Virtual awards ceremony.
For the fifth year running, we successfully delivered the Annual Awards for a pharmaceutical customer, except this time the event for 450 attendees was delivered virtually. Our customer wanted to celebrate each other’s successes together, even when they were physically apart.
Live event
1 hour
Virtual delegates
450
Winner
Best employee engagement initiative
Objectives.
This celebratory event usually takes place at the end of a two-day conference. However, with the 2020 UK lockdown restrictions in place, the awards ceremony had to go virtual.
I just wanted to say a proper thank you for the huge part you played in making today’s event such a success. Dara was a great choice of host and how Simon pulled this off in two weeks is incredible. Your interface between us all checking the details was both vital and reassuring. As always, it was really lovely to work with you on this event, albeit virtually and l’m looking forward to the next!
Head of Strategic Projects
Pharmaceutical Brand
Solution.
As we considered the impact of the Government guidelines whilst initially planning the original live event, we started building the foundations for the virtual awards ceremony as a contingency.
Although the awards ceremony was just over one hour long, the amount of pre-work than went into the virtual event was far greater than if it was for a one-hour live event. We addressed and ironed-out the technological challenges for this format ahead of the awards night. This included filming 10 pre-recorded videos and two full event rehearsals, to ensure a smooth transition between the pre-recorded and live elements of the ceremony.
We worked closely with our customer and one of our audio-visual partners to map out every element of the project plan: from the event’s concept of a ‘Sky Full of Stars” (with matching branding throughout), through to the music being played.
To really drive engagement and get everyone in the celebratory spirit, something we know is much harder to achieve online, we knew we had to source an exemplary host. We chose a celebrity who is seasoned in delivering award ceremonies (including virtual); a comedian who can keep everyone entertained and someone who knows how to deal with limited audience interaction, further helping to drive the event’s success.
It is for these reasons we chose celebrity host (drum roll please)… Dara O’Brian!
A virtual event.
The event not only celebrated their loyal staff and excellence, but it also marked an important milestone: their 25-year anniversary as a business - so there was plenty to celebrate with champagne all round! Each attendee’s home bar was well stocked, as they’d all been given an allowance to spend on food and drink to enjoy during the event – a more environmentally-friendly option compared to sending each attendee a treat box.
To drive further engagement, we varied the content. Dara not only entertained the audience with his wit and humour, he also added a dose of creativity by conducting a live ‘chemical experiment’, in-keeping with the customer’s industry.
This added a bit of creative flair and spirit in between the award nominations and kept it interesting.
Results.
The event was a resounding success – we always say we’re only as good as our last event, and repeat customers are the biggest testament to an event well done. We’re pleased to say that this virtual event is the second we have done for this customer during the UK’s lockdown, with the first being a Pub Quiz! And as that went so well, we started planning a ‘Saturday Night Takeaway’ style of event to take place soon after.
The fact that this virtual event won ‘Best Employee Engagement Initiative During Lockdown’ in its own pharmaceutical field demonstrates the team’s high-level digital expertise to connect and engage delegates.