JUNO Builds Content-Driven Events with Lasting Communities

Meet JUNO:

JUNO is an all-in-one digital events and engagement platform that enables large, multi-day and multi-session audience events where individuals can network, learn, and explore business opportunities—like trade association shows, business conferences, and certification courses.

JUNO is especially unique as a virtual event experience, because they grow their virtual and hybrid moments into lasting, interactive communities where people can continue to learn. They have utilized this vision to build engaging platforms and host events across multiple industries, with clients like the Institute of Food Technologists, American Heart Association and even a major professional sports organization.

“We’re  reimagining human connection, what exactly that means, and how it can be achieved digitally,” said Dana Freker Doody, Vice President of Marketing & Communications for JUNO.

They connect and educate people by providing in-platform features and tools so users can keep participating, having fun, and communicating long after the original event has ended. To build and power these features at scale, they rely on PubNub. 

Easily scaling infrastructure to handle exponential growth and unlimited concurrent users

As a relatively new concept, JUNO’s platform experienced exponential growth in 2020, as industries suddenly needed to move their in-person events online. They quickly tripled in size and now host and connect millions of users.

In 2020, their events regularly maxed out in attendance and often exceeded thousands of participants, so JUNO needed a more reliable, scalable solution for their in-app chat. They had already been using our partner, Vonage, for their OpenTok, video, and audio conferencing features, and it was suggested they take a look at PubNub.

JUNO ended up choosing PubNub for the reliability, scalability, and ability to host unlimited concurrent users, all of which would make it easier for them to continue with their pattern of growth. They were very confident that PubNub was a solution that could expand along with them.

“Our engineers are really looking ahead into the future, and making sure that our platform is seamless to our users as we continue to grow,” said Freker Doody. “And that's why the scalable solution at PubNub made such a good fit for us.” 

Powering in-app chat with interactive features that increase engagement and drive retention

By leveraging PubNub’s platform, JUNO can build digital experiences that are as engaging as their in-person counterparts. With PubNub’s flexibility and options for customization, JUNO has added multiple interactive features on top of their chat that make sure their audience is having fun and enjoying their virtual communication.

“We’ve been able to add features with PubNub that were not existent with our previous solution. So that includes everything from chat, to polls, to real-time quizzes,” said Colin Britton, Chief Operating Officer at JUNO. “It also includes presence—knowing real-time how many users are online—and even emojis and reactions that fire off in real time, like little hearts going across the screen. All of these many real-time interactions are powered through PubNub.”

By leaving the chat infrastructure to PubNub, JUNO’s engineers are able to save time implementing extra features and focus more on the core of their platform. 

Real-time communication is essential to create the feelings of connection and authenticity that would be present in a physical environment. The features JUNO has implemented with PubNub help ensure that audiences participate, which then encourages them to come back and host more events on the platform.

Connecting audiences with year-round opportunities and close-knit communities  

Virtual conferences are a great way for people to network, and they often boost engagement for the companies hosting them. But these peaks in engagement can quickly drop off as the audience loses proximity to all of the connections they gained from the event. 

With the help of PubNub’s engagement features—like presence and messaging—JUNO builds lasting relationships by continuing participation opportunities and communication well past the initial day of the event. They recognize that growing and maintaining communities are essential parts of business development, helping to ensure overall success and challenge industry standards. 

“Everyone thinks of virtual meetings as something like a Zoom call, but it can be so much more. We focus on connecting and learning. Say you have thousands of people—like medical professionals—that need to attend a seminar for a certification. If the event is digital, why does it need to be limited to one day a year? Why can’t they join and attend that same day?” said Britton.

Much like PubNub, JUNO is working to make virtual environments and spaces that improve upon in-person connections, rather than replacing them. The results are increased connectivity, better communication, and nurtured relationships, which all help businesses to succeed.  

Conclusion

“PubNub is an all-around easy-to-use platform. We don’t have to worry about scalability, and we know it’s going to deliver all of our messages when and where we want them. It’s great to free up our engineers from worrying about these aspects of the architecture,” said Britton, when asked to summarize JUNO’s relationship with PubNub.

By implementing in-app chat, presence, and additional messaging features with PubNub, JUNO has continued to ensure that their events are interactive, scalable, and always make for a great user experience. 

If you are interested in working with PubNub to build these essential real-time features into your own application, contact sales here.