast on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

Dreamforce 2022

Salesforce's flagship event featured more than 1,000 sessions and 60 keynotes, plus a unique virtual experience and some memorable surprise and delight moments.

Dreamforce, the largest annual consumer-facing event from tech giant Salesforce, returned to San Francisco for its 20th anniversary from Sept. 20-22. With an in-person attendance of 40,000 (attendees are playfully known as "Trailblazers"), it was the largest trade event in the city since the onset of the pandemic.

In addition to its massive in-person footprint, the event drew a large virtual audience via Salesforce+, the company's online streaming platform, which was accessible free of charge. Digital attendees could stream sessions and enjoy exclusive digital-first content, like Dreamforce Today, a morning show hosted by Soledad O’Brien, who reported live from the event each morning.

Veecon 2022

Gary Vaynerchuck, commonly known as Gary Vee, is a serial entrepreneur known for founding successful companies like Resy and VaynerMedia. More recently, he's amassed a large following for VeeFriends, a community he's built surrounding his NFT collection.

VeeCon, a brand-new event dedicated to pop culture, NFTs, and Web3 that took place May 19-22 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Over the course of the event, there were 154 speakers—including Snoop Dogg, Steve Aoki, Pharrell, Mila Kunis, and Randi Zuckerberg.

“VeeCon 2022 is inspired by favorite events I’ve seen throughout my life, including business conferences, music festivals, closed-door offsite events, and not least of all, summer camp activities.

The event used NFTs as tickets, a logical choice given the topics and themes. Here's how it worked: All VeeFriends token owners were given three-year passes to the conference, which Vaynerchuck plans to host again in 2023 and 2024. VeeFriends holders had their tickets airdropped to the wallet that held their Series 1 VeeFriends token, while others were permitted to purchase them via NFT marketplace OpenSea. Users then needed to register the ticket on the Veecon app, and were required to provide their legal name as it appeared on the photo IDs they'd be showing to enter the stadium.