EcoVadis Migrates Annual Event to 6Connex Virtual Event Platform and Attracts Thousands of Attendees Worldwide

Case Study: EcoVadis

Founded in 2007, EcoVadis’s vision is to create a global marketplace where sustainability intelligence influences every business decision – improving economies, people’s lives, and the planet.  Now a trusted partner to more than 450 leading multinational organizations, EcoVadis’ business sustainability solutions have helped procurement teams worldwide reduce risk and drive innovation in sustainable procurement.  EcoVadis solutions span the full spectrum of sustainability risk and performance management with broad-scale supply chain risk screening and mapping, reliable scorecards with actionable ratings on over 65,000 companies in 160+ countries, and complete audit and improvement management.

 

The Challenge

Over the past decade, EcoVadis has held an annual, on-site event in Paris: EcoVadis Sustain.  Consistently attracting hundreds of sustainability experts and procurement professionals worldwide, Sustain is a unique opportunity for companies to discuss corporate responsibility and sustainability trends, share insights into sustainable procurement, and explore new initiatives.

In early 2020, the EcoVadis event team was finalizing plans for their largest event to date, with 700+ attendees and a packed agenda including presentations from the CEOs and CPOs of HSBC, Mars, and Thermo Fisher, to name a few. Three weeks prior to the event, however, the COVID-19 outbreak made headlines worldwide, preventing travel for many.  While it was a difficult decision for EcoVadis to move Sustain to a virtual format on such short notice, they decided to undertake the challenge rather than cancel the event altogether.

The first step was to identify potential partners capable of meeting their requirements:

Summarizes Emily Rakowski, Chief Marketing Officer at EcoVadis, “Platform flexibility was critical. EcoVadis Sustain has a full agenda, with numerous presentations from industry thought leaders, all of which include graphics, videos, and real-time Q&As.  In addition, we host an awards program, where we celebrate companies and professionals who have created impactful sustainability initiatives. And of course we wanted to ensure our sponsoring partners had meaningful opportunities to showcase their products and services, and there were plenty of occasions for attendees to network, just as they would at an on-site event.”