How New Scientist Reinvented Its Flagship Events as a Scalable Virtual and Hybrid Model

The Challenge

In 2020, New Scientist faced an urgent problem: their flagship event, New Scientist Live, could no longer be staged in person due to the pandemic. Rather than cancelling, they wanted to reinvent their entire events model online — while still delivering the scale, interactivity, and authority their audiences expected.

They needed a partner who could design and deliver a large-scale, branded virtual experience, while also building a platform for ongoing debates, evening talks, and online courses that could be monetised and scaled long-term.

What They Needed

New Scientist required:

• A way to translate multi-stage live events online without losing energy or authority.
• Custom-branded sets and virtual staging to reflect New Scientist’s themes and brand.
• Interactivity — including Q&A, chat, and live experiments — to keep digital audiences engaged.
• A model that could also support courses, debates, and monetised evening events.
• Analytics and reporting to track performance and refine future events.

Our Approach

Bombora worked hand-in-hand with New Scientist to deliver:

• Flagship virtual conferences: Three large-scale events (Food & Agriculture, Future of Health, Sustainable Future) with multi-stage programming, partner pages, and up to 50 sessions per day.
• Studio and remote production: Built custom sets in our studio for live and pre-recorded sessions, integrated remote feeds for additional stages, and ensured seamless multi-stream broadcasting.
• Ongoing event formats: Produced six online debates, more than 50 monetised evening events with guest speakers, and eight online learning courses for New Scientist Academy.
• Hybrid evolution: Blended live-audience recordings with digital streaming as in-person events returned.
• Branded design and consistency: Created custom graphics and animations across all events for a unified look and feel.
• On-demand and reporting: Edited sessions for replay, made content available post-event, and delivered detailed analytics on audience behaviour and engagement.

The Results

• 25,000+ attendees across the first virtual New Scientist Live, including nearly 3,000 unique visitors.
• 60,000+ registrations for New Scientist events in 2021 alone.
• A sustainable digital events ecosystem — from debates to online courses — that continues to thrive in 2024.
• A long-term partnership between Bombora and New Scientist built on innovation, consistency, and growth.

The Takeaway

For New Scientist, success wasn’t about simply surviving the pandemic — it was about reinventing their events model for the digital era. Bombora helped transform their flagship conferences into scalable, monetisable, and enduring online experiences that continue to attract global audiences.

What This Means For You

Looking to deliver large-scale educational content, digital conferences, or monetised online experiences? We’ve helped New Scientist do exactly that — and we can help you build ambitious, branded virtual and hybrid events that keep audiences learning, engaging, and coming back for more.

Services Highlighted in This Project

• Webinars & Live Streaming:  Just as we delivered over 50 evening events, six debates, and eight online courses for New Scientist, we can help you run consistent, interactive sessions that balance education, engagement, and interactivity — no matter your audience size.
• Virtual Events:  Just as we created multi-stage, theme-aligned virtual events with live and pre-recorded sessions, interactive chats, and custom partner pages for New Scientist Live, we can build your online experience from the ground up.
• Hybrid Events: Just as we supported both live-audience and virtual attendees for New Scientist’s guest speaker events and courses, we can deliver a hybrid model that gives you the best of both worlds — reach and atmosphere.
• Branded Graphics Packages: Just as we developed cohesive visual identities and consistent branding across all stages and assets for New Scientist, we can bring your digital environment to life with custom graphics and animation packages.

Other Services We Offer

• Social Media Live Streaming: Broadcast key sessions or post-event highlights directly to your social audiences in real time.
• Highlights Videos: Create digestible recaps or shareable promo edits from your larger event content.
• Promotional Services: Amplify your audience through pre-event marketing, registration campaigns, and distribution of your event assets post-show.
• Video Podcast Production: Turn expert conversations, interviews, or panel discussions into professionally produced video podcasts, filmed in-studio or on location with multi-camera production, broadcast-quality audio, and content ready for YouTube, LinkedIn, and audio platforms.

We help leading educational and media brands deliver complex, scalable virtual events with flawless execution and beautiful design — just like we did for New Scientist. Whether you’re running one live session or an entire season of digital content, we’ll help you educate, inspire, and scale.

Want to know more? Planning your webinars or events? Get in touch to arrange a call.