Festival of Nations automatically answers over 90% of questions from event attendees.

Festival of Nations is a two-day, multicultural event that features the traditions, flavors, sounds, and art of over 75 global nations. Attracting over 100,000 attendees, Festival of Nations celebrates unique identities and vibrant communities, and cultivates lasting intercultural connections. The Festival is powered by the International Institute of St. Louis, was first held in 1934, and continues to be the region’s largest such event of the year. 

Problem

With over 100,000 attendees in 2 days, Festival of Nations fields a lot of questions. Before Capacity, those questions were emailed to organizers—and often it was the same question, hundreds of times a day. 

“Capacity has become an important engagement tool for Festival of Nations. We strive to develop and produce an unmatched experience at the Festival—and that starts with the attendee experience.”

Krissy Durant, Director of Communications

There was no way to answer them all. When the event began, organizers were too busy to answer every repetitive question in their inbox. Without easy access to answers, attendees started to fall through the cracks.

Solution

That’s where Capacity stepped in to help. Our team first worked with the Festival team to make a list of frequently asked questions, like “Can I bring my dog?” and “What’s your outside food and drink policy?”

In less than 24 hours, we built a knowledge base filled with all the information attendees needed to know—like the festival schedule or parking locations. We then deployed our AI-powered chatbot on the Festival site, which they named Festy.

Results

Within 24 hours, the chatbot went live on the Festival’s website. Over the two-day event:

• The chatbot received over 1,000 questions
• 90%+ of those questions were answered by our AI

As a result of leveraging AI for event planning, the Festival was able to engage its attendees and vendors in smarter, more efficient ways. Instead of combing through the website or waiting for an email response, attendees could get answers in just a few seconds via intuitive self-service. Plus, organizers were able to focus on the event without worrying about flooded inboxes.

“Capacity has created more time for our team to focus our efforts while ensuring attendees access the best information as they prepare for, arrive at and enjoy the Festival of Nations.”

Krissy Durant, Director of Communications

But wait…

Months after the Festival ended, the public kept interacting with the chatbot. The Festival team updated their knowledge base with even more information, such as ways to donate or become a vendor. The Festival of Nations team now uses Capacity’s updated Concierge, directing attendees to answers before they even have to ask a question.

Empowered by AI, the Festival is able to engage with the public months before their next event, seamlessly organize vendor opportunities, and save hours of time as they plan events. Ultimately, Capacity helped Festival of Nations put knowledge right at the fingertips of their attendees—and now the Festival is bigger than ever before.