The Brief
Lead Dev is a live event designed for software development teams across the globe to come together and share good leadership practices, discuss problems & solutions and learn new skills.
Each year the event takes place in multiple locations, including Austin, Berlin, San Francisco, New York and London.
The event was due to take place in New York in April 2020 but with the outbreak of Coronavirus and a global travel ban in place, it was decided to switch it to an online event with participants able to join, free of charge, from their homes.
We were tasked with using our live event experience to bring an online event to life and create an engaging experience to a large audience across the world. The event was supported by around 40 speakers from around the world who joined in presentations, panel sessions and Q&A discussions with the vast audience.
The challenges we faced
Events are all about engaging and inspiring an audience. We have spent many years perfecting this art and in a live environment, we take full control of all aspects of the production to ensure the audience get the right experience and a memorable event is delivered.
The greatest challenge with moving an event online is the lack of control over the audience, the environment they are in and the technology they are using. Our greatest challenge was how to remotely inspire an audience!
With all the speakers locked down to their home locations, another challenge was managing their individual live feeds without onsite professional support and control over their hardware. The quality of each feed was determined by their internet connection, video camera/web cam, lighting, microphone and general acoustics. Without careful planning, each of these parameters could lead to a poor quality of output that would mean viewers would switch off.
Another very unique challenge we faced while in lockdown due to Covid-19 was that we couldn’t bring our team together to produce and manage the event from a single location. Instead we needed to set up communication channels and remote preview streams so our team could all operate together as one, but from their own locations. Thankfully we have technology available at our finger tips so could construct systems to deal with this challenge.
What we did
Step One
Step Two
Step Three
Step Four
We created pre-set looks to the stream that we could switch to with ease. These included:
- 3 Remote Hosts
- 1 Remote Host + Google Slides
- 1 Remote Speaker + Google Slides
- 4 Remote Panellists
Step Five
We built redundancy into every system where possible and we were ready for a multitude of different technical challenges throughout the event and had content we could switch away to if we lost any feeds.
Step Six
The event went live with just 2 operators required. Dan took the role as Director and was based in an office with super fast internet. Adam was our Producer and was based from home. We used some clever tech that allowed Adam to remote control hardware in the office over the internet.
What our customers say about us
INSPIRING AN AUDIENCE
INSPIRING AN AUDIENCE
“Once again an amazing job. I am certain that no other team of people could have made this project happen. The commitment, enthusiasm, attention to detail and team spirit make you a truly stand-out business…We’re looking forward to the next one”
Louiza Vicary
Head of Events
Global Connections
“This was a huge, prestigious event which took about three months to plan and prepare for.
It was a challenging space to work in to create staging that not only looked cool, but kept in with the event branding, which is very angular, so creating a square space just wouldn’t have worked. The triangular concept that was developed for the event was a lot more visually appealing and made the space more immersive for the audience in the room.
It was a stunning event to be involved in and one we are immensely proud of.
Adam Dewhurst
Production Director
On Event Production Co
“The mirrored backdrop was breathtaking and On delivered a service that was a world away from what we have had in the past – THANK YOU!“
Jess Dubeck
Senior Producer
On/Off
“This was a fantastic experiential event to deliver. It was really high-concept and included a range of technical elements, which all had to interweave to provide a seamless experience for those taking part.
Luckily, our in-house technical team are as ingenious as some of the spy masters we see in the movies and were able to create something which not only looked great, but was also on-brief and delivered a memorable experience to help enhance the Mountain Dew brand.”
Chris Vernon-Smith
Creative Director
On
“Having worked together with Purpose Media in the past it was great to be able to help them deliver a number of stunning communal and meeting spaces”
Guy Eaton
Managing Director
On Event Production Co
“This was a unique installation for a really high-profile client, so it was absolutely crucial that we executed it to perfection, in keeping with Adidas’ brand values. We worked collaboratively with JPDL to evolve the idea from concept to completion, on time and within budget. It was a great example of the way that On Event Production Co can take an idea, place our own stamp on it before developing and delivering it and achieving awesome results.”
Chris Vernon-Smith
Creative Director
On
“We were truly the architects of our client’s imagination on this project and the end result was awesome. This event could have been just another forgettable conference, but our client thought outside the box to come up with a concept that we were able to elevate into an event that people will remember for a long time.
We’re firm believers that if you can change the environment that people are used to, they respond in a different way to the content you are delivering. That was certainly the case here…..By taking delegates on a journey, we were able to help our client deliver its message in an inspiring and memorable way.”
Guy Eaton
Managing Director
On
“On Event Production made our vision their vision; they took full ownership, delivering the project on very tight timescales, in a venue with limited space and access constraints. They even exceeded expectations and delivered for an event a few weeks prior to the launch so the RDS Team could get a practice run-through for timings and operational bits.
The immersive experience was the highlight and most memorable aspect of the RDS Black Box™ launch event – the feedback we had from attendees was amazing; they were officially immersed, engaged and ready to find out more!”
Imaan Basi
Sales Team Leader
RDS Global
“We recently worked with ON to intensively pull together a virtual pivot on an international conference. As always, Adam went above and beyond to help us find the best solution platform. He supported our speakers hugely, taking extra time and care to make sure they got the best and most comfortable experience before and during the event. It was a scary prospect for us with it being our first digital event, as a trusted partner we knew exactly what we would get from ON and Adam really helped us relax knowing the production was in safe hands. It was a fantastic success.”
Megan Kingdom-Davies, Head of Operations, White October Events
A huge thank you Adam. We couldn’t have done it without you, you’re amazing. Such a voice of calm for the speakers and panellists. And such a technical wizard.”
Ruth Yarnit
Chief Executive
White October Events
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