Forbes - Event of the Year

Company: Forbes, Jersey City, NJ
Company Description: Forbes champions success by celebrating those who have made it, and those who aspire to make it. Forbes convenes and curates the most influential leaders and entrepreneurs who are driving change, transforming business and making a significant impact on the world.
Nomination Category: Media Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Event of the Year

Nomination Title: 2020 Forbes Power Women’s Summit

The date on which the nominated event was staged: December 9, 2020

Is it impossible to move a flagship in-person event onto Zoom while bringing in 41x more attendees than the previous year? Not for Forbes.

With events unable to happen in-person due to the pandemic, Forbes’ turned a challenge into an opportunity—by taking their flagship Power Women’s summit online. The goal? Spotlight women who were harnessing the power of this pivotal moment to shape a new way forward AND turn a popular IRL event into an even more popular virtual one.

The virtual summit enabled influential voices to reach other changemakers without being limited by physical proximity and included powerful speakers like Melinda Gates, Tory Burch, Arianna Huffington, and Tracee Ellis Ross. Critical topics that affected women globally—like fighting for equality and rewriting the investing rules—dominated the stage.

How’d it go? Over 23,000 people registered for the summit, and over 50 percent joined live (a major win for virtual events—and even more impressive when compared to 2019’s 553 IRL attendees). Plus, 94% said they’d recommend the event to a friend or colleague in the future—talk about popularity!

The 2020 summit successfully spotlighted the women harnessing the power of the moment while helping 1000s of others shape a new way forward.