How Farm Management Canada Hosted Their Annual Agriculture Excellence Conference

About the Event

Farm Management Canada (FMC) hosts the annual Agricultural Excellence Conference, a landmark gathering for the Canadian farming community. After a previous platform underperformed, FMC needed a user-intuitive and engaging virtual space that could host a mix of live and simulated-live workshops for both large and small audiences, with custom branding and the engagement expected of a live in-person event.

The Challenge

FMC needed a platform that could support 800+ attendees along with gamification to drive participation and engagement. The interface needed to be intuitive enough to support a wide range of technical experience and accessibility levels.

The three-day event comprised several live workshops and simulated-live streams, plus two concurrent extended workshops each day. Flexibility was critical -- speakers needed to mix live and pre-recorded sessions, and last-minute changes had to be accommodated. The platform also needed to support an easily updated video-on-demand page for post-event access.

The Solution

Simulive sessions

Since most speakers preferred to pre-record their presentations, Canapii's simulive session option was used to schedule broadcasts that looked and felt like live streams. Speakers watched live alongside attendees, interacting in real-time via the interactive bar -- creating a seamless experience for all users.

Zoom integration

For live roundtable sessions, FMC leveraged a Zoom integration supporting both webinar and meeting formats depending on audience size. The familiar Zoom interface was well received by speakers and attendees, with the option to join via phone or the Zoom client app.

Engagement and navigation

Gamification drove engagement and was used to award prizes from sponsors live during the event. A community gallery wall encouraged participation with photos and chat. The playlist and polling functions guided users between sessions, sustaining high viewer numbers throughout each day. Banner notifications directed attendees to live sessions as they started.

Results

The conference was extremely successful across all three days. Canapii's simulive capability proved central to running full sessions without needing the event team's constant attention. The Zoom integration embedded a familiar interface within Canapii, giving speakers confidence in the virtual format. Notifications and polling efficiently guided attendees between sessions.

The intuitive platform structure resulted in minimal technical support requests. Page customisations highlighted sponsors on different pages, leading to increased exposure and additional revenue opportunities. Overall, high session ratings and platform usage were tracked via Canapii's analytics.

"Thank you so much for your patience and dedication to AgEx. You helped us each and every step of the way, were very patient in doing so, and helped to make it a success."

Nick Oakley, Farm Management Canada