The Salon du Livre et de la Presse Jeunesse (SLPJ)
is one of France’s major literary events, bringing together more than 160,000 visitors and over 100 publishing houses each year.
For its 41st edition, the organizers wanted to offer industry professionals a clear, structured moment of exchange to help them prepare for the event.
This led to the creation of an exceptional webinar day titled “What’s New in Publishing?”—a full program highlighting upcoming releases, emerging authors, new labels, and forthcoming collections.
The challenge:
50 webinars held in a single day, involving 130 speakers and welcoming more than 720 participants connected simultaneously.
For an operation of this scale, the platform needed to be robust, simple, reliable, and capable of supporting an extremely fast pace without compromising quality.
A dense and highly anticipated format… but one that also required impeccable coordination.
1. Challenges and Objectives
An exceptional
technical challenge
Organizing 50 webinars in a single day, coordinating over 130 speakers, and welcoming more than 720 expected participants.
On the team side, several strategic challenges emerged from the very beginning:
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the technical capacity to support numerous simultaneous sessions,
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a simple, frictionless access to make participant login easy,
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a streamlined speaker onboarding process to ensure everyone joins their virtual room under the best conditions,
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flawless stability to guarantee uninterrupted presentations.
In an operation of this scale, even a minor issue can have a ripple effect: if one session starts late, the entire schedule can be disrupted.
To ensure the smooth running of the event, the SLPJ chose Wisembly, a platform capable of handling high traffic, maintaining seamless navigation, and providing continuous operational support.
2. Operational Implementation
2. Operational Implementation
How did Wisembly make this XXL day possible?
How did Wisembly make this XXL day possible?
To orchestrate 50 webinars in a single day, every step was meticulously planned. The SLPJ, working closely with the publishing houses, needed to ensure a smooth flow without delays or technical issues.
Wisembly made this possible through a customized, tailored platform, providing a centralized dashboard to monitor all sessions and continuous human support to guide each speaker.
3. Participant Experience
An immersive experience at the heart of the event
The goal was not only technical: it was primarily to provide a smooth and valuable experience for professionals.
Simple access and clear navigation
Participants could join their sessions with a single click, view the program, and receive personalized reminders. Even with a dense schedule, navigation remained intuitive.
Genuine interaction with publishing houses
Participants could ask questions, vote, and share their expectations. The publishing houses gained valuable insights to prepare their meetings and upcoming releases.
📌 Examples of questions asked to participants:
“Which youth themes interest you for 2025?”
“Which type of collection are you most looking forward to?”
“Which emerging authors are you following this year?”
These interactions helped transform the webinars into a true collaborative space, creating a constructive dynamic ahead of the official opening of the Salon on November 26, 2025.
Valuable support and a responsive team. Thank you to Wisembly for their commitment throughout our project, which was a true success.
A pleasure to have organized these webinars alongside you.
Many thanks to the entire team for managing this wonderful event.
4. Mediactive Group
Continuity of the project with the Mediactive Group
The preparatory webinars were just one part of the overall program. The Mediactive Group, through its Mediactive Events branch, ensured the complete success of the Salon du Livre et de la Presse Jeunesse by coordinating all digital and on-site aspects.
Registration and badges with the Aloha platform
Aloha handled the registration and badge issuance for the 160,000 expected visitors on site, ensuring a fast and secure check-in process.
Reliable network with Mediactive Connect
The Mediactive Connect teams deployed a high-performance Wi-Fi and Internet network throughout the salon, ensuring the smoothness and stability essential for all digital operations.
With this unique synergy, Mediactive Events provides overall event management: each expertise is mobilized at the right time, from digital to on-site. Participants enjoy a seamless, engaging experience, while organizers benefit from centralized coordination and optimal monitoring, ensuring a perfectly orchestrated Salon from start to finish.