I recently reworked one of my first projects around Web3 conferences.

Before I present to you this project, I will describe Web3 conferences like a product review from the point of view of attendees.

What are the stakeholders and the customer journey of Web3 conferences?

Context and Situation

→ Firstly, what’s the flow of high-level users going to conferences?

Know that a conference happens > get a ticket > get a plane ticket if it’s necessary > get a place to sleep > begin to locate places and know how to get around.

We can distinguish between two possibilities before going to the conference.

  • Attend and manage your trip yourself.
  • Supervised by your company, or someone on your team will organize the trip for you.

At some of these steps, conferences help users with hotel partnerships and onboarding tips to find their way around once they’ve arrived.

For example, the Ethereum Foundation for DevConnect Istanbul provides information about the current situation but also recommendations about how to move around the city (transport), how to get a visa, where to get mobile data, and the weather. This may seem simple, but it’s of the utmost importance for the satisfaction of the attendees. That is the product statement.

→ Secondarily, what types of events can be found there?

Conference - it’s the main conference where people will organize side events around

  • typically 2 days duration with talks, workshops, and hackathons
  • requires a ticket

The main purpose of conferences is to bring people together around common themes, allowing networking and connection between them.

It’s also a place to learn about the latest developments and trends in the space. Speakers and experts will be able to share their research or announce new projects.

Side conference - t’s a secondary conference that happens before or after the main conference.

  • lasts typically 1 day or more
    • It’s often 100% talks and workshops, but that can be a hackathon too.
  • often requires a ticket

The side conference’s purpose is to focus on a more specific subject and connect people closely around themes. marketing event

Side events - built around the main conference, they are considered a more chill place to meet specific people sharing similar interests

  • often free and ponctual events (a few hours)
    • need an invitation, registration, or are free to attend there
  • the purpose is variable:
    • networking; workshop; party; lunch or dinner; activities

With side events, people who cannot attend the main conferences can still participate in their communities or discover new low-key communities.

Who goes to Web3 conferences?

Over the years, crypto conferences have become more popular and attract different kinds of people with different goals.

  • Team/founders of the project
    • to promote their project
    • interact and receive feedback from their supporters. Also with VCs
    • to learn about the new market research
  • Developers
    • participate in hackathons
    • meet and join friends
  • VCs and investors
    • promote their company
    • find or close deals with team projects
  • Jobseeker
    • they will be more interested in networking events and parties - a place to easily talk with their target.

As we can see, conferences are places with a large number of diverse attendees. Each group of people answers the goal for another group. During a hackathon, new projects or teams are formed to push innovation.

Moreover, it is a place to meet people who have never met before because of geographical limits. Breaking these limits and enabling unknowing people to meet each other in our ecosystem is a rich experience.

Customer Journey

What’s the current state of the experience for conference attendees?

Before the conference

This is the phase to attract the target audience, share your values, and make communities want to come to your conference.

Users start by discovering and exploring what the purpose of the conference is.
They will need to know:

  • The duration; location; what is required to attend
  • Which speakers and what about they will talk about (subjects)

They will ask their social network if someone wants to go there or if someone already attends this conference. If yes, what did he think of it? Was it interesting?

Unless you have a strong personal reason, going with friends plays a big part in your decision, ‘We’re going to have a good time’. Attending conferences feeds social reputation by meeting new people and people implicated in popular protocols.

I’d say that once these questions have been answered, the decision is already made. All that’s left is to proceed with payment, an important step that can have a major impact on the user’s decision.

The ticket payment step, will confirm the user’s decision. That requires:

  • Clear information and details about what users will purchase (what kind of tickets it is, what the ticket allows during the conference)
  • Payment needs to include several options and a fair chance to get a ticket for each participant
    • The cost of the conference ticket influences whether or not you attend. High ticket prices often refer to the popularity of the conference, which also means it’s necessary to deliver high-quality content and activities during the conference
    • That directly impacts the ‘after conference’ reflexion and the attendees retention for the next conference
  • After the payment, the receipt needs to be clear and include a recap of what happened

Finally, users received their tickets. The next steps will be around how to go to the conferences (plane ticket…), and everything needed to make the trip possible.

It is also the moment where users will search to find side events to maximize their experience. That’s when we come in to help with the side event discovery and manage their schedule.

During the conference

Depending on where the attendees are housed, they need to get to the event (transport service is important here).

We can associate this phase with the product experience and the features we delivered to users. Here, attendees will be able to attend conferences and take part in hackathons, etc.

Networking is often the main purpose of coming to a conference.

  • Exchange experiences
  • Build professional relationships or deal with VCs
  • Future collaboration between projects

Attendees can receive merchandise, POAP for their participation, and unique memories!

After the conference

In product development, we can associate that to the retention point. What did we do, provide for users to come back?

It’s the moment when participants take stock of their experience, and decide whether it was worth it. These answers form part of the decision they’ll take next year on whether to return.

  • attendees will share their experience with their friends; team and in social media
  • organizators should engage their attendees to get feedback and improvement suggestions for the next conference

With this review, I wanted to show how we can apply product mechanisms to a conference experience.
In the next review, I will present a PoC product I made.