A global healthcare company needed to bring its sales representatives together for a half-day virtual meeting to share best practices, exchange new ideas, and learn innovative ways to win in the field. The event, held on August 22, brought together 800 invited attendees for an engaging and interactive program that mirrored the energy of an in-person conference.

The Challenge: Flexibility Without Confusion

Unlike a traditional virtual meeting, the client wanted to give participants the freedom to choose sessions that aligned with their interests. Instead of pre-assigned breakout rooms, the event featured five rounds of “choose your own adventure” learning, with four concurrent sessions in each round. This required a seamless virtual infrastructure that allowed participants to move quickly between sessions without confusion or delay.  

The challenge? Traditional breakout rooms wouldn’t work at this scale. Attendees needed the ability to move between sessions quickly and seamlessly, but many had limited experience using Zoom. The solution had to be:

• Simple for attendees to navigate without technical stress.

• Reliable for presenters so they could focus on content.

• Scalable for hundreds of participants across nearly a dozen sessions running simultaneously.

The Solution: A Branded Virtual Venue

To make the vision a reality, Leading Edge Training Solutions built a branded virtual venue that acted as the central hub for the event. This platform allowed participants to:

• Access the general session and their agenda.

• Join their preferred breakout sessions with a single click.

• Enter a standby room if they arrived too early, reducing confusion.

Behind the scenes, the event required careful coordination:

• 8 producers for 8 zoom links during the concurrent sessions, each with two devices for redundancy.

• Slide and Q&A support so presenters could stay focused on their message.

• SharePoint integration for secure and efficient file-sharing.

This infrastructure gave participants a conference-like experience in a digital environment, while also keeping everything running smoothly in the background.

The Results: An Engaging, Scalable Virtual Event

The Results: An Engaging, Scalable Virtual Event

The event successfully engaged 400–500 active participants throughout the half-day program. Attendees were able to choose sessions that matched their interests, switch rooms seamlessly, and remain fully engaged without technical barriers.

By blending technical excellence with data-driven reporting, Leading Edge delivered more than just an event—we gave the client clear insights into what resonated most with their audience:

• 96.5% of attendees stayed connected for more than 20 minutes across all sessions

• General Sessions anchored the event with retention rates of 96.3% (Opening) and 90.2% (Closing)

• Breakout sessions performed strongly despite a self-selection format

• Engagement insights also highlighted opportunities to refine content for future events

While a few outliers can be spotted, we see from our analytics that the attendance was generally consistent across the sessions.

This session was on a Friday afternoon and optional for attendees. Less than 20% drop off is amazing and means that attendees were engaged and interested in the event!

The combination of careful planning, seamless production, and proactive support turned a complex challenge into a standout virtual training success.

Key Takeaways  

This project highlights three essentials for creating scalable, engaging virtual training events:

1. Give participants autonomy. A “choose your own adventure” format mirrors the flexibility of in-person events.

2. Invest in seamless infrastructure. A branded virtual venue makes navigation intuitive and stress-free.

3. Support presenters behind the scenes. With technical producers managing logistics, speakers can focus on what they do best - delivering content.

When executed correctly, virtual events don’t just replicate in-person meetings—they can offer even more flexibility, scale, and impact.

Ready to Elevate Your Next Training?

Whether you’re launching a new product, onboarding employees, or delivering global training, Leading Edge Training Solutions helps pharma and tech companies design and execute complex virtual and hybrid events with confidence.

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