THE CHALLENGE: Our longstanding client is a well-known global financial services institution. They tasked us with creating the environment for it to deliver a two-day staff conference…with a difference.
The event, for leadership teams, was all about understanding their people better through the coaching of focussed leadership skills and by raising awareness of health and wellbeing in the workplace.
Held at The Vox, in Birmingham, the two-day event saw a mix of presentations from guest speakers in the main conference area. This was then mixed with several breakout sessions in themed zones around the venue incorporating leadership challenges and discussion topics which included financial health, physical health, and food and nutrition.
We were given the brief of creating a conference area in the main plenary room which didn’t feel like a corporate conference, along with the design and build of different environments in each of the themed zones to take delegates on a journey over the two days.
INSPIRING THE AUDIENCE: Our client didn’t want this event to feel like another ‘boring’ corporate conference featuring speakers and PowerPoints. Instead, it wanted to create an action-packed and immersive two days, during which delegates could really engage with the content being delivered.
We styled the main plenary room using angular screens built around a bespoke designed set. On the first day, the main breakout area was styled as the Enabling You Café, a coffee bar-themed area where guests could interact in informal, relaxed surroundings while enjoying coffee and cake. For the second day, the Café was restyled as a Juice Bar, which was used to deliver seminars about the importance of nutrition and a healthy diet.
Other breakout areas were styled as a Hospital Waiting Room, where sessions focused on physical health and wellbeing, and a ‘bank branch of the future’, where content about financial health was delivered.
Different lighting states and colour schemes were utilised to change the mood and tone of each ‘zone’, to help move guests along their journey.
Finally, two identical ‘forest’ zones were created, where the leadership task challenge took place. These were a series of 250 fun challenges and activities designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of leadership.
