# NextMe Powers the Visit Anaheim Gifting Suite at Connect Marketplace with Cultivate > NextMe ran the Visit Anaheim gifting suite at Connect Marketplace, serving over 900 hosted buyers with 84% retention and turning the wait into brand time. Source: https://nextmeapp.com/case-studies/visit-anaheim/ ![The entrance to the Connect x Cultivate Gifting Suite, with a NextMe queue sign beside it](https://nextmeapp.com/_astro/gifting-suite-entrance.W5zW1nQH_Z2iyGMK.webp) [Case studies](https://nextmeapp.com/case-studies/) · [Events](https://nextmeapp.com/case-studies/?industry=events) At [Connect Marketplace](https://informaconnect.com/connect-marketplace/), Informa Connect’s meetings-and-events gathering, Visit Anaheim ran a sponsored Hosted Buyer Gifting Suite with Cultivate: 900+ attendees personalized custom merch across 20-plus kiosks, drop-shipped home. The challenge was time. Hosted buyers run back-to-back 1:1 appointments, and a gifting suite like this used to mean waits stretching toward two hours, time better spent on the show floor or grabbing a meal. NextMe ran the line as a hybrid virtual queue paired with a branded virtual waiting room, so the wait stopped being the thing people remembered. Guests joined the queue, kept working the event, and came back when it was their turn, while the suite kept a short, visible line that signaled demand without becoming the story. ![Visit Anaheim](https://nextmeapp.com/_astro/visit-anaheim.C6vxP0yk_PlBaF.webp) - **Visit Anaheim** Client - **Events** Industry - **September 1, 2026** Updated Key outcomes - **900+** hosted buyers served through the virtual queue - **84%** of guests who joined the queue came back and got served - **27 hours** of brand engagement in the virtual waiting room - **~700** clicks into the gift catalog while guests waited ## The challenge A high-demand sponsor activation had to serve a room full of the busiest people at the show without letting the wait overshadow the gift. - **Protecting the hosted buyer’s schedule.** Hosted buyers are booked into tightly scheduled 1:1 appointments across the event. A physical line for the gifting suite competed directly with that schedule, and past waits toward two hours pushed buyers to skip the experience rather than lose floor time. - **Keeping it a gifting experience, not a waiting experience.** The suite was Visit Anaheim’s brand moment. A long, static line risked making the wait the takeaway instead of the personalized gift and the sponsor behind it. - **Moving volume across 20-plus kiosks.** More than 900 hosted buyers personalizing and drop-shipping custom merch across 20-plus kiosks needed orderly flow so the suite kept moving and staff could focus on the gifting, not on crowd control. ![The Visit Anaheim Gifting Suite booth footprint at Connect Marketplace 2026](https://nextmeapp.com/_astro/gifting-suite-booth.BSxAw57__6fsTR.webp) ![Laptop kiosks where guests personalized their gifts in the Visit Anaheim Gifting Suite](https://nextmeapp.com/_astro/gifting-suite-kiosks.DzkUBcdk_1HiBqm.webp) ## The solution NextMe gave the suite a way to hold its place in a guest’s day without holding the guest in place, pairing [waitlist management](https://nextmeapp.com/waitlist-management/) and a branded [virtual waiting room](https://nextmeapp.com/virtual-waiting-room/) with [self check-in](https://nextmeapp.com/self-check-in/) guests could complete from Informa’s ConnectMe app. - **A virtual queue that freed the guest.** Hosted buyers joined the virtual queue right from Informa’s ConnectMe app and timed their arrival close to their turn, VIP-style, rather than standing and waiting. They still checked in when they got the notification to head back, but the line they returned to was shorter and much more tolerable. Live position updates and simple proximity cues, be nearby when you are up soon, stay within a short walk as you get close, kept the timing easy, and the physical line stayed short and visible on purpose while everyone else waited virtually through [self check-in](https://nextmeapp.com/self-check-in/). - **A branded waiting room as the wait itself.** The Visit Anaheim [virtual waiting room](https://nextmeapp.com/virtual-waiting-room/) turned idle time into brand time. Guests were prompted to pick their product before arriving, previewed gift options, and tapped through to Visit Anaheim and Informa content, so the wait window did the sponsor’s work instead of testing the guest’s patience. - **One clear view across the suite.** With the full queue in a single view, staff kept 20-plus kiosks flowing and stayed focused on personalizing and drop-shipping orders rather than managing a crowd at the entrance. ![A Hosted Buyer Gifting Suite sign with a QR code to join the NextMe queue](https://nextmeapp.com/_astro/qr-queue-sign.BX53BuDb_W8Asz.webp) ![The Gifting Suite virtual waiting room sponsored by Visit Anaheim, showing a guest 3rd in line, leading to the page where they pick a product](https://nextmeapp.com/_astro/gifting-suite-virtual-waiting-room.hjLALplH_1fPE4o.webp) ## The results The suite served a full room of hosted buyers while turning the wait into engagement. - **Served over 900 hosted buyers.** NextMe kept the gifting suite moving across the run of the event, checking in and serving over 900 guests without the two-hour lines the format used to create. - **Retained 84% of guests.** A simple join-and-return flow kept guests engaged from the moment they joined to the moment they were served, with 84% net retention across the activation. - **Turned the wait into brand engagement.** Over 600 unique guests spent time in the Visit Anaheim waiting room, averaging nearly three minutes of active engagement each and more than 27 hours combined, with nearly 700 taps to preview their gift. Instead of standing in a line, guests spent that time with the sponsor’s brand. > “The virtual queue was great. I really appreciated the opportunity to go see some other booths, get some other things done, do some networking, all the while knowing I had a place in line.” Lisa P.Attendee at the Visit Anaheim Gifting Suite ## Frequently asked questions ### Did hosted buyers have to wait in a long line for the gifting suite? No. Guests joined a virtual queue, in many cases right from Informa’s ConnectMe app, and were free to keep working the show floor, take meetings, or grab a bite. They still checked in when they got the notification to come back, but the line was shorter and much more tolerable than the two-hour wait the format used to create. ### How did guests know when to come back? Each guest could monitor their position in real time in the virtual waiting room, and NextMe told them exactly what to do based on where they stood: stay nearby when they were up soon, keep within a short walk as they got close, and head back when it was their turn. A ready-to-check-in message confirmed the moment to arrive. ### What could guests do while they waited? The branded virtual waiting room let them pick their product ahead of time, preview gift options, and explore Visit Anaheim and Informa content, so the wait became part of the experience rather than a pause in it. ## More event case studies - [NextMe Powers the Virtual Queue for The Shop at Fanatics Fest NYC 2026](https://nextmeapp.com/case-studies/the-shop-at-fanatics-fest/) — Events · See how NextMe ran the virtual queue for The Shop at Fanatics Fest NYC 2026, giving nearly 800 fans their festival time back while staying engaged. - [How Hello Kitty Cafe Chicago Managed 4,600+ Guests at the World’s Largest Grand Opening](https://nextmeapp.com/case-studies/hello-kitty-cafe-chicago/) — Events · When Chicago police threatened to shut down the world’s largest Hello Kitty Cafe grand opening, NextMe’s hybrid queue moved 4,600+ guests off the sidewalk. - [NextMe Powers LEGO’s Formula 1 “Build the Thrill” Tour Across Five Cities with XD Agency](https://nextmeapp.com/case-studies/lego/) — Events · NextMe ran a hybrid queue across LEGO’s Build the Thrill F1 tour with XD Agency, turning the wait into branded time across five cities and 4,000+ guests.