How Novartis Hosted a 200-Person Virtual Event on SpatialChat with 70% Active Participation

Context: Planning a One-Day Virtual Event

Novartis planned a single-day virtual session bringing together approximately 200 participants. Instead of committing to a longer subscription or enterprise contract, the team explored SpatialChat’s event-based pricing model, which allows organizations to deploy the platform for a specific event.

For companies that host occasional internal gatherings, workshops, or partner sessions, this approach simplifies procurement. A Day Pass structure enables organizers to launch a virtual environment quickly without requiring long approval cycles or long-term commitments. In this case, the estimated cost for the event was roughly $600, based on the Day Pass pricing model of approximately $3 per user.

The Challenge: Running Large Events Without Passive Audiences

Large organizations frequently host virtual gatherings that bring together employees, partners, or stakeholders from different locations. In many cases, these events rely on traditional video meeting tools designed primarily for presentations. While these platforms work well for lectures or briefings, they often produce passive viewing experiences during larger sessions. Participants typically remain muted in a single broadcast channel, with limited opportunity to move between conversations or interact with peers.

For events designed to encourage discussion or networking, this structure can limit the overall value of the gathering. The central question facing the Novartis team was therefore practical: How can a 200-person virtual event support real conversation instead of functioning like a large video meeting?

Event Setup: Creating a 200-Person Virtual Space

To host the event, a SpatialChat environment was configured with capacity for approximately 200 attendees. Participants joined a shared virtual space where conversations occurred based on proximity.

Instead of remaining in a fixed video grid, attendees could move freely through the environment and join different conversations as discussions formed. This structure allowed multiple discussions to take place simultaneously across the virtual space. Organizers also had the option to include live technical support for the event if needed, ensuring the session could run smoothly even with a larger audience.

By structuring the event environment this way, the experience more closely resembled an in-person networking space than a conventional webinar.

Results: Activity and Networking Across the Event

During large virtual gatherings hosted in spatial environments, attendee behavior tends to differ significantly from webinar-style sessions. The Novartis event followed similar engagement patterns.

Approximately 65–70% of participants remained actively involved during sessions, moving between conversations and joining discussions across the virtual space. On average, attendees participated in two to three peer discussions, rather than remaining in a single broadcast channel for the duration of the event.

This structure also reduced the facilitation burden on organizers. Because conversations naturally formed within different areas of the space, the event did not require constant moderation to keep participants involved.

Operationally, the Day Pass model allowed the event to be launched quickly without introducing procurement complexity.

What the Event Demonstrated

The deployment showed that large virtual events can support discussion and networking when structured around spatial environments rather than broadcast presentations. For Novartis, the event provided a practical example of how a 200-person gathering could function as an interactive environment rather than a passive viewing session.

From a platform perspective, the event highlights how SpatialChat’s Day Pass model can support organizations that run occasional large gatherings but do not require ongoing subscriptions.