Accelevents PMI Ottawa Valley case study I In-person and hybrid

PMI (Project Management Institute) is a member organization that offers project management accreditation and certifications to a global community of over 700,000 members. For the past 40 years, the PMI Ottawa Valley Outaouais Chapter has supported local project management professionals in the Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec Regions of Canada. We recently sat down with Emmanuel Ubani, their VP of Operations, to discuss their event program and why they decided to partner with Accelevents. 

PMI Ottawa Valley hosts a variety of events throughout the year—from large-scale conferences like their Regional Chapter Leadership Conference, to professional development workshops, networking mixers, and virtual roundtables. Most of their events are in-person or hybrid, with a growing focus on creating seamless digital experiences for remote attendees.

After experiencing numerous challenges with their current systems, they were referred to Accelevents through another PMI chapter. That chapter used Accelevents for a hybrid leadership conference and spoke highly of its flexibility and attendee experience. After researching a few options, Accelevents stood out for its all-in-one approach and strong branding capabilities.

PMI Ottawa Valley Challenges: 

• Using too many point solutions
• Fragmented systems and data silos
• Time-consuming manual processes 
• Providing a consistent branded experience
• Tracking engagement and reporting 

“Before Accelevents, we used a combination of tools: Eventbrite for ticketing, Mailchimp for communications, and manual processes for check-in and onsite management. It worked, but it wasn’t integrated, which meant a lot of manual work and data silos.”

How Accelevents Helped Overcome PMI’s Challenges: 

Instead of continuing to use point solutions for various aspects of event management, they adopted Accelevents as their primary event management platform. This allowed them to shed time-consuming processes and manual workflows for a more integrated approach that supports the entire event lifecycle. Rebundling their event tech allowed PMI to break down data silos, streamline communications, and capture engagement metrics for reporting. 

“Accelevents brought everything into one platform. The branded event pages and customizable emails kept our communication on-point. The check-in system cut down wait times dramatically; we could print badges in seconds, even with spotty WiFi. And having all the data in one place meant we could see real-time registration stats, session popularity, and engagement metrics without jumping between tabs.” 

How Accelevents Helped PMI Achieve Its Event Goals:

Creating a consistent branded experience across the event lifecycle was a top priority for PMI and an area that they struggled with before adopting Accelevents. Some aspects of their event programs were branded, while others lacked polish and felt dull. They believed that tighter branding elements would help boost the professionalism and appeal of their event pages, marketing assets, and communications.

“The ability to create visually compelling, fully branded event pages helped us improve our conversion rates. For our last conference in August, we saw a 20% increase in early registrations compared to the previous year.”

Key Outcomes for PMI Ottawa Valley:

1. Rebundling Their Event Tech: 
   
   • By removing point solutions, they were able to consolidate their event tech and shed manual processes/workflows. This allowed Emmanuel and his colleagues to save time and increase productivity while using a single event management platform instead of juggling multiple tools.

2. Reliable, Accurate Data and Reporting:
   
   • Fragmented tools consistently caused PMI issues when building reports. Exporting data from one platform to another and stitching together reports was time-consuming and frustrating. Now they can create organized, detailed reports for member registrations, attendance data, and engagement metrics in real-time. 

3.  Creating a Consistent Branded Experience:
   
   • The days of building event programs without extensive branding options are over for PMI Ottawa Valley. With Accelevents, they now have complete control over the look and feel of their event websites, registrations, ticketing/badging, communications, and more. 

“Accelevents is an intuitive, all-in-one platform that doesn’t sacrifice depth for simplicity. It’s built for organizers who care about branding, data, and attendee experience, whether you’re running intimate workshops or large-scale hybrid conferences. It feels professional, works reliably, and their team actually listens to feedback. If you’re tired of patching together multiple tools and want a cohesive, streamlined event workflow, Accelevents is definitely worth a look.”

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