ANR 

A set of multiple events as a key communication channel with their national audience

Vincent Poisson de l'ANR

« For ANR, events are a key communication channel with our audiences in all of France. Thanks to the online events that we are able to host with inwink, we can reach a broader portion of our audiences, and more efficiently! »

Vincent Poisson, Event Communication Lead, ANR

Key Figures

10+
events every year
300
registrants for each session
80
of the audience is satisfied

The context

The Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) is a national organization which provides funding for research at public institutions in collaboration with private research centers in France.

ANR’s missions are to promote and dynamize research and innovation and to strengthen the position of French research at a European and international level.

ANR organizes regular events for the research and scientific innovation communities in France. These events, which occur in various formats, cover a wide range of research topics.

Objectives

ANR’s events have two main objectives:

  1. Showcase the results of funded projects
  2. Bring innovation and research communities together and strengthen the relationship with the agency

Strategy

To reach these objectives, ANR invests on two strategic approaches: an event offering which leverages multiple formats, and an effort to facilitate networking during events.

A LARGE OFFER OF EVENTS SETUPS AND FORMATS  

ANR offers many different set ups and formats of events.

Two examples :

  • ANR Tour
  • One-day-long online conferences

The ANR Tour is a series of 30 webinars, that enable all ANR departments to meet their audiences. Since 2020, the ANR Tour has taken place entirely online.

In 2021, with inwink, the ANR Tour gathered over 2.500 registrants.

The 2022 ANR Tour will also be organized with inwink, with a similar approach:

On the other hand, the one-day-long conferences, takin place exclusively online since March 2021, cover specific topics that vary from one edition to the next.

A few examples:

Microplastiques ANR eventDigital Technology and Heritage ANR event

These conferences can be played out into two languages. In this case, inwink helps the organizers create in just a few clicks, a multi-language version of the event website.

ENCOURAGE NETWORKING AND INTERACTIVITY DURING THE EVENTS

All ANR events, whatever the format, share one common feature: they all take place live, so that interactions can be maximized during the sessions.

During live sessions, the chat box is a place where discussions occur, whether they are between ANR and researchers, or among researchers themselves.

At some events, online networking tables have been set up to share ideas and encourage discussions in smaller groups. This set-up has been an effective way to compensate for the absence of in-person meetings, and to include in the conversation people who are located far away and would not have been able to join otherwise.

Results

A LARGER AUDIENCE

Each session gathers between 200 and 300 registrants, which represents a strong improvement compared to the same sessions previously taking place in-person.

Furthermore, more attendees from remote locations, overseas and foreign countries can now take part in the events. This scenario enables the ANR to reach their global objective as a national agency.

A HAPPY AUDIENCE

Participants who were able to take part in the online networking tables gave very positive feedback. Vincent Poisson said, ‘For the first time, attendees told us they felt like this was really an event, not just a top-down webinar’.

More satisfaction surveys reveal that over 80% of respondents are satisfied or very satisfied. The audience is pleased, and repeat attendance is high.