How we took an in person conference virtual!

Despite entering our 8th week of lockdown here in Sydney things haven’t stopped here at the Pyrmont Studio or Deli Agency, and this week I’m going to turn everything on its head and give you a sneak peek behind the scenes of a production close to my heart that had just 2 weeks to go virtual for a second year running!  

I like to keep you guessing around here! 🙃 

Back in 2020, Objective came to us with the need to turn their in person (300+) annual event ACTIVATE into a virtual one. Communication, engagement, retention and reinvigoration were all major KPIs for us to pursue as we worked together to create not only an event for their global team but a digital experience.

We considered this entire event a glass ball that could not be dropped. It had been running as an in person event for over 20+ years - and it could not fail. It didn’t.

Fast forward to 2021, and for the most part things were looking up - in-person filming on a grand stage was booked in and everyone was extremely excited. But then snap lockdowns hit Sydney and everything had to change (again) just 2 weeks out of the event.

Webcams and lights were delivered to key stakeholders to film from home, remote crews were mobilised to the North of Scotland and into New Zealand, and plan C (yes you read that right) was in motion.

In partnership with Chris and his team we had to apply a strong strategy and overlay it with meticulous execution, and is just 2 weeks we filmed:

✅ 20+ virtual presentations

✅ 4 client case studies

✅ Across 3 countries!

Days of footage turned into hours of engaging content for a virtual stage.

On Wednesday last week I interviewed Objective’s CMO Chris Britton, and we deep dived into lessons learnt during the navigation to virtual events for a global organisation. If you missed it, click here to watch the replay.

As always, I’m sharing this story with you with the hope that it’ll inspire you to think big. Because no matter what is going on in the world around us, nothing is impossible.

Stay visible,
Rebecca & the team.

"Due to COVID, I had  to rethink our annual company kick-off 'ACTIVATE'. What was traditionally a physical event, was now 100% digital. I worked with Rebecca to create an event that stretched over 3 days and included 400 people in over 5 timezones. This was a massive learning experience for me. Rebecca's dedication and professionalism made this a game-changing event. Our company kick-off will never be the same again."

Chris Britton
CMO, Objective