How GMHAN Built a Truly Global Hybrid Forum

Sobre nosotros

The Global Mental Health Action Network (GMHAN) is one of the largest communities of mental health advocates in the world. With over 8,000 members spread across 170+ countries, they bring together civil society leaders, policymakers, researchers, and grassroots advocates — all working toward better mental health for everyone.

Every year, GMHAN hosts its flagship event: the Global Mental Health Advocacy Forum. The 2026 edition, their fourth, took place over three days in Iloilo City, the Philippines, running as a hybrid event with both in-person and online participation. Over 2,100 advocates registered, with more than 500 joining on the ground in Iloilo.

This wasn't a standard conference. It was a community gathering of changemakers — featuring keynote talks, fireside chats, speed-networking sessions, working group discussions, and workshops covering everything from youth mental health to suicide prevention to climate and mental health. And it was completely free for every attendee.

Desafíos

Before InEvent, GMHAN ran their events on Zoom, specifically Zoom Webinar Events. It got the job done for a while. But as their community grew and their ambitions expanded, the cracks became severely hard to ignore. Here were some of the challenges they faced:

Everything looked the same

Zoom didn't offer meaningful branding options. Every GMHAN event looked like every other Zoom call with no custom colors, no organization logo, and no sense of identity. For a network that represents advocates from 170 countries, the digital experience didn't reflect who they were.

Interactivity hit a wall

Zoom gave attendees a comment box and not much else. No reactions, no live surveys, no multi-format engagement. For an event built around community participation, rather than passive watching, that wasn't enough.

Language accessibility at a global scale

With attendees joining from dozens of countries and speaking dozens of languages, GMHAN needed translations and closed captions in as many languages as possible but hiring interpreters for that kind of coverage, for an event that size was simply not realistic.

"We were using Zoom before this. Things weren't branded for GMHAN. It was just a bit bland and it was just what everyone else was using. It wasn't as exciting."
— Divya Sharma, Network Officer, Global Mental Health Action Network

Soluciones

GMHAN partnered with InEvent to build a hybrid event experience that matched the scale and ambition of their global community. Here's what that looked like in practice:

A branded virtual lobby that felt like their own space

InEvent's virtual lobby gave GMHAN a fully customizable event portal, branded in their own colors and logo. Attendees could navigate between live-streamed sessions, pre-recorded knowledge exchanges, resource documents, and briefs, all within one unified experience, creating an onbrand digital event space for GMHAN.

"I liked how customizable the virtual lobby was. It was this kind of standalone portal where people can click on different tabs and have different experiences as part of one event."
— Divya Sharma, Network Officer, Global Mental Health Action Network

Live transcription in 100+ languages — replacing the need for translators

This was one of the biggest wins. InEvent's AI-powered real-time transcription gave GMHAN multilingual coverage across 100+ languages, without hiring a single interpreter. In-person attendees in Iloilo could open the mobile app during a session and read a live transcript in their preferred language, right from their seats.

For a nonprofit running a free event on a limited budget, this was a meaningful cost-saving experience. And for attendees from non-English-speaking countries, it meant they could actually participate and interact, rather than just watching.

Real engagement, not passive viewing

During the three-day forum, online attendees could submit their reactions by typing comments, completing surveys, and joining live Q&A sessions. GMHAN's team could see engagement in real time, and the feedback from online participants confirmed it. Many attendees reported the experience as exciting and interactive.

A branded mobile app for on-the-ground engagement

The Android mobile app was branded with GMHAN's colors and logo. It served double duty; attendees used it for session navigation during the event and as a live transcription tool right from their seats in the convention centre. The team loved how professional it looked and how smoothly it ran.

Broadcast-quality hybrid streaming

The on-site AV team used OBS to feed live sessions directly into InEvent's streaming infrastructure. The on-site multimedia team noted it was the first time they'd worked with a system built specifically for event streaming, which was a clear step up from their previous reliance on Facebook Live, YouTube Live, and generic video conferencing tools.

"It's the first time they had a system that's really focused on just the event. Normally, they're just using Facebook Live, YouTube Live, or Zoom, which are platforms that aren't really focusing on that specific forum."
— Ceazar Camales, Global Mental Health Action Network

Resultado

The 4th Global Mental Health Advocacy Forum was GMHAN's most ambitious event to date, and InEvent helped them deliver it at a scale that would have been out of reach with their previous tools.

2,100+ advocates registered from 170 countries, both online and in-person registrations are fully booked.

500+ attendees joined in person in Iloilo City, Philippines, while online participants watched and engaged live from around the world.

3-day hybrid event delivered with live streaming, on-demand content, and real-time audience engagement across every session.

AI-powered transcription is available in 100+ languages, eliminating the need for hired translators and reducing costs for the nonprofit.

Active online engagement throughout: reactions, comments, surveys, and live Q&A confirmed that virtual attendees felt included, not sidelined.

Positive post-event feedback from online attendees confirmed that the experience was exciting, interactive, and aligned with GMHAN's mission.

"We watched lots of people join us live on the platform. People were sending reactions, typing in comments, and completing surveys. We got really great feedback from people who joined online to say they enjoyed themselves — that it was an exciting program."
— Divya Sharma, Network Officer, Global Mental Health Action Network

La siguiente línea de acción

GMHAN continues to use InEvent for its ongoing webinar series — hosting knowledge exchange sessions and online programs for its global network of 8,000+ advocates. Planning for future large-scale hybrid events is already underway.

For GMHAN, finding the right platform wasn't just about technology. It was about finding a partner that could match the scale and heart of their mission — connecting advocates from every corner of the world, in every language, and making sure no voice gets left behind.

If you’re running events for a global community and you need a platform that handles multilingual accessibility, branded experiences, and hybrid delivery at scale, book a demo with InEvent and see what's possible.