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
“Once 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 too”
Neil Crespin
Chairman/Creative Director
MCM
“Chris and the team were a delight to deal with in organising our event. We had a small lead time for this important and pivotal event for our business, so good organisation was key. They are very responsive, very organised and not afraid to suggest different ways to do things. They made my job so much easier and I’ll definitely look forward to working with the team again in future.”
Client Feedback
Financial Services
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
“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
“On supported the event with video, sound and light production, all coordinated and controlled from inside a shipping container, and the team were in full zombie attire throughout. We played our own part in helping the Festival smash the world record, the biggest number of zombies (4,026) zombies in one place”
Chris Vernon-Smith
Creative Director
On
“I still get goose bumps thinking about the event. We dared to dream… then made it a reality!. We really turned everyone On that night!”
Guy Eaton
Managing Director
On
“Everything went so well and we were really impressed with the smoothness and efficiency of the event as a whole – it couldn’t have gone better so thank you!”
Senior Executive
The Walt Disney Company
“Outstanding service and delivery. The team here have appreciated your entire teams’ professionalism throughout the project, your commitment to safety and the complete way in which you carried out the project.
Many thanks.”
Chris Barrow
Toyota
“A huge thank you for all your hard work on The Esquire Townhouse project! We were really impressed with the quality of finish on all elements.
The On team seamlessly installed and de-rigged what was a beast of a project. The venue particularly noticed the care and attention given to the venue. And the AV team on site were also fantastic.”
Jess Young
Events Manager
Hearst
“Dinners and conferences are bread and butter work here at On Event Production Co, but this one was a bit special. It’s not every day we get to work with an iconic watch brand. The key to making this event a success was all in the finish. We were able to create a set and staging to an extremely high specification, were meticulous in looking after the minutest of details, and added in a few technical flourishes to deliver an experience befitting a brand of this stature.”
Guy Eaton
Managing Director
On
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