How DX3 unified its event operations end-to-end with Zoho Backstage
- INDUSTRY Conferences & Events
- EVENT TYPE In-person
The organization
Since 2011, DX3 has been one of Canada's leading conferences for retail and marketing professionals. Every year, the event brings together executives from retail, technology, ecommerce, and marketing to explore emerging trends, share best practices, and build meaningful business relationships.
At the time DX3 adopted Zoho Backstage, the conference was led by Hifazat Ahmed, then Program Director at DX3. With more than two decades of experience and over 200 events delivered across four continents, Faz had witnessed the evolution of event technology firsthand—from manual workflows to modern event platforms. That experience shaped exactly what he expected from an event management solution: one platform that could manage every stage of the attendee journey.
The challenge
Before adopting Zoho Backstage, running DX3 meant coordinating multiple vendors, each responsible for a different part of the event.
One provider managed registrations and badge printing, another handled marketing, while a third managed agendas, sponsor listings, and event operations. Payments and on-site badge printing often required additional coordination. The fragmented workflow created unnecessary complexity and limited visibility across the event lifecycle.
"I ended up invariably having to use three or four different vendors to get to the same point."
For Faz, the biggest gaps appeared at the beginning and end of the attendee journey. He wanted a platform that could track payments, support on-site badge printing, and connect every operational workflow without relying on multiple vendors.
"I didn't want multiple systems. I wanted one system that would do everything end-to-end."
The solution
DX3 chose Zoho Backstage to manage registrations, ticketing, payments, badge printing, session management, attendee engagement, and analytics from a single platform.
The platform also offered flexibility in website management, allowing the team to either build the event website on Backstage or continue using its existing website while managing registrations through the platform.
During the event, the Zoho Backstage team worked alongside DX3, providing on-site badge printing and operational support.
"Backstage offered me an end-to-end solution. The fact that they could come to the show, print my badges, and man my booth was of massive support to me."
As this was DX3's first event on Zoho Backstage, the implementation involved a learning curve. Throughout the process, the Backstage team remained available to answer questions and resolve issues as they arose. According to Faz, the team's round-the-clock 24/7 availability was invaluable in ensuring the event ran smoothly.
Zoho Backstage also introduced capabilities that attendees had been requesting for years. Participants could browse the agenda, build personalized schedules, and schedule meetings before arriving at the venue.
For the organizing team, registrations, payments, email campaigns, session attendance, lead capture, and sponsor lead sharing all became accessible through a single dashboard.
The Backstage features DX3 uses:
- Event registration and ticketing
- Payment collection and tracking
- On-site check-in and instant badge printing
- Event website builder
- Agenda and session management
- Personalized attendee schedules
- Email campaign and registration analytics
- Lead capture and lead sharing for sponsors and exhibitors
- On-site event support
Benefits & ROI
Consolidating event operations onto a single platform simplified both the attendee experience and the organizer workflow.
Faster, friction-free check-in
At check-in, attendees no longer needed to dig through their inboxes to scan confirmation emails or bring printed confirmations. Organizers could locate registrations instantly and print badges on demand.
"People would come in, give their name and phone number. If they have a code, great. If not, we'll find them and print their badge right away."
A more personalized attendee experience
Attendees embraced the ability to personalize their conference experience before arriving at the venue.
"When they come in, they say, 'Okay, I've got six, eight meetings set up.' We got feedback from people on that—they liked that part."
End-to-end visibility
Where Faz once lost visibility whenever data moved between vendors, he could now track the entire attendee journey in one place—from email engagement and registrations to ticket discounts, session check-ins, and the leads shared with sponsors and exhibitors.
Standout support and pricing
Among all the improvements, one aspect stood out most.
"The thing that worked for me more than anything else was Backstage's customer support. That is something I cannot say enough about."
The platform also proved commercially competitive.
"It was priced better than what I was getting in the marketplace. So for me it was, 'Okay, there's no reason for me not to work with them!'"
Future plans
DX3 continues to bring together retail and marketing professionals through its annual conference.
The implementation of Zoho Backstage demonstrated how consolidating registrations, payments, badge printing, attendee engagement, and analytics into a single platform can reduce operational complexity while creating a smoother experience for organizers, sponsors, exhibitors, and attendees alike.