EventProfsCast by Hubilo Hubilo

Damien Baines, Experiential Marketing Lead at Instagram, sat down for Hubilo's Studio Chats at Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity (in partnership with Bizbash at the Hubilo Retreat). 

In this interview Damien shares how it feels and sounds to be back at IRL events, even in spite of extreme weather patterns and a rigorous content schedule of activations. Gatherings like Cannes Lions are about more than showing off; showing up to meet and make connections is driving event attendees and event planners. 

Visit www.hubilo.com to learn more about Hubilo and get more content to help you be the best #eventprof of your time.

This week on Event ProfsCast, Rachel is joined by Hubilo Customer Experience Director Yuvraj Saxena. Yuvraj is responsible for our customers having a little or a lot less heartburn while planning and executing your event experiences.  How does Yuvraj do it?  Let’s find out!

Yuvraj believes that event planning support differs from traditional customer support models. In his tenure with Hubilo, a new and innovative way to partner with clients - event professionals - has been created and had landed Hubilo near the very top of the event planning world with regard to customer service and experience.

Yuvraj teaches his team that they work not so much for Hubilo but for Hubilo’s clients. He’s proud of the fact that, without exception, members of the Hubilo customer experience and customer success team will not say that they work for Hubilo but for each individual event planning client.  We’re proud of that!

We’re all using video conferencing and remote meeting tools and technologies.  But in most cases, there is no “platform representative” in your Zoom calls or your Microsoft Team meetings.  Hubilo embeds a customer experience team member inside your event where they can be intimately involved, well versed on the details of your event, and ready to help on-demand as you plan and execute your event.

Yuvraj acknowledges that American Express is a world-class example of exemplary customer service in the credit card industry.  But he also recognized that this traditional call center support model does not fit in event planning, so Hubilo immediately attaches a dedicated customer success team member to every event that Hubilo facilitates. This means that Hubilo is always ready to help at any time exactly when you need it without requiring a call to a random support representative in a general call center.

A dedicated Hubilo customer experience representative is present on the platform during every minute of your event. Yuvraj’s team knows you, knows what you’re doing, and stands ready at your side from the first minute of your event to the last.  There is no “wait time” for help when you’re a Hubilo partner.

Yuvraj is dedicated to overhauling the concept of customer service and customer experience management in our industry. One way he’s following this path is to add team members at Hubilo based on their ability to embrace and thrive in this new model of customer care. In this model, it’s not so much about hard skills as it is a mindset, flexibility, and the ability to adjust to the needs of customers at all times. This task requires people who think and feel in ways that align with this new paradigm. Yuvraj is on a mission to find and hire those people.

This new approach to CX at Hubilo means that CX team members don’t rehearse scripts, don’t have rigid procedures to follow, and aren’t pressured to be upsellers.  Yuvraj teaches his team how to respond, not react, and how to de-stress, decompress, and remain ready and able to perform at a high level. Your Hubio CX contact is in that position because they have exhibited a customer-focused mindset, a high degree of flexibility, the ability to adapt under pressure, and a temperament that suits the demands of the position. This is why Hubilo has found itself at the top of the customer experience and satisfaction list in the event planning world.



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Hubilo's Studio Chats at IMEX Frankfurt welcomes Shameka Jennings, Chief Events Officer of EventsNoire, to our microphones to share how "hybrid" is hardly through with the events industry - not by a long shot.   

In this interview Shameka shares that while events are generally back, digital aspects to experiences is truly important to include your whole audience - not just those who can afford or manage to make it to your in-person event.

Visit www.hubilo.com to learn more about Hubilo and get more content that can help you be the best #eventprof of your time. 

The video version of this interview is available on Spotify and on Hubilo's YouTube channel. 

Welcome to the second half of Rachel’s chat with Dato Loh, CEO of V-Cube Malaysia. V-Cube is now in partnership with Hubilo to bring amazing event technology to events in the APAC region of the globe. Rachel and Dato talked about the state of events and event planning in the APAC region.

The Highlights


Malaysia has a very vibrant financial sector, so there is a huge demand for product launches and other events, but at the time of recording there were still quite a few travel restrictions in place in the region. This means that V-Cube has been focusing intently on satisfying that need by using virtual and hybrid technologies.
Even companies that have a physical presence with products you can touch and feel are turning to virtual and hybrid technologies to drive digital product launches and updates.
As great as virtual and hybrid technologies are, we must acknowledge that there are some products that people want to touch and hold. We can’t reach everyone in every context, at least not now.
Beyond simply creating virtual spaces for product launches and spaces, as event professionals we can use virtual and hybrid technologies to build communities.  People are craving that connection after being isolated for two years.  Tapping into that craving allow us to create virtual spaces that go beyond basic product and service showcases, which can satisfy extended needs of both audiences and event organizers and sponsors.  Community is a thing in 2022!
Dato cleverly pointed out the role of golf when it comes to in-person events in his region.  While a virtual or hybrid event can’t meet golfing needs, we can examine that need and find ways to drive event technologies toward meeting the issues that lay beneath it. What is it about golfing that event attendees love so much, and how can we move technology closer to addressing that?
Dato talks about “services on the ground”.  Seasoned, local, managed services are virtual in terms of knowing what will work and what might not in a given location.  Technology isn’t enough, and it doesn’t exist in a vacuum.  People that know the “lay of the land” are important, even in the virtual and hybrid event world.
“Some things you can plan, but sometimes things happen and you just have to manage them.” Wise words from Dato that most if not all event professionals can identify with!
Dato works hard to ensure that communication among the team at V-Cube Malaysia is flowing freely.  He’s also a huge proponent of constant learning, encouraging his team members to get out and learn something new every day. Relationship building - investing for the long run in strong relationships - is another a cornerstone of Dato’s management philosophy at V-Cube Malaysia.
By the time you listen to this episode, the partnership between Hubio and V-Cube Malaysia will be in full swing.  Dato, his team, and everyone at Hubilo is excited to show you what you can do for you!



