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
“At On, we’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.”
Chris Vernon-Smith
Creative Director
On
“Thanks 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.”
Tulip Tappenden
Project Manager
Octagon
“Michael Kors is a world-renowned brand, so it was great to be able to work on this project and help supplement the global launch of its Spring 2019 collection with a series of pop-up experiential activations across Europe.
Because of the nature of the brand, it was crucial that the environment we created was high-end, extremely visual and looked great on social media.
We were able to achieve this by not only finishing the build to an extremely high spec, but also utilising our technical expertise to ensure the experience was seamless and looked as sharp on social as it did in-store.”
Chris Vernon-Smith
Creative Director
On
“Well done to everyone involved in delivering the event today. Really engaging, insightful.”
Audience Feedback
Financial Services
“We were delighted with the finished product and the organisers of the Lunch! event rated the stand as one of (if not THE) best stand at the show.”
Annmarie Penderis
Senior Brand Director
Cirkle PR Agency
“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
“This was a great project to be involved with, but the timings went right down to the wire. The brief was to create a space which would help Stella to inspire its guests and leave a lasting impression. We were able to play a huge part in delivering that… within the space of a week.”
Chris Vernon-Smith
Creative Director
“Thank you for all your hard work and support with our events. They were a smash hit with the ExCo, HR team and our audience – flawless execution as per usual!“
Alexandra Pierce
Group Head of Organisational Development and Culture
Award-Winning Financial Services Provider
“I can’t thank you enough for the amazing hard work and dedication you all put into the project over the past few months, we really appreciate it… Everyone has commented on the epicness of the set and the work that went into everything behind the scenes”
CLIENT TESTIMONIAL
From the very beginning, Tim was so helpful – offering guidance, brainstorming ideas with us, making thoughtful recommendations, and always being on hand to answer even the silliest of questions. We genuinely felt supported at every step. Nothing was ever too much trouble, and that level of care really exceeded our expectations in terms of service.
This extended right through to the setup and build days as well. The team on site with Tim were brilliant, they were friendly, personable, and with great attention to detail. They made everything feel smooth, straightforward, and actually (dare I say it!) enjoyable. It’s not often you go through a process like this and come away feeling so positive.
Thank you again to Tim and the whole team – we (especially me, Steph) really appreciated it. And I’m looking forward to doing it all again in 2026!
Lyle Byrne
Operations Director
Cegedim RX
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