How Stagedge RETURNED - and REBRANDED - a Global Training Event!
Each year, a leading global security company hosts its international conference on field programmable technology—a popular training event for the company’s global teams of field application engineers. After changing the name of the event to reflect internal changes, the organization wanted a way to elevate the experience in ways that would reflect these innovations.
Enter Stagedge, whose event production team worked closely with staff to rebrand the entire event in a new location. Stagedge provided key guidance in five crucial areas, taking the event to new heights.
Harnessing the Power of Branding to Energize Training
New branding for the Orlando event was a key strategy for delivering a fresh, engaging experience to attendees.
“It was a complete rebrand,” says Jason Courtemanche, art director at Stagedge. “We created a new logo that's going to be used for every training event going forward. With a fresh event name, they wanted a new logo to go with it.”
Stagedge delivered an engaging wayfinding experience to participants, helping them navigate the physical locations of the venue while highlighting the new Stagedge-designed branding for the event.
Stagedge managed event messaging so that the new branding would be visible throughout the conference, both in the wayfinding app and beyond. The updated logo and branding was included in the lanyards, printed materials, signage, PowerPoint templates, and more—wherever attendees might look.
Negotiating Event Contracts for Logistics and Cost Savings
Complex venue contracts can be a source of frustration—and even wasted budget—if they are not thoroughly vetted with an eye toward cost negotiation. Stagedge assisted in reviewing the venue contract not only to align on event logistics, but also to make sure their client was getting the best deal.
“It’s a good idea to bring us in during contracting, to go over all of the logistics. We have to look at loading days, figuring out what rooms are available, what the docking situation is, etc.,” says Richard Mankiewicz, director of production at Stagedge. “There are a lot of things we review in the contract to make sure our client is getting the best possible deal. Hotels and venues often try to charge more for internet, for power—for so many things. We know what to look for.”
Event Rehearsals Help Presenters Put Their Best Foot Forward
Live corporate events require extensive coordination and planning between presenters and the production team. For some participants, this was a new experience, and the Stagedge crew provided valuable guidance that helped speakers put their best foot forward.
“Engineers and other event speakers who are not C-suite may not be as familiar with building their decks and coordinating their content with the production team,” says Allison Vecchione, account executive at Stagedge. “Part of our process is to educate as we go along, to help them shine onstage.”
“The rehearsals are for both sides of the stage—for them and for us,” adds Mankiewicz. “We need to know when you're going to say something specific, when you’re going to play a certain video, or when you're going to finish and introduce the next person. That helps us have the technical cues––the lighting, video, and audio—ready.”
Building in Team Bonding Time
One of the challenges of a global organization is that many employees have not had the chance to meet—face-to-face—with the teammates they work with online every day. For this reason, a secondary goal of the event was to provide opportunities for attendees to socialize and bond with their teammates.
“They had one night where they broke out into working teams and had a dinner reception with games and cornhole, where they could just hang out, get to know each other better, and chat about the things they talk about online, all year long,” explains Vecchione. “That was really important.”
Stagedge also helped promote team camaraderie by producing a live music performance—a tradition that carried over from previous events.
“A popular feature is the FAE band, where musical team members from all over get a chance to perform together,” says Jason Kershner, director of video production at Stagedge. “We produced the performance and shot it just like a concert, with background graphics and lights and full production. We came up with some great backgrounds for the performance including looping videos. We built a lot of on-site deliverables as extras for that performance—and everyone loved it.”
Shooting Event Video for Multiple Purposes
With some upfront planning, live events can be recorded and shared as a virtual corporate event for employees who can’t be there in person.
“For this event, our video team recorded all the breakouts and general sessions—and those got posted daily to our client’s internal website,” says Mankiewicz. “That way, people who couldn't attend had the ability to watch the videos on-demand.”
Video captured at the event was also used for the closing of the conference and will be available for the company to reuse in the future.
Throughout the week-long event, Stagedge recorded all of the general and breakout sessions, quickly editing the videos and posting them to the client’s internal websites the next day—turning this “live” event into a virtual corporate event for employees who were not able to attend.
“We're also there to take B-roll footage and video for the closing experience,” says Vecchione. “Then they can use those soundbites later for internal clips, motivational and HR sizzle reels, and more. Moving forward, they'll have content and footage to utilize internally.”
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Event Production Means Planning for the Unexpected
In event production, the only certainty is that everything might change—and sometimes quickly. Stagedge’s deep expertise and decades of experience mean that their team is ready—and excited—for the unexpected.
“We're not sure what next year will bring, but we're ready for it!” says Vecchione. “This year’s event was so successful that our client is already planning for next year. The only thing we know for sure is that everything might change.”
Pulling together all of the elements that make for event planning success requires creativity, collaboration, technical know-how, and event-wrangling experience. Whether it's live or a virtual event, from budget planning and contract review to brand development and presentation pointers, Stagedge is there to guide clients, every step of the way. Want to know more? Reach out to our team to get started.
This same client allowed us to keep the cameras rolling throughout a recent 3-day event. The result? 62 seconds of compelling and authentic video content that visually tells the story of their event holistically. It also tells the story of what it means to have an event production partner who is versatile and knows what engagement looks like throughout the entire event lifecycle. Check out the blog and amazing timelapse video!
Stagedge: Creating Immersive Experiences for nearly 50-years!