Visit Hubilo online at www.hubilo.com.

Follow Hubilo on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, or search for #hubilove on any social apps.

This week on Event ProfsCast Rachel is joined by Dato Loh, CEO of V-Cube Malaysia. V-Cube is now in partnership with Hubilo to bring amazing event technology to events in the APAC region of the globe. Dato was a wealth of information and insight about events in that part of the world, so lets go!

The Highlights


We want to be aware of the ins-and-outs of event and events planning all over the world. As event professionals, the more we know, the better prepared we are.
V-Cube is a Japanese company specializing in secure communications technology. V-Cube is a Zoom partner in Asia, and produces and maintains its own virtual event platform. Dato has been CEO at V-Cube’s associate company in Malaysia since 2017. He is also the largest shareholder at V-Cube Malaysia.
The pivot toward virtual and hybrid events in the last two years can be a stressful thing for CEOs and other company leaders. When Dato needed advanced technology to improve his virtual event support capabilities, Hubilo seemed a natural choice as a partner. Working with Hubilo, V-Cube is able to move far more quickly and less stressfully into that virtual and hybrid space without the long delay and expense of additional platform development
Beyond sharing technology, Dato points at the sharing of ideas and the meeting of minds when V-Cube partners with Hubilo. An open exchange of ideas and information is not only refreshing, but almost required for all players in our space to move forward and roll with all the changes we’re facing.
V-Cube focuses on communications in two areas:
AGM -  Annual General Meetings.
MICE  - Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions
There are approximately 80 events with 100,000 attendees in the pipeline in the APAC region right now. This reprepsents roughly $200 million in business.  Two of the most important vertical segments represented in this pipeline are oil & gas, and medical tourism. Dato and V-Cube Malaysia are focused on serving these verticals on both the in-person and hybrid spaces.
While travel has re-opened in the APAC region, not everyone is going to travel to attend events. As the pandemic winds down, it turns out that the option to attend an event virtually is a very desirable option for many for many reasons. Dato is committed to playing a role in the virtual and hybrid event spaces for exactly this reason.  
Events now have to be planned to accommodate this, so that attendees and potential attendees have the opportunity to design the event experience that works best for them.
Just because we CAN travel again doesn’t mean we will, so let’s pay attention to that!

Visit Hubilo online at www.hubilo.com.

Follow Hubilo on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, or search for #hubilove on any social apps.

In this episode of Event ProfsCast, Liz Caruso of Liz King Events and TechyTalk is back for part two of her conversation with Rachel about event production in a post-pandemic world.

The Highlights


In the virtual events context, an attendee multi-tasking isn’t necessarily a disaster. Do we need 100% attention to prove that an attendee is having a good experience? Probably not. In fact, many of Liz’s clients aren’t necessarily even interested in return to in-person events, so multi-tasking attendees is hardly a sign of doom.
Even as in–person gathering returns, many event planners are more than happy to retain some virtual aspects of events, moving to a hybrid structure. This is not “back to normal” in our industry. We have to push each other to learn new things and incorporate the lessons of the last two years as we move forward. There is a new normal, and that’s good news!
Success is no longer measured by numbers of registrations or attendees.  Success is being measured based on minutes watched, number of connections made, and other metrics that more accurately reflect the value provided by a given event. Just putting people in seats is not enough any more. We can, and should, be measuring how truly engaged those people are and were!
In Liz’s world, the end of the pandemic means incorporating virtual community building while adding in-person components back into the mix. Done well, this is the best of all worlds.
The growth of interest in virtual gatherings and online community building is best described as explosive. Liz found that the environment of the last two years turned even her smaller, localized events into global events. Enabling people to connect virtually when they could not connect physically has been transformative going forward.
Liz and Rachel spent a little time talking about their personal experiences during lockdown and how that is impacting some of their choices personally and professionally today. Lockdown / virtual event burnout … the struggle is real.  If you’re dealing with that as we return to “normal”, know that you’re not alone.

Visit Hubilo online at www.hubilo.com.

Follow Hubilo on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, or search for #hubilove on any social apps.