How to plan an online event and provide no worse networking than offline
Client Service Director TWIGA ‘GO! Alyona Andrievska tells Adsider how the team managed to develop an innovative online conference format for PepsiCo Ukraine in 1.5 months.
Events have changed forever
The year 2020 was marked by canceled events and attempts to go online — both successful and not so much. According to the Post Covid-19 Event Outlook Report , 93% of organizers plan to invest in virtual events in the future.
In December 2020, Personify conducted a survey among a thousand respondents. According to the study, even when the events become safe again, only 15% of participants want to be physically present — and only from the second half of 2021. Half of the respondents would generally prefer to participate mainly or completely only in virtual events, and 33% preferred the hybrid option.
Currently, TED conferences are held exclusively online. Earlier, viewers paid $10,000 per ticket to listen to a speech by Bill Gates or Al Gore and talk about the future of the Earth. In April 2020, the five-day conference was turned into eight weeks of live broadcasting.
Goal
On February 12, 2020, the annual strategic conference of PepsiCo in Ukraine took place in the technology studio. AOP Kick-off 2021 became one of the most interesting challenges for TWIGA ‘GO!. We had a task to convert a large-scale conference, which has been held offline for years, to the online format, while maintaining the maximum involvement of 400 guests.
How it all happened
The most important thing for us was to create a powerful presence effect so that each participant of the conference would forget that it was taking place online. This format was a virtual show with an incredible number of effects and attractions.
TWIGA ‘GO! developed a customized platform where the main stream was displayed. We have also prepared a complete package of complex graphic and video content in volumes at the level of the release of the new TV show. Usually such technologies are used only for large-scale live projects.
The technical team attached several video files with transparency during the live broadcast. We also created the effect of the game in virtual reality: 3D presentations, glitch, complex animation, changing the background, broadcast coverage of the phone and tablet screen, and more.
We created 11 virtual rooms for live communication with the speakers after their performance. Viewers could personally ask the speaker or write questions in the team’s chat.
An “Bank of Ideas” section was created on the platform, where participants could leave ideas for business development. At the end of the PepsiCo broadcast, Ukraine received 74 new ideas. The management will consider them in more detail, and the best company will use in work.
The most active participants received PEPSICOIN. Points could be accumulated in different ways: for example, by giving the correct answer to the questions of the speaker or the host during the quiz. Bonuses were also added for likes for photos and uploading your own photos — our developers have created a gallery on the platform like a “microinstagram”.
Results
- 9-hour live broadcast of results and plans;
- 26 speakers took part;
- 15 unique stylistically and graphically created presentations, in which almost every detail and every element was animated;
- 146 media files involved;
- more than 10 non-standard technical solutions in live format — for example, a combination of live broadcast of 3D and 2D graphics, video effects, alpha channel. In real time there was a complex installation, where several layers of video content were used simultaneously;
- 11 virtual rooms are created for communication of guests and speakers;
- quiz using the interface from the tablet and demonstration in live format.
In April 2020, the agency TWIGA ‘GO! has already held a large-scale online event at the level of TV shows: in three weeks the format of the annual award ceremony for the best employer from Randstad and ANCOR Ukraine has changed. It was necessary to qualitatively transfer the big event from the solemn conference hall to online.
This experience helped develop a conference for PepsiCo Ukraine, but the content of the last project was 20 times larger. In addition, we did everything as quickly as possible — in 1.5 months, which is twice as fast as normal.
Companies should pay attention to new trends and aptly take advantage of online events. It is likely that the events of the “new reality” will become commonplace and will surprise more and more technological solutions.
Alyona Andrievska, Client Service Director TWIGA ‘GO!
