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Lead Dev Live

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 couldnโ€™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

Content is king! We wanted to produce a live event that people wanted to watch. All of the contributors were prepped and rehearsed in advance of the event to ensure they were set up exactly as required, and we had full talk back facilities to prep them in advance of them going live.

Step Two

We tested everything with all contributors. This included setting up and configuring software on their computer, making sure their camera was positioned to get the best shot, testing their microphone, checking the lighting and moving them off a WIFI connection to ethernet where we found connections problems.

Step Three

We pre-recorded some segments. This gave us time between sessions to get presenters dialled in and tested for panel sessions. These pre-recorded talks were again all done with the presenters at their homes, using their laptops, webcams and audio headsets and then edited in our remote studio.

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.

On Event Production Company | Live, Hybrid and Virtual Event Production | Lead Dev Live screen
On Event Production Company | Live, Hybrid and Virtual Event Production | Lead Dev Live slide
On Event Production Company | Live, Hybrid and Virtual Event Production | Lead Dev Live screen
On Event Production Company | Live, Hybrid and Virtual Event Production | Desk and screen
On Event Production Company | Live, Hybrid and Virtual Event Production | Lead Dev Live image
On Event Production Company | Live, Hybrid and Virtual Event Production | Screens

What our customers say about us

โ€œAt On, weโ€™re not afraid of a challenge so when JDPL approached us with this project, we knew it would be an event to remember.

As we were celebrating the Virgin employees, we knew from the get-go that we had to make the event special, which is why we decided on the exploding star theme.

Working to tight deadlines and the eco-credentials set by the client, the team worked tirelessly to ensure the event was a huge success.โ€

Chris Vernon-Smith

Creative Director

On

โ€œThis 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.โ€

Chris Vernon-Smith

Creative Director

On

โ€œI just want to say thank you again โ€“ having previously worked with ON in events for my previous employer, I knew you would all do a cracking job, and you did not disappoint.

I was really impressed with your creativity when it came to bringing to life the game-show element, how flexible you were with some last minute changes to the format of the event, and in general your friendliness and attitude throughout.

We have received a lot of really positive feedback about the event, and will be exploring how we can combine an in-person event with a virtual one for our next awards, so that we can engage as many colleagues as we did this time.

Thank you!โ€

Internal Communications Team Leader

โ€œThis was a superb install. Itโ€™s a huge, cavernous space and being able to see the transformation unfold before our eyes was incredible.

We pride ourselves on the way in which we collaborate with our partners to achieve great results here at On, and this was a great example of working in true partnership with our good friends at FRUKT to deliver a stunning event which made headlines across the gaming world.โ€

Anabelle Parslow

Fabrication Project Manager

On Event Production Co

โ€œThanks so much. All looked great and everyone was really happy. The client said it was a great example of how their experiential space can be used.โ€

Tulip Tappenden

Project Manager

Octagon

โ€œYou came up with ideas, listened to what we wanted and brought this all to life to create an event that will never be forgotten.โ€

Paul Godfrey

Head of Operations

“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 wouldnโ€™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

โ€œISFM was a great success โ€“ thank you and your team for always being professional and always being able to navigate the difficulties that arise.โ€

Jess

Head of B2B

โ€œOnce again, working alongside On was a delight. They understood the creative vision we had for the event and were able to not only deliver on our plans, but enhance them tooโ€

Neil Crespin

Chairman/Creative Director

MCM

โ€œWow!โ€

โ€œEvery Time we want Wow!..we bring you guys in.โ€

Helen Hydes

External Comms

Toyota Manufacturing UK Ltd

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What our clients say about working with us

 

“From initial discussions to final set-up, your creativity, expertise, professionalism, kindness and general helpfulness was inspiring. Words cannot describe how much we loved the event and working with the team at On. If we could do it all again, we would in a heartbeat”

Dan Janes

Employee relations

โ€œThank you for all your hard work and support with our events. They were a smash hit with the ExCo, HR team and our audience โ€“ flawless execution as per usual!โ€œ

Alexandra Pierce

Group Head of Organisational Development and Culture

Award-Winning Financial Services Provider

โ€œOutstanding service and delivery. The team here have appreciated your entire teamsโ€™ professionalism throughout the project, your commitment to safety and the complete way in which you carried out the project.
Many thanks.โ€

Chris Barrow

Toyota

โ€œISFM was a great success โ€“ thank you and your team for always being professional and always being able to navigate the difficulties that arise.โ€

Jess

Head of B2B

Cirkle PR

“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…Weโ€™re looking forward to the next one”

Louiza Vicary

Head of Events

Global Connections

Yet again On did an incredible job with what was a logistically challenging project. The determination and “whatever it takes” attitude makes On our absolute Go-To-Production-Guys…..Stand out professionals

Siobhan Ryan

Senior Producer

โ€œYou came up with ideas, listened to what we wanted and brought this all to life to create an event that will never be forgotten.โ€

Paul Godfrey

Head of Operations

โ€œOnโ€™s experience shows through in the service they provide, making it easy for our team to focus on the rest of the event. This exhibition was our main event of the year; On 100% delivered across the board making show that we will never be forgotten.โ€

Rachel Wyatt

Managing Director

Olaplex

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Vauxhall Grandland Launch

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ISFM Congress Malta Exhibition Stand

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LeadDev, StaffPlus, LeadingEng London 2024

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The Deal on Tour – HR & People Roadshow

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Having received excellent feedback after the last hybrid event, Blue Square Marketing were looking to use the same format for a number of product awareness and training events over a period of 4 days.

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Virtual Awards for NHS Property Services

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