After moving from a live in-person event to a digital-only experience in May, IBM Think 2020 is officially in the books. Yet, the lessons learned from putting on three days of livestreamed content and interactive sessions still resonate among IBM Corp. staff, and that starts with the turnout.

“We had over 100,000 clients and business partners register,” said Michelle Peluso (pictured), senior vice president of digital sales and chief marketing officer at IBM. “It was more than three times any audience we ever had for our physical event at Think. It was extraordinary.”

Peluso spoke with Stu Miniman, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, for a special CUBE Conversation following the IBM Think Digital Event Experience. They discussed the need for a different approach to staging a virtual versus physical event, adjusting to a new way for IBM representatives to follow-up with clients, and the company’s plans for future sessions. (* Disclosure below.)

Engaging the audience

As many companies are discovering during the global pandemic, a switch from an in-person conference to a digital-only gathering presents its own set of challenges to stage and be successful. Unlike previous IBM Think gatherings where multiple session tracks in different parts of a venue offered location variety for participants, focused attention on a single computer screen for six to seven hours at a time demanded a different approach.

“You really have to think about how to make this engaging for the audience,” Peluso said. “It can’t feel like a streaming event. For us, that meant things like chat, like moderated live expert sessions, like hosting sessions in Reddit. Shorter is better.”

The change for this year’s IBM Think also required an adjustment on the part of the client representatives as well. Customer interactions that would normally have been conducted in a quiet conference room or nearby restaurant now had to take place virtually.

“How do you progress and follow up on interest?” Peluso asked. “In a digital world, that’s harder for our client representatives and sellers. Making sure we created a space for those conversations after the event was critical.”

IBM has made the content from the various Think sessions available on demand and plans to hold other digital events during the year.

“We have a series of Think Summits coming up all around the world,” Peluso said. “We’ll go back to live physical experiences at some point when it’s safe for all of us. I hope we continue to innovate and bring the best of physical and digital into a new brand of experiences and events.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the IBM Think Digital Event Experience. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the IBM Think Digital Event Experience. Neither IBM Corp., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: IBM Corp.