Daughters of the Vote Virtual Event

Equal Voice is a national, multi-partisan organization that – since 2001 – has been advocating for the equal representation of women in Canada’s Parliament, legislatures, and on municipal and band councils. Their annual, high-profile event called Daughters of the Vote (DOV) is a 4-day bilingual conference aimed at exposing young delegates to Canada’s political institutions and the women serving in them.  This important event began live in 2017 and is typically held in Ottawa to allow delegates to meet each other, MPs and Senators, and make connections that will inspire them to participate in politics.

The challenge: How to take a highly successful and engaging live conference and create a virtual experience that will bring delegates together to make meaningful, life-long connections?

Selecting the right technology partner for our Virtual House of Commons was one of the major keys to our success. We identified a bilingual virtual event platform that was flexible and customizable and, also easy to access via all device types.

The robust custom platform included a tiered registration system that provided various access levels based on attendee type, a main stage with group chat and Q&A functionality, simultaneous breakout rooms, a networking lounge and sharable business cards, sponsors & exhibitor booths, a content hub for on demand videos and gamification to drive further engagement.

Proof Experiences managed all virtual event logistics and delivered a fully turnkey solution. From website design & online registration to video production to speaker rehearsals to accessibility integration (including ASL, simultaneous translation and live captioning) and streaming support.

In addition, we developed a highly customized agenda and pre-assigned attendees to their registered session. This made accessing and moving between sessions a seamless experience. Attendees spent more time with each other than figuring out the technology.

The main stage streamed LIVE, larger-than-life experiences, including an intimate interview with Jody Wilson-Raybould and a Virtual House of Commons day, where leaders including PM Justin Trudeau & Green Party leader Annamie Paul, joined live to address delegates.

DOV had over 400+ attendees from across Canada and achieved a 99% delegate attendance rate. A total of 126 breakout sessions was organized, 4,000+ chat messages exchanged, 375 live questions asked to speakers and 315 one-on-one meetings scheduled between delegates.

In a post-event survey, attendees complimented the ease of use of the platform, calling it polished and intuitive. Equal Voice received feedback from speakers, sponsors and attendees that the event was “phenomenal” and “the organization of each day and accessibility of (session) links made the process seamless.”