Web Marketing Festival 2024

Last Saturday, the ninth edition of the Web Marketing Festival ended with applause at the Rimini Convention Centre.

After the "hybrid" events of the 2020 editions, for this year’s edition a bold decision was made: organize it both online and in presence, despite everything!

The uncertainty surrounding the pandemic emergency made it tremendously difficult to plan such an event. In addition to the concrete possibility of facing new closures and restrictions, in fact, it was necessary to avoid the risk of spreading the virus among the participants.

All this required a meticulous work in the planning phase, in a period far from simple and with a very high entrepreneurial risk!

Not surprisingly, many other event organizers did not feel like going through with it and preferred to postpone them, cancel them or at best, simply make them accessible in a virtual way.

That’s why we can only express our total appreciation to the whole team of Web Marketing Festival for the courage and determination shown.

We were there and we can say that the festival was a success from every point of view: the great participation by the public, the level of content, the quality of the speakers and the accuracy of the security measures put in place.

Despite the over 60 rooms and more than 100 events to choose from, in fact, it was not at all obvious to be able to find a seat to attend the speech! Very often the halls were filled before the beginning of the work. The participants were "thirsty for knowledge" and were looking forward to getting in touch with the speakers. Keep in mind that many of these were professionals known (at the very least) nationally for their work: best-selling authors, successful entrepreneurs, experienced marketers with six-figure advertising campaigns behind them!

How did the organizers manage everything safely?!

First of all, a maximum number of admissible visitors has been established, based on the capacity of the host structure. To access the Festival in presence you had to buy your ticket online and register.

To access the Palacongressi it was necessary to undergo the measurement of body temperature. Properly wearing the mask was mandatory for the entire duration of the event.

To attend the speech, you had to have found a seat: you could not stand in the halls and the seats were all spaced. Once reached the maximum capacity in a room, the staff prevented anyone to access it: at the entrance was exposed a red light. In that case the only way to see the work was through the platform Ibrida.

The participants had and have the possibility to follow all the events also digitally, both live and delayed, by logging in with their credentials on the festival platform. This is no small aspect, considering that very often we were in difficulty in the choice of events, especially because in the same time slot there were many concurrent speeches!

The platform proved to be a very useful tool, able to simplify and improve the experience of participants. How?

Thanks to Hybrid it was possible to view the complete program and the map of the location; in addition, you could create your own agenda, selecting the most interesting events. During the speeches you could ask questions to the speakers, during the competitions you could vote the best candidates. Finally, Hybrid allowed and allows all participants (who have expressed consent) to be contacted through a chat system. Of course, the opposite also applies: through the platform you can search all the companies and people present and you can get in touch with them!

How do we evaluate our overall experience at the Web Marketing Festival?

Absolutely positive! In these three days we have known many excellences in the field of digital and social innovation. We have listened to very interesting reports by senior institutional representatives on the technological and social trends underway. There were also ideas and practical advice on how to use some of the most important digital tools, success stories and best practices. Equally stimulating was the comparison with the other startups present at the fair... we will never tire of repeating how important it is to make net! To complete in the best way an event so successful, they thought artists, filmmakers and writers of books. During the festival, in fact, it was not uncommon to run into jugglers, waders and musicians (even the likes of Roi Paci, just to name one at random!). One of the exhibition spaces was dedicated to writers, who took turns during the three days to present their books. The filmmakers instead challenged each other in a short film competition! The icing on the cake was the competition between startups!

A you can see, getting bored was literally impossible! At this point the hope is that this will be the first in a long series of events in attendance. The organizers did their best to ensure impeccable management and judging by the results they succeeded.

This was the edition of the courage and the restart! Let us cross our fingers and hope that it will bring good results, but in the meantime, we must continue to behave responsibly and above all vaccinate! To conclude, we quote the words of Cosmano Lombardo, creator of the Festival.

"Italy is much more than some people often think. We are a propulsion center that combines innovation, tradition and culture. We have demonstrated this, together with each of you, also this year. The WMF2021 was the Festival not only of the restart, but above all of the courage. Courage to feel the right duty to build, to commit to the good of all and for a future that is really and concretely better. In these three days, once again, thanks to the courage, work and participation of all, we have taken concrete steps to build better communities. The merit is of all the people who have believed in this enterprise: participants, moderators, speakers, sponsors and partners, artists, startups, onp, investors, institutions, universities and research centers who believe and live the work as a form of construction of society. We wanted to continue and will continue this work of co-construction undertaken years ago together with all of you. Today more united than ever."