How O.C. Tanner scaled a global events portfolio and elevated Influence Greatness with Bizzabo

The challenge: deliver a premium flagship experience while supporting many teams running many events

O.C. Tanner is approaching its 100-year anniversary, and its structure reflects a long history of teams building what they need to serve specific customers and regions. The events portfolio spans everything from trade shows and sales programs to webinars and regional programs, and many of those initiatives are run within internal teams.

That model works, but it creates a familiar enterprise challenge: how do you maintain consistency, visibility, and brand quality across a distributed events org, while still giving teams the flexibility to execute quickly?

“We operate largely autonomously, but highly efficiently. Different teams and regions run their own events, and they need the freedom to execute their way. Bizzabo has been really helpful because it gives everyone a shared platform, while still letting each team build events that feel unique to their audience.” - Liz Hendricks, Event Marketing Manager, O.C. Tanner

For the flagship event, Influence Greatness, the bar was even higher. The team needed the experience to feel truly VIP from the first touchpoint, and they needed operations that could scale without adding complexity.

A major risk area was mobile app adoption. Liz had seen how quickly app friction can derail onsite experience, especially on large corporate programs.

“In past roles using other event management software, the mobile app could be a real headache. Different phones wouldn’t cooperate, and you’d end up needing an app help desk onsite. With Bizzabo, we didn’t hear that at registration. People could log in, and the app just worked.”- Liz Hendricks 

The solution: standardize the repeatable, personalize the high-touch

O.C. Tanner used Bizzabo as the common foundation across the portfolio, then layered in the right experience design choices for Influence Greatness, including VIP registration paths, a streamlined mobile app experience, and an embedded community wall.

1) Templates that made repeatable events faster to launch

Many of O.C. Tanner’s programs follow repeatable formats. Instead of rebuilding from scratch, the team leaned into Bizzabo templates to create a consistent “starter kit” that teams could duplicate and adjust.

“Many of our programs follow a repeatable format, what we call an ‘event in a box’ built in Bizzabo. The location and a few details change, but the core experience stays consistent. With Bizzabo templates, our designers create the look and feel once, and then teams can duplicate it and update what they need without starting from scratch.” - Liz Hendricks 

This approach supported brand consistency while still respecting how O.C. Tanner teams operate.

2) A multi-path VIP registration experience that still felt cohesive

Influence Greatness required a more complex registration experience than a typical “one form fits all” flow. O.C. Tanner built multiple paths, including VIP and paid options, with a clear goal: preserve exclusivity while removing friction for senior leaders.

“We worked with Bizzabo to build multiple VIP and paid registration paths, which is a pretty unusual ask. The important thing was that it still felt seamless. People weren’t confused; they just felt like, ‘I’m a VIP, I’m being taken care of.’ And that experience really helped reduce drop-off.” - Liz Hendricks 

That focus on reducing friction is exactly why many enterprise event teams revisit registration strategy as a growth lever, not a back-office task.

3) A mobile-first experience designed for clarity

O.C. Tanner treated the mobile app as the primary onsite guide, and they built it with intention. Instead of overwhelming attendees with too many features, the team focused on the information people actually needed in the moment, then made it easy to find.

Liz shared that this streamlined, “most useful things first” approach helped attendees feel more confident navigating the day. It also reduced the usual onsite questions event teams field in hallways, because the agenda, session details, and wayfinding were clear in the app. By pairing a clean in-app experience with strong onsite signage, O.C. Tanner created a smoother, more self-serve attendee journey that supported their VIP-standard experience.

4) Embedded community with Walls.io inside the Bizzabo app

To extend engagement without forcing gamification, O.C. Tanner used a Walls.io gallery wall, then connected it to O.C. Tanner’s Culture Cloud recognition ethos. The result was an in-app space where attendees could see event moments in one place, and keep that community feel going even after the doors closed.

“We embedded the Walls.io gallery wall experience inside the Bizzabo app, and then connected it to our Culture Cloud recognition platform. That way, attendees could see event moments and real-time recognition in one place, right in the app, and it helped keep that community feel going well beyond the event itself.” - Liz Hendricks 

The results: smoother execution, faster follow-up, and stronger adoption across teams

1) Strong app adoption and fewer onsite questions

Influence Greatness achieved 73% app usage, supported by a mobile-first approach and a deliberate choice to keep the experience focused.

2) Faster sales responsiveness with real-time registration visibility

With many events tied to relationship-building and commercial outcomes, Liz highlighted the impact of immediate visibility into registrations, particularly for sales teams that need timely follow-up.

“The real-time visibility is huge, especially for sales. We can set up notifications so we know immediately when someone registers. It means we can follow up while the conversation is still fresh, instead of finding out days later.”- Liz Hendricks 

3) Streamlined onsite workflows, including badges and self-sufficiency

O.C. Tanner also benefited from being able to run onsite essentials without heavy lift, including badge printing workflows. Liz specifically called out how easy it felt to execute without needing large onsite infrastructure.

“Even for a smaller conference, we can do it ourselves. Shipping the Bizzabox and printing badges is quick and straightforward. You don’t need a huge onsite operation to deliver a polished experience.” - Liz Hendricks 

4) Higher internal confidence through support and flexibility

With a distributed org and a high creative bar, partnership mattered. Liz emphasized that support and collaboration were pivotal in shifting internal sentiment, especially early on.

“As our team ramped up on Bizzabo, the support made all the difference. The response time is fast, and whenever I needed working sessions, your team showed up. That consistency really built confidence internally.” - Liz Hendricks 

Looking ahead: deeper personalization and tighter integration

For the next Influence Greatness, O.C. Tanner plans to build on what worked by expanding experience touchpoints earlier in the journey, including welcome moments tied to registration and stronger integration between event workflows and O.C. Tanner’s recognition ethos.

O.C. Tanner’s approach is a strong blueprint for enterprise event teams managing complexity at scale: standardize what should be repeatable, personalize what matters most, and use one platform to deliver a premium, mobile-first experience from registration through onsite engagement.

“If you’re considering Bizzabo, I’d say it’s a solid move. It’s easy to use, templates make teams faster, and you get a lot of quality without having to pay extra just to cover the basics.” - Liz Hendricks

If you’re planning a flagship conference or an executive program and want to streamline execution, increase app adoption, and deliver a VIP experience without adding operational overhead, Bizzabo can help.

Request a personalized demo to see how Bizzabo’s Event Experience OS can power your next event.