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95K+ IMPRESSIONS | 350+ ATTENDEES | $0 ADVERTISING BUDGET
On the 4th of June 2024, we organized a side-event during the ETHBelgrade conference, a top tier web3 event supported by the Ethereum Foundation. It's part of Belgrade Blockchain Week, a week filled with side events organized and attended by the most prestigious blockchain projects, including Chainlink, MetaMask, BNB Chain and more.
Hosting side-events during conferences is a classic way of pumping brand awareness by bringing industry leaders together and making valuable connections.
They provide marketing material and exposure, which are very beneficial to both social media growth and industry respect, if combined with a killer content strategy.
Embracing the essence of true web3 culture, we hosted a Milady x Retardio rave which ended up being the most attended side event of the entire Belgrade Blockchain Week. From the event organisation to our intricate marketing campaign, this case study will showcase how we achieved success.
Here’s how Blockformer’s Milady x Retardio rave came to be.
Event Branding & Aesthetic
Choosing the right atmosphere for the side-event to adequately portray brand identity and attract the target crowd was paramount for us when choosing the theme for our party.
We chose to organise a Milady Rave, based on the Milady Maker NFT collection, which turned into web3’s biggest alternative community.
It’s scope, momentum, and overall personality made it the ideal choice for the spirit we aim to embody: as far away from corporate as possible. We also partnered with a rising community, Retardio, but more on that later.
Organization
Venue selection, music and drink options are all details that make or break a side event.
Venue
Such Milady Rave events had already been hosted by community members in the likes of London, New York, and Tokyo, and we pioneered its arrival to the Balkans.
Wanting to bring the spirit of Belgrade to our guests, our venue was located in the heart of the city, and the music was inspired by local new wave techno DJs.
Our venue - Pakao (Translating to "Hell") Bar - which consisted of 3 separate interconnected venues (Pakao, Čistilište, Čekaonica), was perfect for creating an atmosphere for all.
Pakao offered an exclusive assortment of premium cocktails in a quieter area, next to the dancefloor. There, the music was much lower, and the quality of drinks was much higher, as they were meant to be enjoyed in partnership with great conversations.
The DJ booth was situated in Čekaonica, where the dance floor was filled all night.
And in Čistilište, a diner-style bar allowed guests to mingle in the booths while enjoying all kinds of classic drinks.
Partnerships
Two crucial partnerships - a web3 community with a vision similar to ours, and a leading gin brand that brought the best drinks to our party - elevated our event to the next level. We also closed a Media Partnership with, and were endorsed by ETHBelgrade, but more on that later.
Through the traction we created with our social media marketing, the creators of a rising web3 community close to Milady, Retardio, reached out to us to collaborate. In addition to promotional material and increased exposure, we decided to dedicate a “Retardio Hour” at the start of the party.
To jumpstart the night we partnered with Mr. Chura Artisanal Gin, a leading handcrafted Serbian gin brand and created the "Milady Catatonic", a Milady Maker inspired Gin & Tonic Cocktail which we offered for free during Retardio Hour, the first hour of the event.
Extra Goodies
Beyond free drinks, we provided on-theme special perks to guests including the most universally needed tool: lighters.
We branded the lighters with Blockformer and Milady Maker logos, and dispersed them throughout the venue.
This initiative boosted long term brand-awareness, as attendees were encouraged to take the lighters with them.
DJs & Music
The crux of the atmosphere, music, was played by two of Belgrade's top DJs, Praktikal & Matkec who spun the best
house, afrobeat, hardgroove techno and dance beats all night, keeping the dance floor filled the entire time.
Content
🚨 IMPORTANT - In our industry, a lot of individuals prefer to stay anonymous, and not reveal their online identity in person, and vice-versa.
When sharing content from events, it is imperative to ask for permission from each visible individual, and to not share content including individuals who have not approved sharing of their visual identity.
We recommend that all event hosters take this precaution in preparing to create content from their event.
Pictures
We hired 2 photographers to capture the moment in all its glory, which provided us with further promotional content that we shared on our social media, including a short party video.
These pictures were used for social media and PR content, and was also shared with attendees via a Google Docs link.
Video
As passionate video content creators we knew we were going to create a short party video, encapsulating the energy of the party. Besides the hired videographer, our own team was equipped with cameras to capture the event from their own perspectives and give it a lively, impromptu feel.
Watch it by clicking below! 👇
Milady x Retardio Rave by Blockformer
Marketing
Public Relations (PR)
Our team reached out to ETHBelgrade early on and our side event was officially endorsed by them both on social media and their website.
Additionally, for the second year in a row Blockformer was brought on as an official media partner. We covered the event through our social media channels and also spread the word of the event live on the ground. For more on our Media Partnership, you can read our full blog post here.
Social Media Campaign
Our social media marketing strategy was mostly concentrated on Twitter, which is web3’s largest online hub, but also Instagram. The goal was to create allure around the event and generate as much hype as possible & promote brand awareness.
The target audience for our campaign was ETHBelgrade attendees, which we were able to introduce to our event mostly through Twitter. We added custom links to our Luma event page to all our posts, and funneled all users there.
The social media campaign consisted of posting daily Milady-coded Tweets, leveraging our team's extensive crypto-twitter experience.
We also created posts regarding our partnership with Retardio, from whom we received both distribution support and standalone posts.
The event was announced exactly 3 weeks in advance, with the main information and links being distributed across all platforms. We then began a daily promotional campaign on twitter, aimed at engaging both the existing community and outsiders with meme-like posts relating to both the web3 sphere and our event.
All posts were made to be natural and relatable as to avoid corporatism, which resulted in high authenticity engagement of the relevant and quality crowd.
Furthermore, each post included Milady and Retardio branding, giving our campaign high social media and marketing support from the two communities.
Each post was followed by a custom UTM sign-up link, allowing us to track the sources of guest applications.
This also provided insight into our marketing effectiveness, and proved that it indeed was our campaign that drew in the crowd, rather than the exposure brought on by ETHBelgrade or others.
Our approval process was conducted in several waves, keeping potential guests engaged in anticipation regarding their event approval status.
Posts announcing approval waves also performed well, which indicated high anticipation of the event.
This was supported by ample contacting from people wishing to be approved, having inquiries about the event, and expressing excitement about attending.
Social Media Results
Beyond providing a space for our guests and our own team to make valuable industry connections, the party and our marketing increased our social media presence and engagements.
In total, our social media campaign achieved 96,000+ impressions and 1,470+ engagements, including both our and our affiliates' posts.
Additionally, our posts following the event maintained high levels of engagement, which is indicative of a quality community being built. You can view the full list of social media posts about our event on our public Blockformer Social Media Events document.
Event Turnout
With 300+ total attendees, the party lasted for 5 hours and the energy remained high throughout the night. Retardio Hour kickstarted the evening, and the free drinks poured in, while the DJs raised the energy and rhythm all night. Community members from both Retardio and Milady traveled to Belgrade just to attend our party, highlighting the far reach and impact of our campaign.
Beyond the sheer number of attendees (~50% of total conference goers), an invaluable aspect of this event organization was the connections we made. From potential partners, clients, to even potential employees looking to join our mission and spread the wonders of web3, the event paid for itself several times over in additional social capital.
Even better, this benefit was not reserved for just us organizers, as guests mingled all night. Anecdotal evidence from attendees indicated high satisfaction across the board, but as that cannot be published:
you just had to be there.
If you're planning to host an event and would like some proven assistance, reach out to us through Email or Telegram!
Follow our socials for more of our content, and to stay up to date on our future events!
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