Case study / 2022-05

La Biennale
di Venezia
Digital Meetingplace

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How top architects from 22 countries created a community platform and regardless of the pandemics travel restrictions were able to unite thanks to virtual production.

Background of the project

La Biennale di Venezia: was established in 1895 and is today acknowledged as one of the most prestigious cultural institutions. La Biennale di Venezia stands at the forefront of research and promotion of new contemporary art trends and organizes events in all its specific Departments: Art (1895), Architecture (1980), Cinema (1932), Dance (1999), Music (1930), and Theater (1934) – alongside research and training activities.

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La Biennale di Venezia: was established in 1895 and is today acknowledged as one of the most prestigious cultural institutions. La Biennale di Venezia stands at the forefront of research and promotion of new contemporary art trends and organizes events in all its specific Departments: Art (1895), Architecture (1980), Cinema (1932), Dance (1999), Music (1930), and Theater (1934) – alongside research and training activities.

Check out the platform

Challenge

The idea for a common digital platform grew out of the need to reach the audiences in times when restrictions were imposed on travel and public gatherings, and to provide biennale visitors with an opportunity to benefit no matter where they are physically.

Activities shift from physical to digital environments was not an option during the pandemic. This change has opened an absolutely new understanding of how to look at things from a digital point-of-view. Obviously traditional web-page and social media ads were not sufficient anymore.

When market barriers emerge, innovation starts and new solutions are found

How it worked

The initiative for this community platform and broadcast was started by six National Pavilions who belong to the Commissioner Group – a self-organized group of around 25 countries who are participating in this year’s Biennale Architettura, and who have been meeting regularly since the summer of 2020, supporting each other and exchanging ideas and issues.

The Biennale became a hybrid event due to the global pandemic. Most countries were opting for online or hybrid opening events during the biennale opening week in May and continued to disseminate their talks, seminars and other events online over the summer and in autumn.

New value was created access to all upcoming, live and past events without time and physical constraints.

No hassle or unnecessary administration - all exponents from 22 countries were enabled on a platform to initate and manage their own exhibitions, broadcasts, workshops and other relevant events. Visitors could browse on other hand the aggregated event calendar, select and organize their personal schedule of events.

Biennale Pavilions broadcast

“Tales of tomorrow’s architecture“ was a unique virtual production for architects to find inspiration and share the best practices. Virtual production enabled all participants from different countries to join remotely and be part of the broadcast without need to travel.

Building was developed as a flagship project by Capital Mill, the leading Baltic real-estate developer.

Technical overview:
Connecting with VMX and other cloud production platforms like NDI bridge
Green-screen live render in multiple environments
More cost effective than physical stage set-up & also more sustainable production
WATCH

Technical overview:

Integrated with the best cloud service platform
Running on Amazon Web Services systems and built with scaling in mind
Front-end is compatible with Zappier and different API systems like Pipedrive, Mailchimp
System has multi-level administration rules
Every country has a manager that oversees the registration flow of their particular country
People can register their companies to the platform and access it via Exponaut management portal to edit and instruct people
Onboarding is simple and flawless
Visitors will be able to browse the calendar of events and save them in their own personal calendar in a single click
Filter the pavilions by relevant tags SEO-friendly
Browse each pavilion page for main information about their exhibitions upcoming events
Easily find all dedicated websites and contact information
All events will stay accessible and can be re-watched anytime from the archive on the website
55x more economically friendlier
than organizing physical event

Challenge

It rarely happens all parties involved are getting outcome that helps everybody to nurture their business goals. But is was exactly what SKYON EXPO delivered:

Innovative digital exposition solution for everyone

Modern and reusable digital presentation formats and content was developed for each EXPO participants that was easily linkable with existing web-pages, searchable and findable worldwide.

Exponential audience increase in digital space

In our novel collaborative exposition format every participant enjoyed multiple times more audience than they ever could reach alone for finding new customers and markets.

Creation of valuable business reference

Authentic and self-explanatory digital “visit card” for the exponent participating in SKYON construction case was generated. Cross-referencing by expo organizer and participants unlocked powerful opportunities to be searched and found by new customers and business partners worldwide.

Project results

Launch of permanent platform for architects community
All created events in the content library
Virtual exhibition enabled global reach, Increased engagement & audience
10X more effective virtual reach
Automated system & community management tool
Hundreds of hours time saved on administrative activities and participants always up to date with latest events and info

Summary

The Biennalepavilions.com website was designed to add value to the national pavilions exhibits, and was a joint effort of various participating countries. This digital door to the frontline of architecture helped visitors and participants to stay tuned to the latest events and discussions from all over the world.

Valuable add-on benefits for exponents were enabled

Syndicate
marketing

Combine singular marketing activities for efficient global campaigns. Gain more reach and awareness for your trade show and to every individual exhibitor by joint showcase campaigns, generating more revenue and online social credibility for every participant.

Production

Exponent self-service portal for showcasing products and services. Permanent virtual space for expos and company reference projects that syncs with marketing automation.

Platform

Exponent self-service portal for showcasing products and services. Permanent virtual space for expos and company reference projects that syncs with marketing automation.

Outcome

True Win-Win Situation
With Exponaut both Expo organizer and exponents achieved through collaboration:

Raul Järg

Commissioner and Director of the Estonian Center of Architecture

The 22 countries worked in synergy, together with all the Commissioner Group members, to bring this initiative to life, relying on Estonia and its renowned technological advanced tradition for the virtual infrastructure. It’s no wonder that the country has has been hailed the “most advanced digital society in the world” (according to EU-Startups.com).