Case Study: Wheaton College’s Humanitarian Disaster Institute (HDI) achieves global reach and sustained attendee engagement for its Spiritual First Aid Summit with Brandlive

Wheaton College’s HDI Summit Unites a Global Community

Wheaton College’s Humanitarian Disaster Institute (HDI), a faith-based research center focused on preparing the church to respond to global disasters, wanted to scale its 2nd Annual Spiritual First Aid Summit in March 2021 into a more immersive, community-driven virtual experience. Faced with a complex, international audience and a desire to move beyond a static site, HDI needed a platform and production partner that could deliver polished, interactive programming and seamless technical support.

Partnering with Brandlive, HDI used a fully branded environment with breakout sessions, chat, downloadable resources and a Greenroom production team to run a smooth mix of live and pre-recorded content. The one-day, eight-hour summit featured 29 presenters, drew 5,448 unique registrations and 17,359+ page views, engaged attendees across 100+ countries (up from ~60), included 28 partners, and drove 800+ clicks to a virtual book fair — all while fostering sustained attendee engagement and a strong sense of online community.

HDI

Christa Cordova

Marketing & Communications Leader